French · 7 years on Samui
French motorcycle tour guide living on Koh Samui for 7 years. Marc leads group rides across southern Thailand and knows every road on the island.
Updated: May 2026
On the Chaweng ring road junction heading north last December at 5:50 a.m., the PCX 150 carrying two riders moved into the empty northern road with the engine barely audible. By the time we reached Choeng Mon bay at dawn - 14 kilometres - the PCX had delivered the kind of effortless arrival the sunrise warranted. The northern ring road from Chaweng to Mae Nam is the PCX 150's most natural early-morning route: flat, coastal, and covered in light before tourist traffic fills the beach road junctions.
The west coast road from the Chaweng junction to Nathon market last January on the PCX 150, two riders, 22 kilometres: we held 70 km/h through the tree-shaded mid-section, slowed through the Nathon market approach, and parked under the covered market structure within two hours of leaving Chaweng. The PCX carried the two-up load without any engine note change through the single coastal gradient above the rubber plantation. The Nathon market is the PCX's most practical two-up destination: short enough that any scooter completes it, but long enough that the PCX's comfort advantage over the Scoopy is felt.
Riding north from Chaweng to the Fisherman's Village in Bo Phut last March for the Thursday market - 12 kilometres on the coastal road, low traffic at 6 p.m. - and continuing to Mae Nam bay for the sunset viewpoint extended the day to 22 kilometres on the PCX. Two riders, soft evening light, the PCX's LED headlight making the twilight return to Chaweng comfortable at 65 km/h. This circuit - Fisherman's Village, Mae Nam bay, back to Chaweng - is the PCX 150's ideal evening route: accessible, scenic, and a distance the PCX handles with complete ease.
The circuit from Chaweng south to Lamai, out to Hin Ta and Hin Yai headland, and back last February covered 28 kilometres on the PCX 150 with a pillion. The PCX's ABS handled the steep descent to the Hin Ta car park - a tightly cambered road with gravel wash from the previous night's rain - with the same clean intervention I rely on from the NMAX. The southern circuit is one of the PCX's best-suited routes: meaningful distance, one significant gradient, and coastal views that reward the effort of reaching them.
Planning a two-night ring road tour last March - Chaweng, Nathon overnight, southern cape, Lamai overnight, back to Chaweng - I loaded the PCX with two-day luggage under the seat and a dry bag beside the pillion. The PCX's 28-litre underseat compartment accommodated both helmets and a day pack. At 70 km/h with this load, the suspension was still within its comfortable range - no bottoming on north coast road joins, no change in steering behaviour. The PCX handles overnight two-up touring on Samui without modification to the standard rental configuration.
Seven years of two-up touring on Koh Samui has produced a consistent PCX 150 route list: the north coast dawn circuit, the Nathon market west coast run, the Fisherman's Village evening loop, and the southern Lamai and Hin Ta circuit. All four keep two riders comfortable across 20 to 35 kilometres, stay within the PCX's natural comfort zone, and return with a different view of the island than the Chaweng beach corridor provides. No other 150cc scooter in the Samui rental fleet completes all four routes with the same two-rider comfort the PCX delivers as standard.
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