Samui

Information
What to do on Koh Samui and around...

Koh Samui is part of the archipelago of more then 42 islands.

There are 4 different areas.

 Ang Thong
A national park with good snorkeling and sightseeing

 Koh Tao
Furthest away from Samui but well worth a trip for snorkeling and scuba diving

 Koh Phangan
World famous for its fool moon party but its also a nice place for beach excursions

 Koh Samui
Our enchanted coconut island where we have a multitude of interesting areas, peace fool places and bus-
tling towns

Koh Tao

Koh Phangan

Koh Ang Thong

Koh Samui
What to do on Koh Samui

(General)
Koh Samui is the third largest Island in Thailand
located about 700km south of Bangkok and is
an Island of natural beauty. Samui is well-
known for its coconuts as it is coconut trees can
be found everywhere on the Island and that is
why it is sometime referred as “coconut Island”.

One of the main attractions of the Island is its

beaches as there are number of beautiful ones
around. Other than beach, there are also vari-
ous things to attract not only the tourists but al-
so the locals as, waterfalls, temples, trips to
nearby Islands, great seafood, and the last but
not the least night life and shopping.

(Areas)
Chaweng beach is located on the north east of the Is-
land and the most famous beach area, full of resorts
Koh Samui from 5 star to the bungalows, variety of restaurants
from all over the world, marine activities on the beach
shops and biggest night life on the Island. Like
Chaweng but slightly smaller is the Lamai beach which
is located about 10km south of Chaweng. Other than
Koh Tao
the two beaches mentioned above, there are quiet
beaches such as Choengmon beach, Bophut,
Meanam, on the east to the north, Lipa Noi to Taling
Koh Phangan Ngam on the West to the South West of the Island.

Koh Ang Thong

What to do on Koh Samui
(Attraction, waterfalls)
Grandmother and grandfather rocks is one of the
most famous tourist attractions on the Island in
Lamai area. It bears a striking resemblance to
male and female genitals but the story behind
them has a completely different morality. Another
natural attraction is waterfalls. Namuang water-
falls which is located at the southwest of the Is-
land where tourists and locals comes to cool
down and refresh, and there is also elephant trek-
king and other animal shows. Hinlaad waterfall is
about 10 kilometers north of the Namuang water-
fall which is smaller than the Namuang and no
other activities but after a 15 to 20 min hike up the
trail you will find the small natural ponds at the top
very enjoyable and cooling.
Samui is no exception when it comes to temples
as there are many temple to see. The most fa-
mous temple is Wat Khunaram located at south-
west of the Island for its mummified monk on dis-
play. Wat Phra Yai, also known as the Big Bud-
dha has a 15 meters tall statue of the Buddha
which is located on the north part of the Island.
Not only Buddhist temples can be found but there
are Chinese temples and a Muslim mosque to see
if you wish to interact with the local culture. Koh
Samui has had mix cultural history with people
settling from near and far.
For kids and families, there are Monkey shows,
aquarium and tiger zoo, and many other kinds of
attractions.
(Nightlife and shopping)
Majority of nightlife available on the Island is at
Chaweng and Lamai beachs where there are vari-
ety of choices for restaurants, pubs and night
clubs. The busiest nightlife is called Soi Green
Mango in Chaweng, where there are many night
clubs, beer bars, pubs on one small side street.
These venues are usually closed at about 2 am
but there are some places that are opens until the
morning.
Thailand is famous for having a multitude of prod-
ucts for sale almost anything from CDs, DVDs,
cloths, watches, decorations, bags etc. can be
found everywhere on the Island.
There are 3 major shopping areas namely
Chaweng, Lamai and Nathon. In general, Nathon
area has more reasonable deals compare to the
Chaweng and Lamai but Chaweng is by far the
area where there is more choices available. There
are a few mega-stores on the Island such as
Tesco Lotus and Big C supermarket for daily
products.
Koh Samui nightlife guide

Samui is a leisure island where most of the services cater to hospitality and entertainment, with plenty
of options for nightlife. Since almost everyone on the island is on holiday, or working within the tourism
sector, there is something to do every night in the main tourist areas.

With taxis waiting close by, it's easy to stumble back to your villa or hotel room. The atmosphere in the
main tourist beaches at night is mostly festive and options for diversion range from refined cocktail
lounges and quiet beachside dining to raucous bars and discos.

