Backpackers first discovered Koh Samui in the early 1970's, and at that time, the island was simply called "heaven on earth". The place boasts such an incredibly rich variety of beaches, bays and coves that it might seem like several islands mixed together into one.

The island has been inhabited for aproximately 1500 years and for the moment there are approximately 40,000 local Thai people living on Koh Samui. They are an extremely warm and friendly people. Most of them are Buddhist, but there is also a small community of Muslim people, all living together in a perfect harmony.

Koh Samui's main industries are tourism and the export of coconuts. About 3 million coconut trees grow on the island, each of them producing between 70 and 75 coconuts a year. Every month, Samui supplies Bangkok with more than 2 million coconuts.
Over the last 20 years, the main industries of coconut farming and fishing have given way to tourism and many of the small cheap beach huts favoured by backpackers have been replaced by luxury resorts. Fortunately, local regulations limit the height of these resorts on the beach, so there are none of the high rise hotels seen in Phuket or Pattaya.

The primary beaches of Lamai and Chaweng offer stunning white sand, luxury resorts, spas, water sports and restaurants to suit every budget.
Although the island is famous for its beaches, there is much more to Samui to be discovered inland. The interior of the island is dominated by rainforest and beautiful mountains with spectacular views.

There are different versions regarding the history of Koh Samui, but it seems that the first historic steps start around the 5th century, something like 1500 years ago ! A drum from the Dongson culture (500 to 100 BC) have actually been discovered in Samui in 1977. The first immigrants were apparently Malaysian fishermen, then sea gypsies, followed by chinese merchants trading rice and other supplies with them. After being discovered as a vacation in the early 70's by lucky backpackers, it's only in the 80's that Samui did fully embrace the tourism business with a peak since the airport was finished. There are now more than 20 daily flights to and from Bangkok, ferries at all hours from the mainland and hundreds of thousand of people visiting Koh Samui every year. But still the same wonder and desire to come back exists, just to continue tasting the simple pleasures of this paradise on earth.

Nathon is the administrative capital of the island, but is no longer the biggest town in Koh Samui. All public offices and banks are located there, as well as the ferries departing to Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and the mainland, but the airport and other boat departures are situated between Chaweng and Mae Nam as well. For more informations about transports and their timetables, check our special page on Transportation to and from Koh Samui.
If you want to go shopping, this is the place to do it. The shops are similar to those in Chaweng, but less expensive. This is a daytime shopping area.
If you enjoy the amazing colours and fragrances of the East, you should definitely visit the local market, where many hotels go to buy their supplies such as vegetable, fresh meat and fish. Not to be missed…
If you visit Nathon in the evening, you have to remember to go to the port and catch the sublime sunset, when the sun dives into the sea behind Angtong National Marine Park.

Koh Samui has amazing beaches all along its coastline and they definitely are the ones that made Samui so famous among travellers. Wherever you decide to stay, all of them are white sand. You'll find many long beaches, laying like vast strips of sand in the sun, like the one in Chaweng that stretches 7 kilometers, lined with coconut trees. It's the perfect picture of the tropical paradise you can find in the tourist brochures and you'll just have it before your eyes ! You'll then have the choice between a busy beach with water sports and beach activities as well as a secluded quiet beach. If you're interested in more informations on these beaches, check our special page on the beaches of Koh Samui to have infos about them, their location and photos....

There is plenty of accommodation in Koh Samui to suit every pocket. The island reflects an undeniable quality and you can still take advantage of five-star hotel that's reasonably priced.

Even though in the past few years many luxury resorts and hotels (with swimming pools, Jacuzzis and spas) were built, it is still possible to find some cheap accommodation, from around 200 bahts per night without bathroom in a hut style bungalow. Nevertheless, at the other end of the range, Koh Samui also offers 5 stars Villas for 1000 €/night as well as 3 star comfort bungalows or tourist complex with quality service for less than 35 €/night.

Once in Koh Samui you can walk along the beach to make your choice of the resort that suits you or decide right now and Pick your holiday accommodation among our selection of fine beach resorts and even book online with our credit card secured payment system.

To do so, just check our special page Hotels & Bungalows in Koh Samui.
If you prefer to stay in your own home instead of hotels, there are now many houses for rent in koh Samui, on the beach, with seaview or under the coconuts. For our selection, check our special page house rental on Koh Samui

On Koh Samui you can eat all kinds of food at every kind of prices and nearly 24 hours a day. In the small Thai cafés you can taste delicious authentic traditional dishes and some amazing seafood; and in the bigger and more expensive restaurants, you will be served more sophisticated recipes in a cosier atmosphere.
You can also sample some Chinese, Corean, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Swedish, Mexican, Indian and many more cuisines from all around the world.
A soup or a light meal will cost you 30 to 40 Bahts in the street and a beef steack around 250 Bahts. More sophisticated versions of these recipes are served in 3 to 5 stars restaurants for twice or three times that much.
For a selection of fine restaurants on the island, please, check our special page on Restaurants on Koh Samui.

Koh Samui has plenty of shops selling everything and anything you could wish for, so whatever will make you happy there's a good chance that you'll find it here !

If you would like beautiful fitted suits for men and women handmade by skilled tailors, trademark or local brand sportswear, hi-fi equipment, cds, dvds, souvenirs from all parts of Thailand, from carved statues to precious wooden furniture, tattoos, piercings and finally... suitcases ! Because everything here is so cheap you will definitely need an extra bag to carry all your shopping back home !

And for the daily needs, there are several supermarkets of international brand, as well as foreigner oriented mini-market, selling imported goods, from smoked salmon to NZ beef, as well as beers, french australian and south american wine and everything for a good diner. For wooden souvenirs and furniture from Thailand we advice you to visit Chiang Mai Art Déco in Bophut, on the ring road, near the Big C.

All the shops are open in the day until 07:00 pm, except some in Chaweng and Lamai that stays open longer at night. In the evening the majority of the traders from the shops in Nathon, open stalls along Chaweng main street.

On Koh Samui, all bars and clubs have to close at 02:00 am, but it doesn't mean that there is no nightlife, far from it !! You'll find many bars everywhere in the main attraction places like Chaweng or Lamai. You'll be able to play pool there, have some drinks and chat (or more) with all the thaie ladies who haunt these places. There are also several clubs and even (but shhhhh...) some places to push the night far enough to see the sunrise... Just keep your ears opened.
Go to our special page about nightlife on Koh Samui to pick some nice addresses to help you spend memorable nights.

And if you want to give a try to Koh Phangan crazy parties, why not jump straight in a speedboat (or a regular boat samui to Koh Phangan and back) and 15 minutes later you’ll be on the beach to party, check our special page on Full moon party and all parties on Koh Phangan