[Jaysen]

Hey Kwickie

Both places are great, but have their differences.

I really liked samui, firstly for its beauty and cause its more chilled and relaxed than the fast paced phuket (patong in particular), and a great place to go for something different. It has all your shopping, nightlife and i think a bit more class than phuket. If your looking for a relaxed visit with a real tropical beach feel, then samui is your place, as eveything is practically built on the beach including some restaurants and most hotels.

While there is plenty of opportunity for a bit of mongering in samui, unfortunatly the quality in my opinion is not as good as phuket (put this down to size differences in the scene), but in saying this there are a "few dimonds in the rough" so to speak.

Chaweng is more full on than Lamai, with some fantastic restaurants, bars, clubs and beer bars. Lamai more relaxed and not as built up as chaweng, but i found lamai a little too relaxed for my likings!!

Phuket is also a great place to go, with something to do at all times of the day. Phuket also has great food, nightlife, shopping, watersports and sightseeing, although not as relaxed as samui. Phuket is also better for a bit of "FUN" and in my opinion has a slight edge over samui. However, I agree with the other bm's if you want something more relaxed stay slightly out of patong maybe karon or something.

At the end of the day, you need to chose which place you would prefer. Do some searches on the web to try and get a feel for both places. Im sure that regardless of what ever place you choose you will love it.. hence the begining of your love affair with thailand...... and you can always go to the other place next time.

Have fun

Jaysen