Nathon
This is the main town of the island although it has fast been eclipsed by
Chaweng.
Its the administration center for local government and has the widest
selection of banks / medical /government /and business services.
The main town area is approx. 1 km. along the main road , by 200 meters down to
the waterfront .Most of the shops , travel agent's , restaurants are within
this boundry.
Shops in town are tourist shops , meaning prices are up ,
bargain hard.
The locals buy from the markets or festivals
The Nathon market is in the middle of town on the main road, as with any market
in Thailand early morning is the best time to be there ( 6 am.) although its
open all day . Buy all fruits and vegetables from the markets they're cheaper
and fresher than the supermart's.
Transport around town is on either taxi motorcycles , taxi's ( the same as go
around the island ) or a very rare tuk tuk . But really theres nowhere in town
you can't walk in 5 minutes.
During the wet season be prepared to get your feet wet as the drainage system
can't cope with the volume of water ,
take care on bikes and cars as there can often be knee depth floods.
these can be fun.
and mostly only last an hour or so.
The main taxi stop for going around the island is on the waterfront , but they
usually circle town a couple of times to pick up passengers so you can catch
one from anywhere on the main road.
However the bus's and mini bus's to the mainland only leave from the
waterfront.
Comeing to Koh Samui by either train or bus means you'll arrive via ferry or
express boat. (preferably ferry ). Most likely you'll be met on the boat by
agents for various bungalows , this is as good a way as any of finding a place
to stay.
Otherwise you can face the hectic rush hour of the taxi's. ( its sometimes
better to rest up in a restaurant for an hour untill things calm down ).At
arrival time the taxi's do'nt leave untill they're full , which can mean
loading
20 people ( sometimes fun , hanging out the back
of a pickup with the concrete rushing past at 100 km/h and the only thing
stopping you from joining it is one hand holding a rusty piece of metal ,
sometimes just plain scary ,
) .
The taxi's travel two main directions . North to Chaweng via Mae Nam ,Boput
with some branching off to Big Buddha .
And South to Lamai , sometimes there are around island taxi's .Timetables are
flexable but you usually wont wait more than 20 minutes unless the taxis are
full ,which can happen especially early morning as everyone is off to catch the
boats and market.
Taxi's run 6 am - 6 pm . outside these times you may have to charter one which
can cost you 100's of baht.
There are a number of hotels in or just outside Nathon , these can be
convenient if your leaveing by morning bus or boat as they save the hassle of
the full taxi's.
Nathon is a good place to rent bike's or cars , haggle.