An island of great natural beauty and variety, Samui is home to about 40,000 full-time inhabitants, 90% of whom are Buddhist. The palm fringed shoreline and coconut and fruit cultivation of the coastal lowlands rise to a central granite massive, the slopes of which are cloaked in virgin rainforest.

At 247km² Samui is the third largest island in Thailand and the largest island in an archipelago of over 80 (mostly uninhabited) islands which form the Ang Thong National Marine Park, a kayaking and snorkeling paradise. At 25km long and 21km wide, Samui is big enough for serious exploration by the adventurous and fit, but can be circumnavigated in just a couple of hours by motorbike or car.

The island was probably first inhabited about 15 centuries ago, settled by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and Southern China. It appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687, under the name Pulo Cornam. The name Samui is mysterious in itself. Perhaps it is an extension of the name of one of the native trees, mui, or it is a corruption of the Chinese word Saboey, meaning "safe haven".

Until the late 20th century, Samui was an isolated self-sufficient community, having little connection with the mainland of Thailand. The island was even without roads until the early 1970s, and the 15km journey from one side of the island to the other involved a whole-day trek through the mountainous central jungles.

In the early 1970s the first backpackers traveling on the back of a coconut boat arrived on Ko Samui. For years after that the island just had a few bungalows and a trickle of travelers. Things started to change in the early 1990s when tourists started arriving in full boats and since then the place grew substantially. Samui is now the second most popular place as an island destination in Thailand (first is Phuket). Ko Samui may not be the country’s most beautiful island but it is still an oasis of natural beauty with its white sandy beaches, dazzling coral, luscious lagoons, picturesque waterfalls, swaying coconut trees and crystal clear water.

Climate

Samui's weather patterns are a little different from the rest of Thailand. In April through September, when most of the country has its monsoon, Samui stays fairly dry, but from October to December, it's wet in Samui and drier elsewhere. The driest season of all, though, is January through March.

Get in

By plane

Ko Samui Airport (USM) is a private airport originally built by Bangkok Airways, which is still the main operator and was for a long time the only airline with services to Ko Samui from Thailand until Thai Airways started in April 2008 to operate some flights between Bangkok and Ko Samui. They have near-hourly departures to/from Bangkok and tickets are expensive by Thai standards, with advance bookings costing 2000-3500 baht, while a walk-in booking may be twice as much. There are also daily flights to/from Phuket for 2200 baht, U-Tapao, and Singapore; four direct flights a week from Chiang Mai (but no direct flights in the opposite direction); and twice weekly flights to/from Hong Kong.In addition to Bangkok Air, Ko Samui is served two flights a day from Bangkok with Thai Airways as well as by Berjaya Air from Kuala Lumpur and Firefly from Penang and Subang airport (Kuala Lumpur) in Malaysia. Visa-on-Arrival and Visa-Free entry is available at Samui Airport for some nationalities. Ground transportation from the airport is readily available. A seat in a minibus for the 20-minute ride to Chaweng costing 100 baht/person; a faster taxi will cost 150-300 baht. Be sure to negotiate the rate to your destination before you get into the taxi since many drivers refuse to use their meters. A cheaper but less convenient option is to fly to Surat Thani and connect by road and then ferry.

By boat

From Surat Thani train station and Surat Thani Airport (URT), there are combined bus/ferry services to Ko Samui cost 200-300 baht - some entail a 60 minute bus ride followed by a 90 minute ferry crossing, others a 30 minute bus ride but the ferry takes extra time. Tickets are sold by numerous agents that meet each train and airport. Should cost less than 300 baht (return combo ticket to either Surat Thani city, airport or train station bought on the Na Thon pier on Samui normally costs 220 baht) There are 2 Ferry companies (departures every 30 mins).Numerous ferry services are direct from mainland Surat Thani include an express boat (3 departures daily, taking around 3 hours and costing 150 baht) and slow night boats (taking 6-7 hours).

There are also regular speedboats and ferries to Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao. Lomprayah offers a combined bus/high speed catamaran ferry service from Bangkok to Ko Samui which takes about 11 hours (5.5 of them by boat) and costs around 1250 baht (1000 baht in the opposite direction). The bus pauses in Hua Hin and then stops at Chumphon, where it connects with the ferry, which calls at Ko Nang Yuan, Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan on its way to Ko Samui.

Get around

As on many islands in Thailand, small motorbikes are available for rental. Compared to other nearby islands, Samui's road systems is very developed and there are plenty of taxis cruising about, although it's a challenge to get them to use their meters.

Taxi

The Ko Samui Taxi Service is a public taxi service, which cost around 50 Baht.

By bus

Pickup trucks/public passenger pick-up vehicles (songthaews) also serve as group taxis. Hail one on any major road with a wave or yell, negotiate a fare, and sit down on the bench in the back. Fares are around 10 Baht per person. In the event you wish to hire one personally then you ought to negotiate the cost first.

Motorbikes can be rented virtually anywhere on Ko Samui for between 120-700 Baht per day depending on the size. It is recommended though, to hire only from a reputable company as there have been reports of scams; that is where some places deliberately steal bikes that they have rented out. If hiring a bike doesn’t appeal to you then there are motorbike-taxis willing to take you around for a small fee. They may want you to leave your passport for collateral. Don't do it.

Bicycles

Bicycles can be hired very cheaply on Ko Samui, one shouldn’t cost any more than a couple of US dollars per day.