According to the evidence found on Samui Island, historians believe that it was first inhabited by man at most 1,200 years ago. In 1940s, the island was still isolated from the outside world. Those wishing to travel to Samui had to travel from Surat Thani for approximately 6 hours. As in-land transportation was not well established, it took several hours for people to walk through the lush jungles to the beach. It was only in the early 1970’s that Koh Samui became a dream destination discovered by backpackers.

With the development of infrastructure, an increasing number of travelers were attracted to the island. Samui’s concrete ring road was finished in 1973 by the order of the government. Passing beautiful beaches around the island and connecting sub-district areas, the road facilitated tourism. The Tourism Authority of Thailand explored the island in 1980 and realizing the high tourism potential of Samui, a plan to develop and promote tourism on the island was implemented. As a result, it has become and will continue to be a popular tourist destination in Thailand.

Koh Samui is located in the Gulf of Thailand, approximately 84 kilometers east of Surat Thani Province, or approximately 700 kilometers south of Bangkok. Known as the Coconut Island, Koh Samui is one of the most famous and popular attractions of Thailand. With an area of 247 square kilometers, Koh Samui is the third largest island of Thailand after Phuket and Koh Chang (of Trat Province). The topography of the island is that of a plain with a mountain range in the middle and 7 important streams. In addition, there is a 50-kilometer paved road that encircles the island. Moreover, the area of the island stretches to a group of 48 surrounding islets.

Despite the fast pace of development, Koh Samui has been able to maintain its charm its classical image of a tropical beach resort fringed by coconut trees. Travelers to the island can enjoy a mixed blessing of vibrant day and nightlife along side with tranquility which can easily be found across different parts of Koh Samui as the archipelago is a peaceful home for fishermen and a natural den for seagulls and other rare birds.

Hat Chaweng and Hat Lamai are Koh Samuis most beautiful and most popular beaches. Both have a huge selection of accommodations suitable for every budget. Please note that room rates increase during the high season, from December to July, when Samui sparkles. The nightlife of each beach is different: Hat Chaweng is better for couples, women and families, while single men are drawn to the beer bar culture of Hat Lamai. These resorts, as well as Na Thon (Samui’s main town), have communications, exchange and car/motorcycle hire facilities. Other beaches include Hat Choeng Mon, Hat Mae Nam in the north and Hat Na Thon, the island’s major seafront settlement where shops, restaurants and tour agencies are concentrated.

Apart from its many lovely beaches and tranquil bays, Koh Samui is also noted for its high quality coconuts that grow densely everywhere. The best time to visit Koh Samui is from February to April when the sea is calm. The Southern dialect and the standard Thai language are spoken while English is widely understood in tourist areas.

Getting to Koh Samui

By air

Bangkok Airways flies from Bangkok to Koh Samui 13 times daily. The flight takes about one hour and 10 minutes. It also offers daily flights between Phuket and Samui. For more information, call its Bangkok office, 0 2229 3456, 0 2229 3434, Samui office, 0 7742 2512 - 9 or Samui Airport Office 0 7724 5601-8.

By bus

Air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses leave Bangkok’s Southern Bus Terminal for Surat Thani several times daily. The trip takes about 11 hours. For further information, call 0 2435 1199, 0 2435 1200 (air-con), 0 2434 5557 - 8 (non-air-con).

By car

From Bangkok, take Highway 4 (Buddha Monthon Road) through Phetchaburi and Chumphon Provinces and then drive on to Highways 41 and 401 to Surat Thani Province. From Surat Thani, visitors can take their cars to Koh Samui through a vehicle ferry at Donsak Pier. The trip takes 1.30 hours.

By rail

Several trains leave Bangkok’s Hualamphong Station for Surat Thani daily. The trip takes about 12 hours. Train / bus / ferry combination tickets are also available. For more information, call Hualamphong Railway Station, 0 2223 7010, 0 2223 7020.

From Surat Thani to Koh Samui

- An express ferry boat of Songserm Travel departs from Tha Thong Pier in Surat Thani at 8.00 a.m. and arrives at Na Thon Pier in Samui at 10.30 a.m. every day. For the return trip, the boat leaves Na Thon Pier at 2.00 p.m. and reaches Tha Thong at 4.30 p.m.

- Express boats of Seatran Express operate three times a day between Ban Don and Koh Samui. Departure times are 7.00 a.m., 12.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. The trip takes two hours.

2. Ferry Boats of Seatran

Seatran Ferry, which can accommodate 60 cars and 400 passengers, operates several trips per day between Don Sak (Surat Thani) and Koh Samui, from 5.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. The trip takes about 1.30 hours.

3. Night ferry

A slow night ferry leaves Ban Don Pier nightly at 11 p.m. and reaches Na Thon Pier at Samui around 5 a.m. (6 hours). For the return trip, the boat leaves Na Thon Pier at 9.00 p.m. and arrives at Ban Don Pier at 4.00 a.m. (7 hours).

