About Koh Samui

Koh Samui is situated in the midst of the 100 smaller islands of the Angthong group, Samui proudly reigns as the jewel in the crown. The other well known islands are Koh Phangan and Koh Tao and are found to the north of Samui.

Koh Samui lies 35 km from the mainland of Suratthani and 570 km south from Bangkok. The Island is believed to have been discovered and colonized about 1500 years ago by fisherman.

The first records are found about 1000 years later on Chinese sea maps of the Ming-Dynasty. It seems that Samui was a part of a trading network between China and Thailand. In the shipwrecks around Samui, goods were found from Chinese source, like ceramics. Maybe the most dramatic episode in the recent history of Koh Samui was the Japanese occupation during the Second World War.

The islanders of Samui (about 50.000) with their own mentality see themselves very proudly as "Chao Samui" with a specific island culture.

Samui is 247 square km, about the same size as the Malaysian island Penang. Samui life is very quiet, more so than Phuket. The main income was the export of coconuts (monthly only to Bangkok about 2 million nuts) but now the main source of income is from the tourism industry.