Samui Island
Koh Samui Island, popularly known as Samui Island or Samui is one of the most popular island destinations in Thailand. The island is located near Surat Thani town off the east coast of Kra Isthmus. Samui Island is the 2nd largest island in Thailand after Phuket.
The island measures 228.7 square kilometers and is home to over 63,000 people. Samui receives over 1.5 million tourists yearly, making the island one of the most popular tourist islands in Thailand and the world at large. This can be attributed to factors like abundant natural resources, coral reefs, white sandy beaches and coconut trees. Having looked at a brief overview of Samui, let’s now shift our focus to transportation to/from the island.
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Transportation
In regards to air transport, Samui Island is served by Samui Airport; a private airport owned by Bangkok Airways. Samui Airport was built in 1989 to provide transport to Samui Island from mainland Thailand. The airport handles over 1.5 million passengers today and over 17,000 aircraft operations. The airport is served by many airlines apart from Bangkok Airways i.e. Thai Airways International, Firefly Airlines and Silk Air.
These airlines fly to Samui from destinations such as Bangkok, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. It is important however to note that there are many flights from Samui to many Thai destinations.
Air transport aside, Samui is also served by many other modes of transport the most notable being ferry transport. Several ferries connect Samui Island to the mainland. There are very many ferries connecting Samui Island to the mainland and many other islands in Thailand. Although ferry transport is the most popular and cheapest mode of transport to/from Samui, it is the slowest. There are, however faster options i.e. speed boats.
Tourism
As mentioned above, Samui is one of the most popular tourist islands in Thailand because of things like; abundant natural resources, coral reefs, white sandy beaches and coconut trees constituting the island. It is however important to note that there is more to the island than this. Tourists are also attracted to the island because of luxurious accommodation. Samui is home to some of the most luxurious island resorts and private villas in Thailand.
The booming tourism industry in the island has led to the construction of many luxurious resorts and bungalows. Currently, Samui is home to over 260 resorts & bungalows.
Apart from accommodation, Samui has managed to become a tourism hub because of the events and festivals held on the island. One of the most popular festivals in Samui is the buffalo fighting festival. The festival takes place on special occasions i.e. every New Year attracting millions of tourists from all corners of the globe. The Samui Regatta (a sailing tournament) also attracts a lot of tourists to Samui.
Tourists and competitors from as far as Japan, China, Singapore and Australia grace the occasion. Other events/festivals which attract tourists to Samui include; the Triathlon event and the Ten Stars Art Party.
Conclusion
In summary, the above article highlights important facts and information about Samui transportation and tourism. It is however important to note that there is more to Samui transportation and tourism than what is discussed above. It is therefore advisable to use this article as a basis for further research.
How to Get There
You can get to Koh Samui by ferry from Surat Thani, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. You can find the information about the tickets and schedules at Ferry Samui.
John Chen is a travel writer currently located in Bangkok, Thailand. He likes writing about Thailand and he writes not only about traveling in Thailand, but also about business, culture, economy, education and food.
