One of the best investments we ever made...

Apart from getting hooked up to the municipal water supply when it finally arrived at our end of the street the best improvement we made to Baan Bophut was to build our little beach bar - The Spirit House.

photo credit: Chris Lyon - friend & guest

It's the focal point we needed for guests to meet and mingle, and an idyllic location for a sundowner or three. It really is the perfect spot to enjoy some of Samui's glorious sunsets, and unlike many of the bars in the village, we usually catch the cooling onshore breeze that can pick up at the same time.

Quite apart from paying for itself quite quickly, it must have saved us a fortune as, for our family at least, it's become our favourite haunt of an evening. Since these photos were taken, the bar has been extended by about 70 cm to the west to create more space for when we need to use two barmen. The bar's decking has also been extended by 1.5m all around in response to guests' claims that they fell off - yeah right. Another table and additional stools are currently en route from Chiang Mai.

We must admit that a large part of the bar's draw is barman Tik, an intelligent, intensely curious and entertaining card-shark. He's been warned not to take money from guests, no matter how convinced they know where the queen is, or whatever. Like most Thais, Tik is also an enthusiastic cook and responsible for both, the idea and the implementation of our ever popular seafood dinners on the beach.

Irrepressible barman and card trickster Tik