Krabi or Koh Samui?

[LeyesHombre]

I have a few days before my wingman arrives in BKK. Having never visited southern LOS (other than Trat), I figured I'd check out either Krabi or KS. Krabi is considerably cheaper for airfare, although KS reportedly has better nightlife.

 

Which would be better for a short visit?

 

BHP

[bgtp]

I preferred Krabi, but everyone's going to have their own opinion. Greater selection of bargirls in Samui, but no need to sleep alone in Krabi either. I stayed in Ao Nang and there are a couple of small areas with bargirls. During the day, if you want to get out and explore, there's plenty to do in the area. Catch a quick boat over to Railay Beach, take a day trip out to one of the nearby islands or maybe some sea-kayaking. My opinion is Samui is better for nightlife and ladies, and Krabi is better for everything else. In my case, Krabi was cheaper as well.

 

Oh, Trat is not even close to southern Thailand. Do you mean Trang?

[LeyesHombre]

Thanks. I'm leaning toward Krabi. I realize that Trat is not considered "southern Thailand", I just mentioned it for purposes of illustration.

 

BHP

[Buddy Edgewood]

Krabi is very nice and a little off the beaten trail.  While there is some nightlife, it's nothing compared to Samui.  My advice is to bring a girl with you to Krabi for a nice romantic weekend.  Other wise, head off to Samui.

[LRanger]

Krabi - Ao Nang Beach is gorgeous, better than Samui.  You can do speedboat trips out to Phi Phi, Railay and Phang Na Bay.  Not sure about Krabi from female company perspective as I took my then thai gf now wife.

 

Samui. Ive been three times.  Nice beaches, more bars nice girls.  Again I was with gf/now wife.

 

Buddys view I think is the right one.

 

If you want action great beaches and girls - Patong in Phuket. Airfares there are cheap too.

[SlowlyMan]

Krabi

[B-Man]

Haven't been to either in quite a while. Krabi is more scenic and quieter. Koh Samui especially Chaeweng in much more commercialized and will have a bigger p4p scene if that is of interest to you. Both are nice get a ways from Patts. Enjoy either!

[filibuster]

Samui and Krabi are affected by different weather systems.  It depends entirely on the time of the year.  No good going to Krabi if it's pissing down - or vice versa. 

[Tyrone33]

I never been to krabi but if you do go Samui go to Lamai much better then chaweng.

Lamai more relaxed there and lots of bars and girls are good to. And nice beachs to

[The Sly Fox]

Was at both Samui & Krabi late last year. IMO Samui was horrible and Krabi was pretty good. I've been to Samui countless times in the past and loved it but I feel it's now been ruined. Krabi's not what it used to be either but still good. But as filibuster pointed out one has to also consider seasons.

 

Another plus for Krabi is there's more options for alternatives over on the Andaman side - Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, PhangNga, Phuket and a bucket load of other islands. 

[stillakid]

I am considering a trip to the area next fall/winter.  What are the advantages / disadvantages of November thru February?

 

Thanks

[The Sly Fox]

I am considering a trip to the area next fall/winter.  What are the advantages / disadvantages of November thru February?

 

Thanks

November is bad for Samui, pisses down severe, floods, roads cut off, best stay away from Samui in Nov. 

[ozz1]

just got back krabi [ao nang] great  spot to take a girlfriend but not a alot of nightlife very laid back plenty to see and do much prettier than Patong or pattaya my thai girlfriend thought it was our honeymoon lol 

[The Sly Fox]

just got back krabi [ao nang] great  spot to take a girlfriend but not a alot of nightlife very laid back plenty to see and do much prettier than patong or pattaya my thai girlfriend thought it was our honeymoon lol 

Yeah it's still nice, my TGF had never been before and loved it there. We stayed about halfway between Ao Nang Beach and Hat Nopperat Beach, in a nice resort right across the road from the sea. So TGF (an Issan gal) had a ball on the beach when the tide was out, digging for shells.

[Tyrone33]

just got back from koh samui and its dead there no girls lots of bars are dead.

[The Sly Fox]

I just got back from another Krabi trip. Ao Nang sucked big time, fuk'n horrible, beach is shite, crowded, traffic jams all day long on every road, couldn't get outta there fast enough. Yet another real great Thai beach resort town has been totally ruined.

 

Then we went up to Khao Lak and that was paradise, a real beautiful place, great beach, fantastic scenery. But no pussy that I could see, you'd really need to be in a relationship (like I am) or BF a gal from Phuket.

[bg532002]

         I left Ao Nang on the 27/4 and missed all the traffic jams. The development going on is an unstoppable thing, new hotel on the old soi bamboo site, re-developement of the last fisherman site no more massage huts on the beach, and the most annoying the tuktuks taking over from the sidecar taxis. But after visiting for 15 years there is still a great time to be had.

[Shocker]

Havent been to Krabi since 2012 but it is my favourite place in Thailand by far, if your not going there for just the nightlife. Ko Lanta is unreal too, if u go there in the off season hardly any tourists around

[Micky2]

I just got back from another Krabi trip. Ao Nang sucked big time, fuk'n horrible, beach is shite, crowded, traffic jams all day long on every road, couldn't get outta there fast enough. Yet another real great Thai beach resort town has been totally ruined.

 

Then we went up to Khao Lak and that was paradise, a real beautiful place, great beach, fantastic scenery. But no pussy that I could see, you'd really need to be in a relationship (like I am) or BF a gal from Phuket.

 

Ao Nang is a pleasant enough place to stay, though I can't say the beach did a lot for me. The town was alright in a slow kind of way. A little bit of different kinds of nightlife; nothing really wild, but company can be found. The real joy of the place is that Krabi province has various other interesting places to visit, though you do need transport to get around. I've been there on my own motorcycle a couple of times. Rental cars and motorcycles are available.

[The Sly Fox]

Ao Nang is a pleasant enough place to stay, though I can't say the beach did a lot for me. The town was alright in a slow kind of way. A little bit of different kinds of nightlife; nothing really wild, but company can be found. The real joy of the place is that Krabi province has various other interesting places to visit, though you do need transport to get around. I've been there on my own motorcycle a couple of times. Rental cars and motorcycles are available.

Turns out it was a 4-day weekend when we were there, I didn't realize that at the time, tirak just told me, so that explains why it was chock-a-block. 

 

Right you need transport, we were on a motoring trip so no probs there, we went to Wat Tham Sua and out to Hat Nopporat. 

 

But in future I'll be giving Krabi a big miss and heading straight to Khao Lak.

[Jarrod2518]

If you only have a few days then I would opt for Krabie. Easier to get to and has a lot of nice places like An Nong and Karen. Thailand's tropical island paradises are IMHO over developed, over populated, over priced. Around Krabie you have better value and if you hire a motor bike more options.