Do westerners need a visa for Thailand?
Everybody needs a visa to enter Thailand and tourists normally complete a small form on the plane just before it lands. This (tourist) visa is normally valid for thirty days but please confirm dates with the flight attendant.
However to work or reside in Thailand requires business or residential status - click here for further details from the Thai Embassy website in the UK.
If you wish to stay past your visa expiration date, most tourists take a quick "visa run" to a neighbouring country. This is the method suggested by the immigration authorities themselves, whereby you update your visa and therefore keep within the Thai immigration laws.
Are children welcome in the private villas?
Not only are children welcomed by the owners but the islanders themselves adore farang children as though they they were their own. If you have any 7-14 year olds, they won't have any problems meeting and making friends with Thai kids and we can guarantee that your children will relish those memories way past next Christmas.
For youngsters and babies, again we can promise you, there will be no babysitting or nanny problems on Koh Samui and teenage Thai girls love and pamper babies just as much, if not more, than their Western counterparts. This is because of their incredible patience and genuine love for children everywhere. All older sisters look after their little brothers and sisters so she will be quite used to being grown-up, like a responsable momma san.
There are no Vicky Pollards here who would swap your baby for a Westlife CD!
Can groups book or is it just families?
All are welcome. If you are the Organiser, we will deal directly with you. We encourage all groups whether they are painters, poets or football teams.
It makes much more economic sense to go in a group rather than just by yourself because although, at the end of the day you all sleep in the same villa, during the day you can split up and each do your own thing or pair off - whatever takes your fancy.
By renting your own villa from KSV you have total freedom and independance.
What if I recommend someone else?
We pay the best going rate: a generous 10% commission of the total price paid by the person you recommend, even if you have never been a guest with us. So if a holiday cost £2000 - then you would receive £200. We pay this same rate regardless of whether you are a private individual, an established travel agency or a linked affiliate website.
Single Girls and Women - Local Rules
For centuries. countless farang sailors and travelers have fallen in love with the females of the venerated Isle of Smiles.. After months at sea or on rough riding on horseback, the visitor, upon discovering this backwater island could be easily forgiven for believing he had died and arrived in some kind of Paradise.
The female islanders are in every way innocent, naive, honest and shy. And yes, very beautiful to the farang eye. They have built-in smiles, charms and attitudes that no red-blooded farang can resist for long - and frankly wouldn't want to. Nature then simply does the rest and many a good and happy marriage took place as a direct result of their smiles and gentle nature.
And basically nothing has changed since those days of sailing ships. Except the island population has grown proportionate to the increase in the rate of tourism, and therefore again proportionally, more females end up marrying more farang. Since living memory it has always been that way and nobody's mindful to change it. Don't forget, for marriage to take place the women too have to fall in love with the big-nosed farang! Koh Samui girls and women are as proud as their menfolk are, and they are not altogether compliant creatures when it comes to relationships with farang. They can be feisty too!
The best advice we can give to male farang when they come to stay on the Isle of Smiles is to follow the flow. The Thailand sex laws are basically the same as back home or indeed any civilised country. Yet the cultures and traditions are entirely different especially when it comes to casual sex.
The people living on this remote island have obviously never undergone, nor even heard of, Victorian attitudes or Biblical morals toward unmarried sex which overly affects westerner's thinking. Sex to them is neither bad, rude or naughty. Indeed casual sex is treated as a gift of the gods-of-love and should be indulged in as often as possible like eating or sleeping. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand and totally unnecessary in such an Eden-like society and we should never make the mistake of thinking that local bar girls are looked down upon by their families, relatives or neighbours. Indeed, if anything, they are respected and admired because they provide much needed income and any girl's close relationship with a farang is treated as a very fortunate thing. Remember; the islanders have traditionally treated all farang of all races with equal respect and the best that we can do is to reciprocate that respect when it comes to accepting their culture and customs.
The best advice to travelers down the centuries has always been: "When in Rome do as the Romans do." and in that way you won't create resentment from the local population. So we can only repeat that same advice: smile, laugh and cry - like an islander and you won't go far wrong.
What about driving on Koh Samui?
The one thing you will need is an international licence, the plastic one with your photo displayed. This validates the insurance cover.
The islanders have difficulty reading English words - like you and I would find it difficult to read their native words - so a picture really does speak a thousand words. And as long as it has your mugshot on it they will accept it as a driver's licence. Even your library card would probably get you through as long as it had a photo on it, but it won't help your insurance claim if you happen to run into an elephant.
The law says everyone must drive on the left-hand side (as in the UK) but frankly that rule is genuinely laughed at by the locals; they know where they are going and don't need signs to tell them. It's not that they are being purposely contrite or like breaking the law for the sake of it. The truth is they believe all the new traffic signs are strictly for the farang to obey and they work this out by remembering that they weren't there before the farang arrived with his cars. In those days signs were nailed to palm trees!
Its the same with traffic lights. A red light may just as well be green or amber for all the locals care. They see traffic lights as pretty flashing lights, not as warning signs to obey. And, as only farangs obey them, they believe they are for the foreigners - not the locals.
Are there Registered Baby Sitters on the island?
The short answer is no, such a registry is not available on Koh Samui.
Yet having said that, the female staff on our Samui Support Team are very trustworthy, helpful and responsible individuals who more often than not will have children of their own or have younger siblings which they look after on a regular basis.
The islanders are extremely family oriented and the thought of looking after farang children (and getting paid for it) would represent a pleasure for them and one they would find hard to resist.
Parents with under-age children therefore can quite happily go out in the evenings and paint the town red or party on the beach knowing their children are in safe custody with our trusted staff.
Also see FAQ; "Are children welcome in the private villas?"
What about language difficulties?
As you can well imagine, if a Thai wants to sell things to a farang - they would have learned enough English to make you understand what they are saying. English is their second language but they often get mixed up between L's and R's where ' really great' turns into 'wheely glate'.
Its nice to pick up a couple of Thai words to bandy about and put you on a better level of understanding with the locals. Here's a couple of phrases worthwhile remembering:
If you want to say "I understand" in Thai it sounds like: COW JOY (to easily remember this just imagine a cow laughing)
But if you want to say "I don't understand" this has an extra word, as in: MY COW JOY (now imagine that happy cow is your own property!)
"Mau" means drunk and "Bah" means crazy. The word for little is "Nick Noy" and the word for big is "Mack Mack".
What is a farang - or falang?
Thai people, like most Orientals, have difficulties with the 'Rs' and Ls' and swap between these pronunciations frequently. Most westerners have heard Orientals speak of 'flied lice' - and we know immediatly that they mean 'fried rice'. Its the same with the words farang and falang - which means exactly the same thing: a male westerner. Females from the west are termed farang/falang lady. Originally, the name tag applied to French travelers who settled in Indo China but is now applied to almost anything western. They talk of falang movies - falang cars - falang cosmetics - as we say, anything western. The term only applies to Anglo-Saxon and Latin races and not to Japanese or Chinese peoples whom the Thais call by different names.
