Yin and yang - a tale of two tropical beaches

The only drawback is that, while the hotel is located conveniently close to the airport, it's about a 15-minute drive from Chaweng Beach, the commercial heart of the island with a throbbing nightlife. But this element of separation can be also a blessing if you've been there, drained the red-bull bucket and don't fancy the idea of cirrhosis of the liver.

Buy, buy in Bangkok

A city of romance

The view from our hillside hut on Haad Yuan was equally impressive because we were so closely sandwiched between the jungle and the ocean. A thick forest canopy rose up behind the hut, and I could almost launch seashells from my veranda hammock into the sea.

My friend and I soon made ourselves at home in the rustic huts. The two women complained about the aging fans and cold-water showers, and threatened a return to Samui. Having escaped the protests in Bangkok, we had found ourselves a camp divided.

Nonetheless, there is something for everyone in the three islands that form a string east of the peninsula, including Ko Tao.

You can barbecue your body on Samui's Chaweng Beach, with its hung-over revelers, novice surfers and deep ocean plunge. If you are lucky, the local fishermen at Haad Yuan will take you with them at sunset. At other times, you can lounge on its silky sand or relax in wooden bars built over huge sloping boulders. This picture-postcard setting was until recently only accessible by water taxi from Haad Rin, site of the legendary Full-Moon Parties.

Time permitting, you can move on to Ko Tao and test your luck with a few dives. This is one of those special places where it is possible, at the right time of year, to glimpse whale sharks.

By the time I got back to Bangkok a few days later, Yingluck had fled to an undisclosed location in the provinces. That weekend, three people, including two kids, were killed in a violent incident near a shopping center in the downtown area.

I was shocked at reading the news. I hadn't felt unsafe for a second, except for one dicey episode while swimming in choppy seas by the unforgiving rocks of Haad Yuan.

Moreover, the Bangkok Post - one of Thailand's two major English-language papers - reported that hundreds of farmers would be blocking the streets to the airport that Sunday afternoon. I imagined myself being stranded there for days on end. As it turned out, they failed to show.

 

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