The Ultimate Gay Travel Guide
The Gay Passport is your complete Gay Travel Guide. Looking to Drink, Play or Sleep we have reviews to help. Award-winning & Updated 2023.
Drink.
All across the island are a number of small bars dotted up and down every beach but if you are looking to dance the place to be is Silver Sands, a beachfront open-air nightclub on Ao Phai beach. During the week this place is quiet, however, on weekends the venue becomes as gay and busy as Bangkok’s biggest gay club, DJ Station.
Just a bit further north from Silver Sands is Haad Sai Kaew and Ao Hin Khok beaches, both filled with parties during the weekends. These parties do tend to be straighter and more Thai-style, often hosting karaoke and Thai pop music.
Gay Koh Samet offers a welcome break for the sleazy party atmospheres that are on offer in Phuket and Pattaya.
The bars start and end early in Koh Samet. Silver Sands the island’s main dance club turns the music off at midnight.
Beer is big in Thailand the main local brands are Chang, Leo and Sighna. Red Bull’s roots are also in Thailand but note the original/local version is not carbonated (no fizz or bubbles).
For something stronger, the Thai classic has to be SangSom. Confusingly it’s often sold as “Thai whiskey” but is actually rum, distilled from sugarcane. SangSom is also the main component of Thailand’s notorious “buckets of alcohol.”
At night time for gay travelers, there is only one option on Samet – Silver Sands. It’s a mixed dance club on Sai Keaw Beach. This is the main nightclub and the biggest potential gay bar on Koh Samet. The open-air club is part of the resort located right on the beachfront. It gets busy every weekend with Bangkokers and tourists spilling onto the beach. Imagine Bangkok’s DJ Station, slightly nicer on a tropical beach here at Silver Sands Koh Samet.
Silver Sands is part of the Samed Pavilion resort. It’s one of the nicer resorts along this part of the beach with room types; Sea View, Garden and Family Garden. While Sea view villas offer a great view they are closer to the nightclub, Garden villas are quieter.
Music: Typical gay bar music playing international dance-pop with the odd Thai favorite mixed in.
Crowd: Young professional from Bangkok getting away to enjoy the beach.
Drinks: Drinks can be a little more expensive than the other island bars. Bucket cost between 400-500 Baht ($12-15 USD) but beware they are strong. A large beer costs around 120 Baht ($4 USD). If you are visiting Thailand be sure to try a Thai drink bucket.
Dress: Imagine a gay nightclub on the beach – normally people wear very little, just short shorts and a vest top (singlet).
Silver Sand Resort and Night Club is the best gay beach bar and dance club on the island and is located on Sai Keaw Beach on the east coast of the island.
Tub Tim Koh Samet | Relaxed Gay Paradise
While Silver Sands is best for nighttime, Tub Tim Beach is perfect for a relaxed daytime. The restaurant has a huge menu of amazing food including Thai and European food. The resort and bar are famous for its relaxed attitude to bring your own alcohol onto their tables. Don’t worry, if your own supply of alcohol dries up the bar’s prices are reasonable.
The resort’s huts (bungalows) are very popular too. Incredibly with 100 huts on-site the resort is still booked up months early for most weekends. Book early if you can because, like the restaurant, the huts are some of the cheapest on Koh Samet. The huts come in different classes ranging from just fan rooms to more luxurious beachfront cabins locations with A/C and hot showers.
Tub Tim’s is on the gayest beach on Koh Samet and becomes the gathering place every weekend. There are tables of gay guys at the resort all day but the beach begins to get really busy around 4 pm and peaks just before the sun goes down around 7 pm. At its peak, there could be up to 100 – 200 buff gay men on the beach. This scale of gather only happens on Saturdays, especially on Thai holiday weekends.Music: The resort plays no music however on the weekends some of the tables may bring their own speakers and play their own music.
Crowd: A total mix of European tourists, long-term ex-pat residences, and gay weekenders Bangkokers.
Tub Tim Resort is the most chilled resort and restaurant on Koh Samet and is located at Ao Tub Tim on the east coast of the island.
The Gay Passport is your complete Gay Travel Guide. Looking to Drink, Play or Sleep we have reviews to help. Award-winning & Updated 2023.