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
Chaweng beach road at 5:45 a.m. on a dry December morning is where I begin every full island tour on the NMAX 155. The ring road junction near the Big C takes me north first - always north - because the pre-dawn light on Choeng Mon bay is the best on the island and the NMAX reaches it before any rental tuk-tuk has started its engine. At 80 km/h on the coastal road the engine has not yet fully warmed and the throttle responds with the directness that the Filano never reaches.
Leaving Mae Nam at first light heading east toward Choeng Mon headland on the narrow coastal lane, the NMAX 155 earns its place as a touring scooter rather than just a faster automatic. The road drops and climbs over three small headlands, testing suspension travel and braking control. The NMAX absorbs concrete road joins cleanly and holds its line through the bends without the front washing wide. By the time I reach the Choeng Mon beach car park, the route has covered 28 kilometres and the bike feels completely settled.
Crossing to the west coast at 10 a.m., after the northern beaches have filled and before the afternoon ferry traffic has built at Nathon, gives the NMAX 155 the best version of the west coast road. Tree shade covers most of the 22-kilometre section between the junction above town and the southern tip junction. I held 75 km/h through most of it last January, passing the rubber plantation sections with one hand on the throttle. The Nathon market makes the ideal mid-tour stop - 40 minutes, fresh fruit, strong Thai coffee, then south along the ring road.
I watched another guide on the mountain road above Nathon last March struggling with a tourist pillion on an XMAX 300 - the scooter was too wide for the tight right-hand bend above the first viewpoint. My NMAX 155 cleared the same bend at 45 km/h without any drama. The NMAX is narrow enough for Samui's mountain road single-lane sections and powerful enough to maintain momentum through the gradient changes. That combination - narrow enough to fit and powerful enough to climb - is what makes the NMAX the correct touring scooter for Samui's elevated roads.
The southern loop between Lamai and Laem Sor beach covers Samui's least-trafficked 30 kilometres. I measured a consistent 38 km/l fuel consumption on this stretch last December - the gradient changes and variable road surface kept average speed at 55 km/h rather than the ring road's 75 km/h, so fuel efficiency was slightly better than highway cruising. The track to Laem Sor's beach entrance is hard-packed sand for 300 metres. The NMAX handles it at walking speed without difficulty; the 150-series rear tyre provides enough contact on the firm sand edges.
Seven years of full island circuits on Koh Samui have produced a route I now ride every quarter as a calibration for any new scooter: Chaweng north to Choeng Mon, Mae Nam, Bo Phut, north coast road, west coast to Nathon, mountain road, south coast, Lamai, and back to Chaweng. Total 84 kilometres. Time on the NMAX 155: 2 hours 20 minutes of riding plus stops. No other scooter in the rental market completes this circuit in the same time with the same comfort. The NMAX is built for exactly this kind of day.
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