Getting around Koh Samui

Samui is an explorer’s dream to discover something new. Offering a wealth of diversity of landscape, vistas, flora and fauna, and yet small enough to seek adventure in its many out-of-the-way places, Samui is best seen by taking songthaews (red local bus) which operate around the island. The fare starts at 20 baht, depending on the distance of the destination.

By Taxi

For many reasons, the least suitable for exploring, but the safest and easiest way to get to the destination is to go by taxi. The official taxi service time is until 9.00 p.m. Visitors are recommended to negotiate strongly for the fare and keep in mind that negotiation should always be dome before boarding. Note that the fare at night will be escalated.

By a rented Jeep

Rented Jeep, 4WD, is available from many family-owned agencies and some well known large companies. The vehicle will serve as the basic means of transportation taking visitors around many hillside natural and man-made attractions which are easily accessible from the ring road. Some of these vehicles come with insurance, but the coverage is limited. Always ask for details first. The minimum price is from 800 baht.

By Motorcycle

A more flexible way to get around the island, rented motorcycle costs approximately 200 baht / day. Beware, as roads other than the main roads on Koh Samui are quite rough in some parts.

Getting to nearby Islands from Samui

Koh Pha-ngan

Songserm Travel Co. operates ferry boats and express boats between Na Thon Pier on Koh Samui and Thong Sala Pier on Koh Pha-ngan, four times a day. The trip takes about 45 minutes for express boats, and one hour for ordinary ferry boats.

There is a ferry boat leaving Bo Phut for Koh Pha-ngan twice daily at 9.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. The return trips depart Hat Rin on Koh Pha-ngan at 10.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.

Ang Thong Islands

Visitors can hire a boat on Koh Samui to Ang Thong. The charge depends on the boat size and number of passengers. The trip takes 1.30 hours. It is also possible to join a full-day excursion organized by tour operators in Koh Samui.

Koh Tao

Boat services for Koh Tao are available at Na Thon Pier of Koh Samui.

Samui Beaches

Chaweng Beach

Koh Samui’s busiest and biggest town has sprung up around one of the island’s best beaches. As well as offering more accommodation options than elsewhere on the island, Chaweng is also nightlife central with bars and restaurants catering to every taste.

South of Chaweng Beach, you'll find Chaweng Noi (little Chaweng). This is a much shorter beach with some hotels and beach restaurants. A good alternative if you think Chaweng is a little too crowded (especially at high and peak season).

Lamai Beach

Lamai Beach is Samui’s Second largest resort area after Chaweng. It is quieter and less bustling than its big sister, but still with plenty of accommodation, dining and shopping options to be found, and some great spas and tourist sites to explore. In terms of popularity, the tourist facilities and the quality of the beach itself, Lamai comes a close second to Chaweng, but with a less frenetic ambience.

The general atmosphere is laid back and Lamai has slightly older, and by extention cheaper tourist facilities than Chaweng, although there is some indication that the area is slowly being rejuvenated. Along with the rest of Samui, there is a steady trend away from the ‘cheap and cheerful’ toward smarter, high-end accommodation and dining facilities and new resorts in Lamai such as The Pavillion, The Renaissance and Lamai Wanta bear testament to this upgrade.

While the central part of Lamai can seem a little ’single-male-orientated’, especially at night, there is often a fairly mixed crowd of Westerners hanging out in the town. The older European ex-pat scene centres around the beach-road beer-bars, with backpackers and health-seekers staying on the fringes, catered for by spas and cheap bungalows. Due to its relaxed atmosphere, Lamai is also great for families and some resorts such as Jungle Park and Buddy Beer cater well for kids with good swimming pools and shallow, safe beach front areas.

Lamai is a much more manageable size than Chaweng, so a daytime stroll along the beach or an evening walk on the main strip can take in most of the sights. Lamai is also bordered by lush jungle, with secluded bays, small quaint villages, temples, spas, mummified monks and phallic rock formations all close by. Lamai is also a living, working Thai village with a tight-nit local community centred around the cultural hubs of the temple and daily market. There are still quite a few old-style wooden houses raised on stilts and local people sell fruit from their garden, take in laundry and do clothes repairs or run small grocery stores from the front room of their house.

Bophut Beach

Bophut is really two places: Bophut beach, which sweeps down several kilometres between Big Buddha and Maenam beaches and perhaps one of the oldest places on the island, the charming Fisherman’s Village, which takes up the middle section of the beach.

Fisherman’s Village is fast gaining a reputation that stretches way beyond Samui for being the most elegant and well-preserved place on the island. Lined by old wooden Chinese shop-houses, interspaced with a few modern buildings that match the tone, it retains a distinctly Mediterranean feel. This has probably got a lot to do with the fact that it was the main French outpost on the island for many years.

Mixed in among the shops are several boutiques, selling high quality clothing and jewellery. There are also some dive shops in the area, offering scuba lessons or day dives to sites in the famous Ang Thong Marine Park, Sail Rock or Koh Tao Island.

