The Best of Both Worlds at Silvermoon Jungle and Beach Resort

Another beautifuul day on Koh Phangan, another adventure to an island gem with Leo Beer!

This time we went to see Heinz, Nut and their family at Silvermoon Jungle and Beach Resort which is just after the first hill on the way to Haad Rin.
 

We sat down with Heinz to find out more...

Thank you for having us at Silvermoon, tell us your Koh Phangan story…
Well it’s a long one but I’ll keep it short, I moved thirteen and a half years ago to Koh Phangan after making business in Thailand for a while already.

I decided I wanted to stay here on the island but had a break of for one year in Chang Mai and then after tsunami season came back to Phangan and opened restaurants in Haad Rin including Planet Hollyfood which is still popular. I did the beach soccer tournament for eight and a half years, every full moon, so I did exactly one hundred and two tournaments.

I was also commentating muay thai in English language on the cars you see and hear going around, I did this for five to seven different stadiums for many many years.

So last year this is when we got Silvermoon, we moved in July and opened at the end of september.

We have done some renovating but haven’t changed much, everything is new, new beds etc but without tearing walls or something else down. This is not just a budget decision but it is hard to get permission for certain buildings especially beach properties.

What attracted you to Silvermoon?
It’s the location, location, location. People come just one time and see the magic of the beach, it's loneliness.

I was looking for years for this in Koh Phangan as a break from my history of having businesses in Haad Rin where it is always busy, lots of talking and busy busy busy!

For two years I was a tourist police volunteer as well! Clearing jet ski or motorbike accident cases. You are the person who gets the call from the police or victims etc, so this was a lot to handle.

I was looking for a place to stay for a long time and relax as I have now been here for fifteen years.

I have read some great reviews and in particular people mention that ‘nothing is too much trouble and about you, the amazing owners’ is customer service important to you?
Yes, it's a big advantage to be of been here for around thirteen years now and to know places and give proper recommendations.

Our guests can get advice on all services and it is useful especially for parties, we ask them what they like and can tell them what’s the best one for them.

And last but not least the concept for the resort is a full service thing with food events, we have a seafood bbq and Thai food on Wednesdays.

The whole service thing starts with the room, then the food, running restaurants for many years has put us at an advantage.

We also have our Up2You travel agency so can recommend and fully organise the tours whether it’s a hippy trip or a more conservative speedboats tour.

After travelling in Thailand for a while you get to know things so I can give them the choice of this range for different price brackets or taste.

You really have Phangan’s ‘best of both worlds’, the jungle and the beach here at Silvermoon...
Yes, alone the name ‘Silvermoon Jungle and Beach Resort’ is an expression of the location so you don’t expect a lady bar next door.

It’s also part of the concept, the jungle in the back and then the beach here, we also have the sunset boat seating area and we hope we can get more people from outside to join us for sunset as we have no neighbours or loud parties.

What are your plans with Silvermoon for the future?
Fixing our road, the steep one down to the beach. We already have a new landscape and at the moment we’re calculating the price so where and when we finish we’re not quite sure but we are certainly working on it!

We have the car and can take our guests all over the island, most people who come to Phangan want ‘party and retreatment’ so you have the best of both here.

One reason we are fully booked for full moon is we are perfect for party goers but without staying in the main part area of Haad Rin for twenty four hours.

Tell us the inspiration for the food you serve which we have heard good things about?
The seafood bbq is very delicious, we have fish, squid, crab, shrimps and other meats plus veggie food. There’s more people asking for vegetarian now and everyone enjoys that you get a lot as it’s all you can eat.

The bbq started as a promotional thing but was so successful that we kept it going.

We do this every Sunday evening and people from outside are more than welcome if they give us a confirmation call beforehand.

Everyday also we have a fully equipped thai and international menu, we have a similar menu to our other restaurant Planet Hollyfood in Haad Rin.

What makes Silvermoon special from the rest for sunset?
I think the abandonment of the beach and that we have no neighbours. We also have a small laguna and bays on both sides before any of the next neighbours come.

The atmosphere is chilled with chilled music, relaxed people, good drinks and then always the option to stay longer for a nice dinner.

There’s not so many good restaurants which are right on the beach.

You probably don’t have any at the moment but what do you like to do in your free time?
I was playing football until I was fifty so I used to do that but since then I just see friends, relax, go fishing or play snooker.

I love the beach here, how could I leave it?!

I used to like parties for some years but now it’s like a Cheech and Chong movie, every time I go it’s like a party I have seen already.

And leave us with your life philosophy…
I'm not religious at all but I think that good karma helps you in your life, if I don’t see people twice in my life we are gonna see each other somewhere else.

I moved to Thailand Koh Phangan because I wanted to change something, to change my life.

I still want to be active but without being stressed, without this nine to five job thing, I have almost have never done this in my life actually.

I married in Thailand, we have two kids and my family life is very good which is another inspiration for my family to settle here in this paradise location.