As each edition of the guide is a substantially different product it does require a separate purchase. However, discounts are offered by email to past customers (see below).
90-day exception: Any customers who purchased The Koh Samui Guide within 3 months (90 days) of a new edition release are eligible to upgrade their existing guidebook at no further cost. Eligible customers will receive a code by email.
Discounts: All past customers (subscribed to email updates) will receive a limited-time discount code to purchase a new edition release. Subscribe here if you’re not already on the list.
Yes, you'll receive pertinent updates by email (if you choose to subscribe). However, future editions of The Koh Samui Guide are substantially different products that require a separate purchase.
Email updates: If you choose to subscribe to email updates, you receive any pertinent updates by email within the "lifespan" of that edition. With 8 editions published between 2012 and 2024, each edition typically spans one to two years (or thereabouts – pandemics, y’know).
What do email updates cover: I do my absolute best to keep 'my baby' current and my readers informed. Any adjustments are made as needed – even details like "the mini-golf course became a bungalow resort". Rarely are such updates anything of global significance (unless you love mini golf) – but I try to cover them. As mentioned, customers receive these updates by email (should they choose to subscribe).
Tip: When you checkout, make sure to keep the blue box for "Yes! I want my updates emails" checked. If you uncheck this box I'm legally prohibited from emailing you – spam laws and all that. And there’s your mini-golf career down the drain.
With 8 editions published between 2012 and 2024, each edition typically spans one to two years (or thereabouts – pandemics, y’know). Say an average of eighteen months. It’s often a matter of waiting for enough to change and enough new information to warrant an entirely new guide.
As mentioned in other answers, customers can opt-in to receive updates by email throughout the lifespan of their purchased edition.
👀 No release date yet, but it’s in progress.
To get the most value out of The Koh Samui Guide, I recommend using it as your very first step to get to know Koh Samui – as soon as you put the island on your travel list.
Take it from these past customers:
"I didn't know anything about Koh Samui and this is the definitive guide. It helped me to understand where everything is." – Pim
"I feel I know the island without having arrived yet." – Mike
"I have spent hours reading your guide, and I've gone from knowing nothing to feeling like I know Koh Samui like I know the back of my own hand. I now know everything (and more) that I wanted to know about Koh Samui/Thailand!! – Lecinda
If your alternative is 20,498 browser tabs and total confusion – I recommend starting your planning on page one.Sorry, my expertise is Koh Samui and Koh Samui only. I’d love to tackle a Bangkok guide one day, but The Koh Samui Guide will be my priority for now.
However, I can recommend some other Thailand travel guides and corollary reading:
The best Thailand travel guides
The best books about Thailand (novels)
The 25 best books about BangkokTrue story: A reader commented on the 2nd (2013) edition that "the only thing missing was where the good bird viewing spots were (LOL). A bit specialised I know".
Challenge accepted. You'll now find bird-watching tips and the 50 bird species I've seen on Koh Samui in Chapter 17.
Wondering whether The Koh Samui Guide covers your particular questions and concerns? Whether it's Koh Samui beaches, car rental, family hotels, Lamai, nannies, nightlife, travel insurance, what to wear, the weather in a particular month, coffee and cocktails, the answer is – very likely – yes, it does.La guía se puede conseguir en español??
In truth, I had to Google Translate this email. Sorry, it’s in English only. Despite that, The Koh Samui Guide has been downloaded in 99 countries from 2012 to today. (And all 50 U.S. states including – at long last – South Dakota).
It's 434 pages of just Koh Samui – there's no room for anywhere else.
The Koh Samui Guide points a laser beam at Koh Samui. Top to bottom, over some rivers, around some waterfalls, backwards, frontwards and all the way to Tuesday. Intense, obsessive, multi-decade Koh Samui coverage.
As for specific places, the guide covers (A) getting you in and out of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport on your journey to Samui and (B) light coverage of how to get to Koh Tao and Koh Phangan – you're on your own after that.
However, if you're travelling elsewhere in Thailand, you might get value from the guide's preparation chapters: packing tips for a tropical climate, what to expect from Thai culture and Thai laws, plus some safety details.Every chapter offers associated tips, maps, ‘buyer beware’ details, charts, price guidelines, checklists, packing suggestions and further reading. (Can you tell I own a label maker?)
Thanks for your interest. For the sake of transparency to my customers, I don't accept advertising, sponsors, comps or any freebies for any establishments on Koh Samui. Ever.
All of my Koh Samui research is anonymous and I pay for everything myself as a normal guest or customer. (This Koh Samui-specific policy will mean *zero moral crisis* when Singapore Airlines asks me to review their Crazy Rich Asians suites ... any day now. Annyyyy day now).
However, I always welcome information and I'd love to get to know your property. Please send any press packets or particular highlights my way. If you're kind to animals or the environment – I want to know. It will be gratefully received and ensures your business gets on my research list for the next edition. Sound good? Get in touch.In literary terms, it’s about 20% as long as War and Peace – but much more readable.
