I'd say no! There's loads of interesting new areas of Thailand opening up for your Thailand fix. Samui just felt a bit tired and full when I was there 14 months ago. Chaweng was particularly grotty!

If you're tempted by Pranburi, have a look at the Aleenta - and i've heard great things about the areas further south of Pranburi around Chumphin, and then maybe head over to Samui/ Pha Ngan for a finale? I'm intrigued by the fact that Koh Pha Ngan has some nicer resorts open, as it's a pretty island with great beaches.... Heard rumours of an airport at some point too.

I am of course super-imposing what I want to do though so you could ignore my agenda!

well I haven't been recently but when we go back, I would definitely avoid Chaweng. I'm interested to see if Fishermans Village has changed drastically since we were there in 2004.

I felt that way about the place many years ago Sam, although Cheong Mon was pretty nice. We bypassed Koh Phangnan and went straight to Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan (which was spectacular) instead.

Airport... Koh Phangnan...is it big enough for a runway

Of course there's always Bali which we did not do justice on our first trip due to a bout of food poisoning.

well- of course I could recommend Bali- but thats a different forum

Airport... Koh Phangnan...is it big enough for a runway

Well, the government were about to start building a 2nd airport on Koh Samui until Bangkok Airways (who owned it) opened it up, and there are now 2 flights a day from Bangkok to Samui on Thai.

So it wouldn't surprise me to see Bangkok Airways looking for other opportunities!