La Sirene also offers some selected tours to secret spots in the surrounding islands or some Jeep rides to places difficult to access for visitors not familiar with the island, mainly the Secret Buddha Garden. Try an elephant ride in the tropical forest or go for a fishing trip on a local fishing boat (with local fisherman) around the island of Koh Phangan.

Maenam Beach

Perhaps it’s the excellent views of Koh Phangan that have kept Maenam as Samui’s last predominantly backpacker beach.  Or maybe it’s the fact that many of its resorts are located at the end of long rambling pathways, affording a degree of privacy unavailable elsewhere. Either way, Maenam is still the place to be while away for a few weeks (or months) on a low budget, staying in one of the many cheap fan bungalow operations that are dotted along the beach.

At the other end of the scale, Santiburi Resort provides dependable five star luxury to those who can afford it and excellent Royal Thai cuisine at its Sala Thai restaurant. The eastern end is home to the ultra-luxurious 5 star Pansea Napasai, one of Samui’s premier destinations for a decadent getaway. Health Oasis Resort, which offers all manner of new age treatments and fasting programmes, can be found at the western end of the beach and represents an altogether more puritanical holiday experience.

Nightlife

There are better things to do in the cool of the night than sleep-especially on Samui with all these places to go for fun, relaxation, meeting people, dancing and whatever you like. One thing is for sure: It's all nothing without music, and don't you worry. There is something for every taste and mood. 

Chaweng

The famous REGGAE PUB is playing an important role on Samui for 14 years already. With a DJ who puts on the best dancing tunes and who is creating the unique atmosphere with his personal comments. Sometimes, live bands from various countries are performing and on each Saturday you have the dancehall party and a beer-drinking contest on Sunday. The ROCK PUB offers live music with very good bands every evening and is well worth to drop in whenever you feel like it. Another disco, the FULL CIRCLE, is also attracting dancers, watchers and other folks. Looking for a date, you probably will get lucky especially on the European Beach Party, taking place on Sundays or on Wednesdays-when it is Lady Night. The GREEN MANGO is also a hot spot of the disco nightlife. You need to work out? Then move it there, it'll be fun.

At THE CLUB, located in the heart of Chaweng, the music is not so loud and you will find a nice and comfy place in an ambiance to sip your drink before the night is coming to an end. The SWEET SOUL is where music loves meet and you might easily guess what kind of music is preferred here.

How about the Irish? TROPICAL MURPHY'S is the name of this Irish pub where two musicians will bring up memories of popular songs from Ireland, while Australia is all around when you visit the KANGAROO BAR a typical Australian spot.

Bophut

You can find what you are looking for when you are a genuine reggae lover, the RASTA BABY is something that will provide you with the real feeling. As you might have recognized, there is a huge number of beer bars, where the beauty of the service staff is equal to those in Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya. Always ready to entertain their guests, a good chat is guaranteed and where the English lacks, it is made up with charm. Among the pubs and bars not to be missed in Charm. Among the pubs and bars not to be missed in Chaweng are the CATCANDOO and the GBLOUNGE. Just order a drink or get involved in one of the games and you will be overwhelmed by the female hospitality. Very special is CHRISTIE'S CABARET; entertainment at it's best! With PEPE'S PLACE, in the middle of Chaweng, Samui was enriched with a bar where handsome young men perform on stage. Nothing has been left out in the night scene, you'll see.

LEGENDS as well as THE ISLANDER are best alternatives to common beer bars, whereby they offer premier League and other important sport events on big screens. If you are into this, there is also the FREE HOUSE, with TV and music entertainment. Enjoy some tasty cocktails or get in contact with people from all over the world. Many of these pubs offer specials, so have a good look. Restaurants for those who like to dine late are the SAWADEE RESTAURANT with good food and nice music as well as the RED SNAPPER where you can listen to live music while you eat. The HABANA CLUB is a favored insider place and so is the DJ VU and as there must be a reason for it, you should also check it out one day. Speaking of insider favorites, there is also the SECRET GARDEN (Big Buddha) where business people like to hang out after work. So, if you want to go somewhere for contacts or action around 4 pm, this-might just be the place.

Lamai

The place to go is BAUHAUS, which features a disco, operating until late but is also a place for TV football fans. If you like Thai Live Music, don't go further than Y2K. As a typical place for the local youth to hang out it is worth discovering what they like and the band is good, too. The BIKERS & ROCKERS is where you can listen to live music - sometimes three bands in one night. 

Beer bars are found in the VARIETY PLAZA, one of them the ROAD HOUSE offering live music. The SIAM BAR & BRILL is a restaurant for late dining with a different show and live bar music. Sometimes the plaza stages super show activities, such as Ladies' Thai Boxing. Not to miss are also BACKSTAGE and the rather English MSWNEY ARMS, offering draft beer, snooker, dart and good old rock. Good chances to get away from the techno wave. Also recommendable is the SMOOTH 2000, where chess can be played while listening to live music. Here you go. Samui's nightlife has the touch and easygoing coconut island, but is warned: It is addictive!

Reference: www.tourismthailand.org

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