Specifically:
88,410 words
900 photos
434 pages
19 chapters
1 instant PDF download
For every detail I add in answer to a customer question, I get a review asking for the guide to please be a bit shorter. So I've settled on 88,410 words as the screaming limit of length and detail.Your access to the edition you purchased never expires – that's your link for life. If you ever lose or misplace your download link you can easily reissue it yourself using the email address you used for your purchase:
Recover your download link
However, future editions of The Koh Samui Guide are substantially different products that require a separate purchase.
If you change your mind, buy The Koh Samui Guide expecting a hard copy book to ship to your house (it won't – it's a PDF download, I don't even have your address), or – like one man I fondly remember – mistake 'The Koh Samui Guide' for a guidebook to Bali ...
Orders are eligible for refunds if you have not downloaded The Koh Samui Guide.
No refunds are possible after downloading the guide.
(Exception: If you accidentally make a duplicate order, of course, I will refund the duplicate – no problem at all).To reiterate: The Koh Samui Guide is a strictly digital product. It's a beauty, but it does NOT arrive via mailman.
I cannot emphasise enough that I will not be mailing you, or anyone, an actual book.
The Koh Samui Guide has but one earthly form: a 434-page, 19-chapter, 30 megabyte PDF file that you can choose to print, and/or put on your computer/iPad/phone/etc. You get the download link immediately after your purchase.
Will you love it just as much as a real book? I hope so – see these incredible customer reviews.
Very easily. Three quick steps will take you less than three minutes:
(1) purchase your copy
(2) receive your download link
(3) download your PDF guide to your computer, phone or tablet.
It’s a digital download guidebook (PDF) so you’ll never wait for shipping.
Need more help? These instructions were tested on a real live Baby Boomer.Very easily! The Koh Samui Guide will work like any PDF file you want to save to your phone or iPad. However, it is a large file (about 30 Mb) so it might take a moment to fully open/download.
If you don’t see the ‘save to iBooks’ option, give it a minute to load completely (especially on slower island internet).
For more help, see step-by-step guides with screenshots.
Please note: Beyond these step-by-step download instructions, I'm unable to provide tech support for adding the PDF file to specific devices. If you figured out Zoom during Covid, you can do this.Yes, you can add The Koh Samui Guide to your Kindle, as you would any PDF. I believe you email the file to your personal Kindle email address. See instructions at Tech Radar.
Please note: Beyond these step-by-step download instructions, I'm unable to provide further tech support for specific devices.
After your purchase, complete your download. From there, it's just a normal PDF file to print as you would any other document. It's 434 pages, so you might want to run it on a greyscale or economy print setting to save your ink cartridges.
If it only prints 30 pages, it's probably because your printer ran out of paper. (Actual answer to an actual question).Your purchase of The Koh Samui Guide comes with 10 downloads for your own use – more than enough to put your copy on your laptop/phone/iPad and print it out for yourself.
If you get a little click-happy and reach your download limit, just send me a quick email and I’ll reset it for you. No problem!
Tip: When downloading your guide, click 'download' – just once! The file is 30mb so it can take a few minutes to fully download. Clicking 'download' repeatedly will reset it back to the start.
Step-by-step: How to download The Koh Samui Guide.Lost your download link? No problem.
First, search your email for 'The Koh Samui Guide'. If you don't see it, you can easily re-issue your download link yourself:
Recover your download link
^ Enter the email you used for purchase and you're immediately reunited.
If you still can’t find it: Not to worry. On rare occasions, customers have made orders with a typo ('gNail.com'). Just send me a note and I’ll send you a new download email: support[at]thekohsamuiguide.comI'm clicking download and nothing is happening.
The Koh Samui Guide is a 30 mb PDF file so it can take a few minutes to fully download (on slow or outdated island internet).Clicking 'download' repeatedly will reset your download back to the start – a vicious cycle that will get you nowhere!
If you've clicked your download link and it seems like nothing is happening – click the download button (on a desktop) or the file name (on a phone/tablet) just once. Then wait a moment.
Your file download will begin (saved to wherever you save your downloads).
Please see this tutorial for step-by-step screenshots.This has happened exactly twice since I first published The Koh Samui Guide in 2012. In both cases, the customers used an obscure email provider that truncated links. (Your download link is pretty long – and the linked portion had been cut off within the email).
Simple solution? If you're the third person in history for whom the link doesn't work:
Copy and paste the link into your browser, rather than clicking it.
Instant fix (to a problem I promise I didn't cause).Can't access your email? No problem. I, too, have suffered the Hotmail graveyard. Just get in touch with (A) the email address used for your order and (B) the email address you'd prefer to use instead. I'll resend your email receipt with your download link.
support[at]thekohsamuiguide.com
Dad jokes only right? Stolen directly off the menu from a Thai restaurant in Toronto ...
Who won the Bangkok Marathon?
[It was a Thai]If you need some help or don’t see the answer you’re looking for, send me a note at: alex[at]thekohsamuiguide.com
If it’s guidebook-related or something I can help with, I'll try my best to get back to you quickly.
Please note: Due to volume, I can't often respond to specific/individual travel questions (e.g. flight timing, itineraries, visas, etc). Thanks!