While bars can be found at all of the island’s main beach areas, it is Chaweng and, to a lesser extent,
Lamai, where the parties linger on long into the wee hours. The evening entertainment on other beach-
es is largely limited to a few quiet local bars, but in the height of the busy season you’ll always find good
company and it won’t hurt your wallet to sit drinking all evening.

Always loud, sometimes lewd… if the hedonistic life is for you, then we can suggest a few venues to re-
ally let your hair down in Samui. Here is our pick of the best bars and nightlife venues in Samui, to suit a
variety of evening tastes:

Lamai Nightlife
Lamai is Samui’s second beach resort and has a strong following among visitors and expatriates alike.
Quieter than Chaweng (though not that you’d notice at the top end), Lamai has a huge selection of bars
and clubs, including some of the best known on the island.

Chaweng Nightlife
Regardless of where your evening started, if you’re looking for a fun night out, then it’s likely you’ll end
up in Chaweng, and with good reason. The scope of Chaweng’s entertainment options can be some-
what baffling to first-time visitors and it may take you a while to get your bearings.

The two most popular nightlife spots can be found on either Green Mango Road, which is just to the left
of Burger King on Chaweng Beach Road, or along the Reggae Pub road, which is on a small peninsular
within Chaweng Lake. The latter is a little harder to find if you don’t know the way, but songthaews and
motorbike taxis are plentiful.

The Reggae Pub road is of course home to the Reggae Pub, while the Green Mango road is a horse-
shoe-shaped collection of bars, pubs and clubs, which has something for everyone.
Koh Samui Shopping

Koh Samui Shopping

What to Buy and Where to Shop in Koh Samui

There are hundreds of shopping bargains to be had on Samui at almost every corner of the island. The
main shopping sites are in Chaweng, Lamai and Nathon but there are shops worth visiting elsewhere
on Samui. Nathon beach usually has the cheapest deals, Chaweng beach the most choice and Lamai
beach a nice range of quirky little stores.

Keep your eyes open wherever you are on Samui, all over the island are great and unexpected shop-
ping opportunities. Thailand is famous for its copies of almost everything from watches to trainers to
CDs. Most department stores are fixed price but you can bargain almost everywhere else and it never
hurts to ask! Just keep it polite and friendly; you and the vendor should both be happy with the final
price, if not then just walk away.

Bophut Beach Shopping

Bophut beach is a great place to buy beautiful furniture and the Fisherman's village has some nice sou-
venir shops. The best way to shop in Bophut is to park up and have a good stroll around especially in
the small streets of the Fisherman's village.

Chaweng Beach Shopping

Chaweng is one of the best places to shop with entire length of the beach road is taken up with stores
selling goods of every description - from clothes and jewelry to electronics, music and handicrafts with a
few lethal weapons thrown in for good measure.

Lamai Beach Shopping

Lamai beach is a much smaller shopping zone than Chaweng so it doesn't have quite as much choice
but there's still plenty to keep you occupied. The prices in Lamai tend to be quite a lot cheaper than
Chaweng and there is less of the hard sell!

Maenam Beach Shopping

Maenam is more of a residential area than a shopping hub but in amongst the cafes and restaurants
there are some great shops, mainly selling teak and Asian style furniture. The furniture stores are gen-
erally well established which is great if you need advice on shipping your purchase home. Many shops
offer an international shipping service.

