Koh Samui has long been the locale of choice for paradise seeking foreigners from all parts of the globe. Its shimmering turquoise waters and sun bleached, white sandy bays are lined with bungalows, villas and resorts.
Its happening night life with a plethora of restaurants feeds the epicureans and provides a magnificent back drop to beautiful sunsets and starry nights.
Recent History
The origin of the local southern Thailand population comes from settling sea-farers from the Hainan Island in southwest China. Coconut cultivation was the main activity long before jet-skis, yachts and swimming pools became the norm. Perhaps due to these early influences the local people refer to themselves as “Samui folk – chao samui” rather than Thais.
More recently Samui was discovered by intrepid globetrotters over thirty years ago. As the worlds’ ‘paradise’ locations started to become more accessible in the late 70’s and early 80’s and knowledge of them became wide spread, locations such as Samui, Goa and indeed Bali crept on to the agenda for the masses.
In current times, many of the businesses on Samui are owned or operated by Bangkok Thais or Europeans so if you want to get a taste of the old style Islanders you have to travel to the small villages to the south and western sides of the island.
Samui now boasts thousands of different rooms and bungalows; you can choose from a fan cooled small bamboo shack to suites fit for presidential occupation.
In the day time and early evening, shopping strips peddle fashion knock-downs, artworks and accessories for the holiday making public. As night time falls this transforms into a light party atmosphere with bars, restaurants and night haunts opening their doors.
If this is not for you then the sight-seeing and travelling locally around Samui and its surrounding islands could be the thing for you. Locations on the island such as Big Budda Pier and the water falls at Na Muang, also the Ang Thong National Park to the east of Koh Samui all come to mind. Northwards across the water stand the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. Lastly, and by no means least, for the action hero type there is always scuba diving and snorkelling around the islands in the National Marine Park area to the west of Koh Samui and other local dive sites of interest.
The Weather
Generally, the dry season is from February till late June. July till October, during the south west monsoon, it can rain intermittently, and from October to January high winds can be experienced due to the north east monsoon season. October and November tend to see the heaviest rain fall but this can vary from season to season depending on the weather fronts in Malaysia at the time.
Travel
Bangkok Airways flies at least twelve flights a day in to Koh Samui International Airport which generally take around 50 minutes from take off to landing. They also operate regular internal flights to Phuket and to Pattaya for those who want to travel further afield. The airport currently has other daily connections to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The airport has recently expanded and is growing all the time.
Rail travel is also available on the mainland up to Bangkok by overnight train from Donsak, the local town. Coaches also go daily to Bangkok and other locations throughout Thailand.