Airport at Koh Samui
Saturday, December 13, 2025
After a few relaxing days on Koh Samui, it was time to head back to Bangkok.
We packed up and headed to the airport. Koh Samui’s open-air airport ranks pretty high on my list of favorite airports. It’s small, relaxed, and honestly just kind of cute.
While waiting to board our plane, a lizard — about a foot long — dropped out of the thatched roof above us. I watched for a second, wondering if it had survived the fall, and then it scampered off like nothing had happened. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was about to hear someone scream after discovering it. You definitely wouldn’t see that at LAX.
I couldn’t help but notice they were selling something called “Poo Poo Paper” — paper that’s recycled and made from animal waste. It’s supposedly odorless. Still, some things should probably just be left alone.
Poo Paper
We boarded our Bangkok Airways flight back to Bangkok. I had sprung for business class. As we took our seats, I couldn’t help noticing that this Airbus A319 was at least two — maybe three — decades old. The entertainment screens were tucked into the armrests and swung out, which felt like a throwback to another era of flying.
We arrived in Bangkok, collected our luggage, and headed to the Four Points by Sheraton in Sukhumvit Soi 22. It’s almost across the street from the Marriott Marquis, where we stayed the last couple of times. The Marquis is nice, but on our last visit we would go to sit at the pool or eat at the restaurant only to be told, “Sorry, there is a private function.” After hearing that more than once, it starts to feel like you’re staying at a hotel where you can’t actually use the facilities.
We like the area. There are a couple of large malls nearby with plenty of restaurants, and it’s easy to hop on the Skytrain.
After checking in, we walked over to Emsphere, one of Bangkok’s newer and flashier malls. Bangkok seems to be in a constant competition to build bigger and newer malls, so even a place as new as Emsphere already has competition.
Thailand is a Buddhist country, but they absolutely love Christmas and go all out for it. Emsphere had set up a full Christmas village, which is always fun to wander through. I couldn’t help but notice the milk bread shaped like Santa Claus. I make milk bread myself, but what they did was well beyond my capabilities.
They even had parades with people dressed up as as United Overseas Bank Mascotts. The children leoved it!
Sophon found some durian in the gourmet shop. I joked that all he had to do was follow the smell. There was no way I was going to let him bring that back to the room.
For dinner, we settled on boat noodles. I have to admit, I think Mae Malai’s boat noodles in Thai Town Hollywood are better, but the ones we had at the mall were still very good.
It felt good to be back in Bangkok. The city always has something going on, and tomorrow we planned to get out and start exploring again.
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