Koh Samui travel tips

The island of Koh Samui off south-eastern Thailand is a holiday paradise covering 247 square kilometres and is about 700 kilometres from the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Holiday travel is a major island industry, the first flood of backpackers travelling to Koh Samui in the 1970s.

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Samui Airport takes direct international tourist flights and holiday packages are plentiful. Thai Airways flies twice daily to Koh Samui from Bangkok, the flight lasting 45 minutes. Bangkok Airways has multiple daily connections to Koh Samui from Singapore, Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket, and MAS airline Firefly also flies to Penang.

It's easy to catch a domestic flight from Bangkok either directly to Samui Airport or to Surat Thani on the mainland, from whence an island ferry can complete the trip.

A cheaper alternative is to buy a ticket for a night train from Bangkok's railway station, Hualamphong. You can order a sleeper car if you want to snooze.

The cheapest way for tourists to travel from Bangkok to Surat Thani is to catch a bus.

Travel tip ... Beware that the cheapest buses aren't particularly comfortable on the ten or 11 hour journey, and buses have been stopped and robbed early in the morning - although there's more chance of a traffic accident than a robbery.

There are three ferry companies docking at either Ban Don in Surat Thani townsite or Don Sak further east along the mainland coast, and at Na Thon or Lipa Noi piers on Koh Samui itself. Ferry representatives are usually available when tourists arrive at the bus terminal in Surat or train station in Phun Phin-Touts to lead them to the appropriate ferry dock. Ferry prices vary from season to season.

Seatran Ferry offers 12 trips to Koh Samui per day, beginning at 5am. Seatran fares: from train station to Koh Samui 250 baht (about US$8.45 mid 2007); from bus station to Koh Samui 180 baht (about US$6.10 mid 2007); from Ban Don to Koh Samui 220 baht (about US$7.46 mid 2007); from Don Sak (east of Surat Thani) to Koh Samui 80 baht (about US$2.70 mid 2007). The Seatrans ferry for a car from Don Sak to Koh Samui is 250 baht (about US$8.50 mid 2007).

Songserm Ferry has an Express Boat departing Ban Don in Surat Thani at 8am every day.

Raja Ferry provides ferries from Don Sak every hour from 5am to 7pm. Raja Ferry takes most passengers to Lipa Noi on Kho Samui (54 baht for adults; 20 baht for children from 6 to 12; 87 baht per bicycle or small motorbike; 200 baht per car in mid 2007) and buses then take them to the main port town of Na Thon, where there are a few necessities such as shops, banks and post offices. Raja Ferry also has services direct from Don Sak to Na Thon.

The ferries to Koh Samui are fairly basic and an Express Boat trip from Surat Thani townsite to Na Thon usually takes from two and a half to three hours. Alternatively, Raja and Seatran ferries take tourists directly to Na Thon in about 90 minutes. Seatran has the most modern ferries.

Explore Koh Samui by hiring a songthaews (a small truck with two rows of seating in the back) or your own motorcycle. Be aware that motorbike riding on Koh Samui can be fairly dangerous and the driver must wear a helmet. Seatbelts are mandatory for all car occupants. Tourists are regularly fined 500 baht (about US$17 in mid 2007) for helmet offences.

A safer alternative is to hire a Suzuki jeep, usually costing about 750 baht per day (about US$25 in mid 2007). A car can be hired for just over 1000 baht per day (about US$35 mid 2007).

The island has a gruesome record of traffic fatalities and injuries, so be careful. Travel insurance is highly recommended.

You'll find Koh Samui is peppered with accommodation ranging from cheap thatched bungalows to expensive holiday tourist resorts in idyllic locations.

There is hardly anywhere on Koh Samui that isn't perfect for holiday views and relaxation, although the subdivided estates of north-east Samui are a bit suburban.

White sands, reefs, calm waters and coconut palms fringe much of the island, which also has the par 72 Santiburi Samui Country Club golf course which opened in 2003 on its north coast.

Koh Samui's major beach resort towns are Chaweng and Lamai. Chaweng in particular is usually crammed with tourists.

You'll find the west coast of Koh Samui is much more peaceful, largely because the shallows are often strewn with coral. If you want to escape the madding crowd, it's worth exploring the west coast settlements of Lipa Noi, Laem Nan and Bang Kao.

On the island's north coast, Tongsai Bay and Mae Nam are popular alternatives. The north coast fishing village of Bophut has retained more of its traditional Thai character, despite considerable development of cafes, bars and lodges in recent years.

Arguably the best and thus most popular beaches are Hat Lamai and Hat Chaweng, both on the east coast. The crowds are usually a little smaller at Bo Phut, Big Buddha and Mae Nam on the northern coast.

Diving is a strong tourist magnet and the island has several dive schools. Diving and snorkeling are popular in the Ang Thon marine sanctuary.

There is a broad range of accommodation from budget lodges to five-star retreats. However, it's difficult to nowadays find accommodation for just a few dollars a night, as was the case in the '70s and '80s when Koh Samui was a backpacker's haven. Many travellers now use Koh Samui as a springboard to less-developed and cheaper Thai islands such as Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.

It can be difficult to find beach accommodation in the high seasons from December to February and during July and August. In the wet season, temperatures are still high, prices are lower and there are far fewer tourists, but you must risk rain that can sometimes be fleeting and other times persist for days.

Located in the Gulf of Siam, Kho Samui is within the Thai province of Suratthani and officially has a population around 50,000 people. Unofficially, the population is closer to 100,000 because of unregistered residents such as foreigners and Thais working away from their homes.

The island is approximately 25 kilometres by 21 kilometres. The main town is called Na Thon and there are about 60 surrounding islands.

Major tourist attractions on Koh Samui include the Magic Garden (tucked away in an upland jungle gorge), the 15 metre golden Big Buddha at Wat Phra Yai near Bophut (often overrun by tourists), Namuang Waterfall south of Nathon, the Hin Ta-Hin Yai rocks at south Lamai, and the Ancient House near Ban Thale.

There are plenty of four wheel drive adventures to be had in Koh Samui's jungle interior including waterfalls, elephant treks, bird-watching, and snake or crocodile farms.

People have lived on Koh Samui for about 1,500 years, the first settlers being fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and southern China.

Five hundred year old maps from the Chinese Ming dynasty clearly show the island, where the traditional source of income was coconuts and fishing before Koh Samui's travel industry took off with the advent of cheap bus, ferry and plane tickets to southern Thailand. There were no roads until the 1970s.

Huge coconut plantations cover much of the inland and Koh Samui ships more than 20 million nuts a year to Bangkok.

Tourists (known locally as "farangs") have been saying for the past 20 years that Koh Samui is about to lose its inexpensive, undeveloped charm as a cheap travel destination.

The island nowadays hosts about 1 million tourists every year.

Much of north-east Samui has been developed for housing subdivisions over the past few years, mostly for expats and retirees rather than tourists, and in many ways resembles a modern Western-style suburbia.

There have been major changes such as construction of the airport and several luxury tourist hotel resorts. There are about 400 hotels on the island with about 20 more expected to open in 2009. However, the island still has plenty of coastal hideaways within the budget of backpackers seeking a cheap holiday.

Koh Samui has several nightclubs and an illicit background industry of prostitution and drugs which relies largely on tourists. Full moon parties are regular alcohol and drug-fuelled celebrations on the island.

There is usually abundant cheap transport to get you to and from the nightspots from evening till early morning. Agree on a fare before departure in taxis and be prepared to haggle.

If you want to study the Koh Samui property market for residential, commercial, rental or other real estate opportunities, it's worth checking Ko Samui Properties.

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