I’m Sandy, the founder and head of operations at mate.travel. Our goal is simple: to be your reliable go-to source of information, whether you’re spending a day or a year on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, or Koh Tao. While living here myself for over a decade, I’ve learned how much there is to discover – from the best-hidden gems to the latest hotspots, and everything in between. However, there wasn’t a place to find or share all this useful information – so I decided to create it!
The only thing worse than no information is wrong information. We work hard to ensure all the details we publish are verified and continuously updated.
We have no doubt that we provide truly valuable information. And with all the special offers you can literally make your money back once you’re in Thailand.
From the numerous filters in our Finders, to our Circle community platform to safely connect with others, everything is thoughtfully created with YOU in mind!
The inspiration to create this platform originated from a need I experienced myself: the struggle of finding accurate information about family-friendly events and places.
Even after living on Koh Samui for over 6 years, it was a challenge to stay in the know. Most of the info was scattered on Facebook and Instagram. Posts everywhere, groups galore. I’d easily miss events or the scoop on new spots.
Being part of those groups, I noticed that the same questions are being asked over and over again. Sometimes there were great answers, but they’d soon vanish into the Facebook abyss. What’s worse, people shared outdated or incorrect info and links to blogs seemingly written by individuals who had never set foot on any of the islands.
However, the real ‘aha!’ moment struck me when planning a short family getaway. I spent hours looking through different platforms trying to find truly family-friendly hotels with a shallow kids’ pool and playground for my very active toddler. I realised how difficult it is to search for accommodation and activities with parameters that actually matter to us personally. Clearly, there was something missing… Eureka! The idea for mate.travel was sparked.
A big shout-out goes to my husband Giovanni, who dedicated every spare minute to help me bring the idea to life and develop this incredible website. His unwavering support and hard work have turned my vision into a reality. I couldn’t have done it without him!
Our mission is clear: to be the ultimate source of information for families, solo travellers, couples or groups of friends planning a holiday in Thailand, or those considering making it their home. We are here to provide you with detailed, accurate, and up-to-date information so that you have all the tools necessary to discover the perfect event, place, activity, service or tour that suits your needs. We haven’t found anything like this out there, so we created it.
But that’s not all! We wanted to create a platform where people can connect, share their experiences, seek advice, arrange play dates, and engage with like-minded people. To achieve this, we have set up a private server on Discord, ensuring a safe environment where our community can interact without relying on social media platforms.
To make joining us an absolute no-brainer, we partnered with numerous businesses on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. They will offer fantastic discounts and other perks to our members, so your membership will pay for itself!
Last but not least, we strive to give local businesses a platform to showcase their services, promote their latest offers and share news. Too often great places and events don’t get the exposure they deserve.
We see the current stage of mate.travel just as the starting point, and our list of ideas for things and locations to add is… well, really, really long. We’re delighted you’re here and hope you join us on this exciting journey!
Besides being an informal term for friend, ”mate” also represents our mission to help visitors to Thailand have the Most Amazing Time Ever. We use the domain extension ".travel" instead of the more common ".com” to emphasise our focus on travelling and exploration. And it’s also part of our name, which you pronounce mate dot travel.
Need some help? No worries! Click on the above icon and it'll take you straight to our FAQ page. You'll find tons of useful info there. Happy browsing!
Got a local business? Awesome! We'd love for you to join us. Just click on the above icon and it'll take you to our sign-up page. Best part? It's absolutely free!
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