In 2024 we gave Koh Samui a six out of ten. It was a bit too big and too happening for us at the time, the island we would send families to, or anyone who did not want another boat.
A week there at the end of 2025 changed our minds. We had not spent enough time on Samui when we ranked it, and after that week we loved it. We love Koh Phangan too, but Samui felt more liveable: good hospitals, malls, a cinema, friends who live here, and an airport, which we need because we still travel a lot.
So after three years of full-time travel and more than 30 countries, we signed a 12 month lease on a villa in Lamai. We opened the series about it with the line that it might send us broke. This is what a month of living on Samui actually cost us, and the things nobody told us before we moved.
Five things that caught us out
1It is not cheap, not the way we do it
Everyone assumes Thailand is cheap. Our villa is three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a pool in Lamai for 120,000 baht a month, around 5,100 AUD, and electricity is on top. With four air cons running in that heat we budget 7,000 to 10,000 baht a month for it.
That is roughly what a Melbourne mortgage would cost us, except back home it would buy a two bedroom place in Moonee Ponds. Here the cleaning, the pool, the gardening, pest control and even the wifi are all in the rent.
You do not need to spend what we do. Fifteen to twenty minutes further out, the same style of villa is about 70,000 baht. We chose to pay more because we work from home, and bad accommodation and bad wifi wreck our work.
The rest is where Samui gets cheap. A night out might be 20 dollars, where a pub in Melbourne is easily 150 with 16 dollar pints. Tijs's haircut costs about 200 baht. Abbey's fringe, blow wave and colour cost 6,000 baht, about 300 dollars, and she thought that was outrageous.
2A house here does not come with bins
Nobody tells you what a long term rental in Thailand leaves out. The council does not supply bins, so you buy your own. We bought a water dispenser too, and had to arrange water delivery ourselves.
Tijs pulled over on the way to the bar to get the water delivery man's number, then found out he could not deliver to our villa.
Most of the house came from Lazada, which got to the island two days after we ordered. Tijs had said, very clearly, do not buy a waffle maker. A 400 baht waffle maker arrived in the boxes.
Tijs got his own win. The only decent coffee machine on Facebook Marketplace on the whole island turned out to be his favourite DeLonghi, and we paid 18,000 baht, about 800 dollars, for it.
And the eggs. We left a big batch on the bench the way we would in Australia. A week later they smelled like fish.
3The villa came with a dog
The owners went off travelling for four months soon after we moved in and left us Mindy, their dog. Apparently she only speaks German.
Walking her means carrying a stick. The street dogs on our soi are sometimes fine and sometimes get a bit funny, and they have already gone for us once.
4We should have bought the scooter
We leased a scooter for the whole year at 53,000 baht, about 4,400 baht a month. Then we learned the smarter move. An ADV like ours is about 110,000 baht to buy, and you can sell it again when you leave. The catch is that you need three months in Thailand on the DTV visa before you can get a licence and buy one. Next time we would lease for three months, then buy.
Abbey does not ride. She takes Grab scooters, which are a bargain at six to ten dollars a week, and our transport for the month came to about 288 dollars, against roughly 500 in Melbourne.
One night Tijs rode straight past our turn off on the way home, then wanted to turn right across the busiest road on the island. The line that stuck from that ride: never trust Tijs without maps.
5Eating out every meal does not work for us
You could eat local for breakfast, lunch and dinner and live very well. Local meals are three to five dollars, and we did exactly that for our first three months in Thailand. One night market dinner for us came to 230 baht, and the coconut desserts there are the best.
But it is hard to hit a protein goal on Thai food every meal, and there is a lot of oil. Most people we meet on Samui do not cook at all. We cook most of our meals to stay on top of our calories, and use Grab delivery for things like cottage cheese.
That makes groceries a real cost. Imported food is about Australian prices, a loaf of bread is about 10 dollars and egg whites are expensive, though normal eggs are cheap. Our weekly shop runs 200 to 250 AUD, and food and drink for the two of us came to around 1,900 AUD for the month. Fruit and vegetables from the small corner stores, not the big supermarkets, is where you save.
When we do go out for Thai, Ran Khang Non is our local pick. Northern Thai food, and the most amazing khao soi we have had.
The bits we would keep exactly the same
The training. Koh Fit in Lamai is our daily gym, with a pool, all the equipment and Muay Thai. Bring a shirt and runners, because you cannot train shirtless there, which Abbey finds very funny at Tijs's expense. The first time the gym's monthly Fit Fam workout and DJ pool party was on, we skipped it because we were hungry. We promised we would get involved the next month. For classes we go to Samui Fitness Lab, which has the best gym community on the island.
Padel. We took it up here and play once or twice a week at Padel Paradise Lamai. It is the one sport Abbey actually enjoys, and a session costs 200 to 600 baht depending on how many people you split the court with. Add Tijs's Muay Thai at about 600 baht a class and our health and fitness comes to about 440 AUD a month. In Melbourne we would have skipped both to save the money.
The sunsets. The Jungle Club is our all time favourite sunset spot. Book, because even off season there is a queue by 6pm, and get a scooter with enough power for the hill. For a cheaper night, Tiki Beach Club on Lamai is the chilled beach bar our friend Tegan sent us to, with way cheaper beers than the fancy beach clubs.
Five minutes to the beach. Lamai beach is one of the things we love most about living here, a big stretch of crystal blue water and white sand. All of our favourite coffee shops are in Lamai too, and we go out for at least one coffee each pretty much every day.
So, is it worth it?
Our running totals on Samui are quite similar to what we spent in Melbourne. The difference is what the money buys: a villa, eating out, padel and activities, five minutes from the beach. For us it is 100% worth it.
Two things before you come. Avoid October to December, Samui's rainy season, and November most of all. And the island is busier than it was. We heard the population has grown by about 65%, partly thanks to The White Lotus.
Abbey & Tijs