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Koh Samui Travel Guide

Koh Samui island of Surat Thani Province or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, close to the mainland Surat Thani town. It is Thailand’s third largest island, with an area of 228.7 square km’s and a population of over 50,000 (2008). It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees.

Koh Samui also have a great range of Koh Samui Hotels on the island to choose from.

Koh Samui Nightlife

Koh Samui Shopping

Koh Samui Attractions

Climate

Koh Samui, being in Suratthani Province, has essentially two seasons, warm and tropical most of the year, with a short rainy season. Unlike Phuket most of the rest of Southern Thailand which have a 6-month rainy season between May and November, Samui’s weather, on the other hand, is relatively dry for the vast majority of the year, with the rainy season being primarily confined to November. For the rest of the year, since the weather is tropical, when it does rain, it usually doesn’t last long; rain showers of 20-60 minutes are typical.

Getting to Koh Samui

A 300 baht surcharge is levied on domestic departures, as well as the 500 baht surcharge on international departures. If you fly via Bangkok to an international destination the tax is only 200 baht as the Bangkok international departure tax is already included in your ticket ex Bangkok. These charges are not included in the ticket price. The only 2 ways to get to Koh Samui is by boat or plain.

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.

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). Call operator Songserm Travel (252 9654 in Bangkok) for the latest schedules, which vary according to the season.