Before becoming a popular destination, attracting up to a million tourists a year, Samui was once the country's major coconut-growing area. Coconut growers lived and grew coconuts mostly in the foothills, leaving beaches unoccupied. The island still exports around 2 million coconuts per month.
People first settled in Koh Samui around 1500 years ago. The first inhabitants were fisherman seeking shelter from the wind in the calm waters of Bohput Bay, in the North of Koh Samui. They were quick to take advantage of the rich waters offering a plentiful supply of ink-fishes and other sea-food along with the fertile land. Small villages developed and the island population started to grow. The local population is only 34,000, mainly Buddhist and very friendly.
Getting to Koh Samui: The quickest and easiest way to reach Koh Samui is by air, it is about 80 mins from Bangkok by plane with 12 flights daily. You can also fly direct to Samui from Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket and Singapore.
Koh Samui is 280 kilometers squared and measures 21 kilometres at its widest point and 25 kilometres at its longest. The island is quite mountainous with a ridge running east to west. Pristine tropical rain-forest still covers most of the interior of the island. The coastline comprises numerous palm fringed powdery white sand beaches with crystal clear sapphire waters. Access to the beaches is very easy as a 50km ring road skirts the coast line. For such a small island, Samui offers a diversity of landscape, vistas, flora and fauna.
Koh Samui is warm throughout the year with the temperature normally ranging between 21-35 degrees Celsius.
The most developed town and by far the busiest tourist area is Chaweng on the east coast which also has a very large powdery white beach, and features water-sports galore.
After Chaweng, Lamai, also on the east coast, is the next busiest town and beach. A vast majority of the islands discos, bars and restaurants are also within Chaweng or Lamai.
Other popular and fairly developed beach towns include Mae Nam on the north coast, Bohput and Choeng Mong on the north east side. These towns are much quieter and smaller than Chaweng and Lamai.
On the west coast, Taling Ngam, Phang Ka, and Thong Krut and Bang Kao on the south coast are likely to be developed soon. There are also about 16 other quiet beaches spread around the island.
This island really is a paradise that has something for everyone. You can find a lifetime of adventure and entertainment on the island.
An unbeatable array of water-sports and scuba diving centres; a vibrant nightlife and an awe-inspiring tropical terrain to investigate. Those with a more sedate and serene outlook will find joy in relaxing, after a game of golf, on some of the most secluded and stunning beaches on the planet, or dining in a wide variety of exotic restaurants, and rising in the morning to witness some of the most astonishing vistas on the planet.
Samui has now been given special development status by the Thai government which will lead to more investment in infrastructure. Better infrastructure means schools, hospitals and transport links along with along with leisure facilities such as golf courses, make this a viable and appealing place to live permanently, or semi-permanently.
This is confirmed by the increasing number of expatriates, generally affluent in nature, which is having a positive impact on real estate prices. Samui has numerous modern, well equipped hospitals and clinics, excellent infrastructure with its own power and water supplies with billing rates similar to Bangkok.
