ady

I stayed on Haad Yao last month with my wife and three year old boy. I'd say it is the best beach for swimming in the sea (calm, warm water, gentle drop off), and many of the beach side resorts have swimming pools nowadays.

Check out the web site for Sandy Bay bungalows, for example, to see what you can get. We stayed up above the beach at High Life, as we have known the family that own the resort for so long, and like their food, service and staff.

We did not book in advance, as we arrived not near full moon, and all resorts had rooms available. You can walk to everything in the bay area 15 minutes, so no need for a scooter or taxis, unless you want to go further afield.

Sunset over the sea was at 6.15pm and we watched most of them with a G & T whilst junior played on the sand.

Hope you have a good break, whatever you decide to do.

Ady

Want to give a shout out to Patrick at Baan Computing in Ban Tai, KPN. Took my UK laptop there as it seemed to have expired whilst on holiday last week, and his healing hands coaxed it back to life within minutes.

He said that the heat and humidity might have been a factor, or leaving it plugged in to KPN mains electric might have done it no good, but any which way, it came back to life after three dead days and I was able to do the things I needed for my UK business without shortening my holiday. Maybe it just enjoyed getting out of the bungalow and jumping on the Sonic with me for a ride?

Patrick wouldn't take a fee, so I bought a USB stick from him and gave some money to a PAC collection box as well. Good to know there is some tech support on the island for such pesky problems (this was not needed here 12 years ago when I started to become a regular visitor, with a borrowed out-of-date Lonely Planet, a paper diary and my "future-proof" sony mini disc player).

Ady

Went to Peppercorn in Sri Thanu last week with my wife and child and a couple of island dwelling friends to celebrate my birthday, after strong recommendations from other people we know with businesses on the island. Had a great meal, especially impressive in terms of presentation and service as the restaurant was full that evening.

For those of you lucky enough to live on the islands, eating upstairs in the open air in a jungle may be old hat, but I thought the setting was lovely and the room simple.

My little 'un had a lasagne, which I helped him finish - it was delicious and very much home crafted. The four of us grown-ups had steaks and a vegetarian plate, with some red and white wines as a treat instead of beer. We tried a range of potatoes and veg, nice to have spinach in KPN. All had the green peppercorn sauce, I wouldn't vary from that if I ever have the chance to go back. And my t-bone was cooked exactly as I asked.

So hat's off to Friddi and the team for delivering a lovely occasion, and I must say thanks to OT and his team at High Life Had Yao for our complimentary taxi drop off and to my dining companions for picking up the cheque, which was kind but not necessary.

Ady / Nic / Alfie