Nathon Town Shopping

Nathon town is Samui's administrative centre and where the locals head to do some shopping at low
prices. The two main roads in Nathon are filled with shops and stalls selling silk goods, shoes and ex-
cellent copies. Although Chaweng has more choice, you can still find most things in Nathon.
Ang Thong
What to do in the National Park
(General)
One of the must to do activities while in Koh Sam-
ui is to visit to the Angthong Marine National Park.
Which is made up of over 40 islands featuring
limestone massifs, tropical rainforests and desert-
ed beaches. This group of islands, within sight of
Koh Samui to the north and west, is geologically
different from the other islands in the region. The
Angthong islands rise from the sea as dramatic
walls of rock soaring hundreds of meters high. Be-
sides the many small coves and beautiful beach-
es, erosion has shaped some interesting for-
mations. Particular features are Koh Mae (a beau-
tiful beach) and Thale Nai (an emerald saltwater
lake) both found on Koh Mae. There is a consider-
able amount of wildlife inhabiting the islands in-
cluding the Asian long tailed monkey , hair nosed
otters, pacific reef egrets, white bellied sea ea-
gles, ashy drongo birds, tortoises, sea turtles, liz-
ards and pythons.
Koh Angthong
Koh Tao
Koh Phangan
Koh Samui
(Sightseeing)
To be allowed in to the National park, there is an
entrance fee of 200 baht per person which is not
included in the tour fee in general unless other-
wise specified.
Koh Mae Koh (Mother Island) is the famous
sightseeing spot with an emerald seawater lake
in the middle of it which is encircled on all sides
by limestone cliffs, but linked by an underground
tunnel connecting with the sea. Reaching the
lake entails a strenuous climb of about 15 min,
but is rewarded with a spectacular view across
the whole park..
Another famous spot is Koh Sam Sao (Tripod
Island) with an extensive coral reef and Wua
Talap Island or 'sleeping cow'. After climbing up
the steep 430m hill to a viewpoint, it offers great
scenery of the entire archipelago and the main-
land.
It is recommended to visit one of the many caves
of the islands which have intriguing rock for-
mations. The beaches are surrounded with ex-
cellent coral reefs which make for perfect swim-
ming and snorkeling. That is one of the major
reason why the marine national park is a famous
tour destination going out from Koh Samui for a
day trip.
What to do on Koh Tao
(General)
Located about 1.5 hrs trip north by boat from Koh
Samui, Koh Tao is well-known as the diver’s para-
dise and as the name shows, the island is geared
towards diving tourists more than backpackers on
a budget. There are variety of dive schools, shops,
and resort available so that it can be said that the
Island is one of the best places to learn how to di-
ve in Thailand.
There is an Island called Koh Nang Yuan very
close by. It is a small island to the west that is ac-
cessible by boat 5 min from Koh Tao and by ferry
from Koh Samui and the Thai mainland. It is fa-
mous for its diving spots and its great snorkeling
beach. Many day trippers come from the islands of
Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui.
Koh Tao
Koh Phangan
Koh Ang Thong
Koh Samui
(Diving & other activities)
Koh Tao attracts approx 100,000 tourist per
year and the majority of the tourists are divers.
Diving is the most popular attraction on Koh Tao
as more variety of marine species can be seen
and clear crystal water compare to the neighbor-
ing Islands. There are a large numbers of dive
shops on the Island to choose from and many of
them are dive resort. The lists of famous dive
sites are below;
 Chumphon and Southwest Pinnacles
 Green Rock
 Nang Yuan - The Japanese Gardens and
 White Rock
 Ao Leuk
 Red Rock (Shark Island)
 Hin Wong
Over the last several years more and more non
divers starting to arrive to the island with its se-
cluded little bays and unspoiled mountain ridges.
This is because of the increasing number of
small luxury resorts and villas appears in the
hillsides thus offering a lot more activities recent-
ly, including sailing, rock climbing ( Trad routes,
Sport routes, Top rope routes and Bouldering),
abseiling, cliff jumping, wake boarding, etc.
What to do on Koh Phangan

(General)
Koh Phangan is located 15 km north of Koh Samui
known as a backpacker Island and moreover, it is
well-known of its full moon party. The Island has
been the favorite of Thai Kings, especially Rama V
or Chulalongkorn visited the Island 14 times during
his reign.
Koh Phangan has officially been designated
as a zone for eco-tourism. 90% of the island is still
unspoiled tropical forest containing an abundance
of flora and fauna. Therefore, it is blessed with
over 20 beautiful white sand beaches. There is al-
so over 10 km of coral reef off the coast of the Is-
land. The preservation of the Island's natural envi-
ronment means that there is plenty of opportunity
for trekking, mountain biking, snorkeling and scuba
(Full moon party)
diving on the island. Even though the Island is officially been desig-
nated as eco-tourism zone, the most famous at-
Koh Phangan traction is its full moon party which is held full
moon of every month. The party takes place at
the Haad Rin beach located at the South east
Koh Tao
end of the Island. According to the official note
from Suratthani Province, the first Full Moon Par-
ty was improvised at a wooden disco not far from
the beach in 1985 for giving thanks to about 20-
30 travelers. It quickly gained fame and the event
now draws a crowd of about 20,000-30,000 from
all over the world for every full moon evening.
Koh Ang Thong
The party carries on until the sun rises the next
day. The bars on the sunrise beach of Haad Rin
Koh Samui town stay open and play music such as R&B,
Drum and Bass, House, Dance and Reggae.