Seaflower Bungalows, a Thai/Canadian ownership since 1987, and continued to be a family business joined by their two daughters. It is reputed for its easy going chilled atmosphere and family like hospitality where countless guests have forged lifelong friendships and continue to return year after year.
We offer a range of accommodation, from the traditional style bungalows for the budget minded traveler to more comforts and amenities in the traditional Thai architectural-style bungalows. In the recent addition, we’ve also created a modern Thai style boutique hotel facing the swimming pool and amongst lush gardens. Our wide beachfront property and site lay out allow our bungalows both a view of the sea and the prominent tropical gardens for which Seaflower is renown. Our restaurant will entice you with a wide variety of both Thai and Western dishes from tasty Thai curries, salads, pasta dishes, and homemade burgers. Most dishes can be served vegetarian! You can also savour our delicious beach barbecues and tantalizing cocktails directly by the sea at our own Heaven Bar – a must gathering place for the evening, beginning with the sunset, the best show of the day!
Lise and Chai met each other on this exact beach (Had Chao Pao) a few years before they decided to create a little paradise of their own. There were only a few bungalow establishments on Koh Phangan at that time, but Chai knew the backpackers were to hit the island soon. Koh Samui was already a little haven for backpackers in the mid 80s.
Seaflower Bungalows started in 1987 with a few thatch bungalows on the beach. They were constructed one by one with coconut wood and attached by an outdoor toilet and shower made with big stones stacked on top of each other with concrete. The original restaurant in the middle of the gardens where everybody gathered is still standing to date! By 1988 about 10 bungalows were built and their twin girls arrived in the world. They juggled running and building up a little business with raising two children on the beach. Back then with no electricity, paved roads, and many vehicles, life was basic and care-free. With the help from many people from the community, family and friends, the little piece of paradise was created and still going strong to date.
Backpackers came to the island by word of mouth mostly. Every high season guests would try to arrive a little bit earlier than the others to grab their desired bungalow. With no internet or even phones, accommodation was first come first serve. With many returning guests year after year, everybody became friends, and they were all of part the growing Seaflower family.
In 1999 Lise and Chai took their daughters to Canada where they studied in English and learned the Canadian way of life. As the island was growing rapidly because of the boom of internet, they decided it was time to come back full time in 2008. Their daughters eventually followed after graduating university.
Now, Seaflower bungalows have expanded with the extension of a boutique hotel looking on to the swimming pool in the middle of the gardens. Mixing the old and the new, they’ve tried to keep the same relaxed, family run business vibe. They still see their dear friends who first visited us in the late 80s and 90s come back year after year. Not to mention, all the other guests who’ve become friends and part of the Seaflower Family to this date!
It’s the best feeling when guests have said “Seaflower feels like coming home!”
