Think & Retro Cafe — Restaurant in Surat Thani Province

My wife and I had a wonderful stay of almost 2 weeks at the THINK and Retro Café in Lipa Noi. This was our 2nd visit (the first was in early 2017). The “recycle and reuse” concept behind Think is quite ingenious and the shipping container bungalows, beyond the novelty factor, are well designed and kept sparkling clean by the staff. There is A/C in the sleeping/living area and the bathrooms are separated by sealed glass doors. ||Other containers and repurposed materials are also used for the café/restaurant which is on the beach side of the compound. Think has managed to create a multitude of individual spaces to hang out, eat, have a drink, while keeping everything open and connected.||Guests are provided an “American” (eggs, toast, etc) or Asian (khao tom—rice soup—with choice of protein and a fruit plate) breakfast set. We generally had the excellent Asian set, but the Western-style breakfast was sufficient and tasty.||The restaurant has an extensive menu of Thai and Western food. Naturally, seafood predominates. We did not try any of the Western dishes except the Tom Yum seafood pizza (it’s quite good!), but we did a good job of eating our way through the Thai menu. Everything we had was good to excellent. We love spicy food, but not everything was “hot” spicy. The khao pad sapparod (pineapple fried rice) was outstanding and redolent of spices like cinnamon and cardamon. The various “salads” like woon sen (glass noodle salad) and the curries were also wonderful.||We thoroughly enjoyed our time at THINK. Chalie, his wife, and the staff were incredibly nice & helpful.||Happy hour runs from 4:30-6:30 daily and Mr. Boi provides live music on Fridays and Sundays.||Chalie also owns the I-Talay Beach Bar & Cottages, which are 2.5 km south in Taling Ngam. We also stayed there in 2017 and highly recommend it, particularly for the drop-dead gorgeous sunsets. ||Lipa Noi is on the west coast of Samui. THINK is closest to the Raja Ferry pier (1km), though the Nathon pier is only about 7km away. The beach is long and curved with white sand. The water is perfect for swimming at both low and high tides. There are almost no waves, so it’s a great place for families with children. It is not a “party” beach like Chaweng or Lamai. If you want hundreds of bars, restaurants, and shops, Lipa Noi is not for you. But if you are looking to relax, swim, and have some great food in a beautiful environment, then you should...

My wife and I had a wonderful stay of almost 2 weeks at the THINK and Retro Café in Lipa Noi. This was our 2nd visit (the first was in early 2017). The “recycle and reuse” concept behind Think is quite ingenious and the shipping container bungalows, beyond the novelty factor, are well designed and kept sparkling clean by the staff. There is A/C in the sleeping/living area and the bathrooms are separated by sealed glass doors. ||Other containers and repurposed materials are also used for the café/restaurant which is on the beach side of the compound. Think has managed to create a multitude of individual spaces to hang out, eat, have a drink, while keeping everything open and connected.||Guests are provided an “American” (eggs, toast, etc) or Asian (khao tom—rice soup—with choice of protein and a fruit plate) breakfast set. We generally had the excellent Asian set, but the Western-style breakfast was sufficient and tasty.||The restaurant has an extensive menu of Thai and Western food. Naturally, seafood predominates. We did not try any of the Western dishes except the Tom Yum seafood pizza (it’s quite good!), but we did a good job of eating our way through the Thai menu. Everything we had was good to excellent. We love spicy food, but not everything was “hot” spicy. The khao pad sapparod (pineapple fried rice) was outstanding and redolent of spices like cinnamon and cardamon. The various “salads” like woon sen (glass noodle salad) and the curries were also wonderful.||We thoroughly enjoyed our time at THINK. Chalie, his wife, and the staff were incredibly nice & helpful.||Happy hour runs from 4:30-6:30 daily and Mr. Boi provides live music on Fridays and Sundays.||Chalie also owns the I-Talay Beach Bar & Cottages, which are 2.5 km south in Taling Ngam. We also stayed there in 2017 and highly recommend it, particularly for the drop-dead gorgeous sunsets. ||Lipa Noi is on the west coast of Samui. THINK is closest to the Raja Ferry pier (1km), though the Nathon pier is only about 7km away. The beach is long and curved with white sand. The water is perfect for swimming at both low and high tides. There are almost no waves, so it’s a great place for families with children. It is not a “party” beach like Chaweng or Lamai. If you want hundreds of bars, restaurants, and shops, Lipa Noi is not for you. But if you are looking to relax, swim, and have some great food in a beautiful environment, then you should...

The rainy night we arrived at this joyful stockpile of shipping containers we were greeted warmly and led to our rooms as our escort held umbrellas over our heads, silly and not really necessary for the 10 meter walk, but thoughtful and comforting nonetheless. Our room was bigger than we expected and we were neither astonished nor disappointed after taking it all in. It was a bed and a bath and that's all we wanted. ||||The cafe was still going and a few tables held guests in good spirits, laughing and lounging. We grabbed our own table for one last Chang before collapsing in the cool air of our air-conditioned container room. The rain was lightly coming down like a jeweled curtain around the patio as we slowly examined each piece of furniture not quite sure, on first glance, what purpose it serves or from what materials it was sculpted from when it could be anything like a ceramic bathtub for a bench or rubber car tires hewn into a remarkably snug chair. Really, it was the perfect atmosphere after a few weeks of adventure in Thailand. ||||We awoke the next morning without much care to do anything all day, content to just stay at the hotel and watch as people walk along the beach or grab a bite at the cafe's shaded tables. Our breakfast was an easy delight in the warm breeze among the soft crashing of the cove's waves on our shore. I still remember enjoying that delicious bacon when we were greeted by two playful cats looking for a small consideration that might fall from our table. When nothing came the cats instead began to fight playfully in the sand before running off to the kinds of expeditions known only to the feline world. Without straying too far ourselves, we spent the rest of the day blissfully enjoying the scenery and the warm shallow waters.||||Though we only stayed a few nights, we felt recharged and ready to begin our adventures again. Think & Retro had everything we needed to really relax, to get away from the touristy realm of shopping and drinking and sightseeing and western-catered nightlife. We'll be back as soon as we can get to Ko...