Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Facts and some History
An island of great natural beauty and variety, Samui is home to about 40,000 full-time in-
habitants, 90% of whom are Buddhist. The palm fringed shoreline and coconut and fruit
cultivationofthecoastallowlandsrisetoacentralgranitemassive,theslopesofwhichare
cloaked in virgin rainforest.
At 247km² Samui is the third largest island in Thailand and the largest island in an ar-
chipelagoofover80(mostlyuninhabited)islandswhichformtheAngThongNationalMar-
ine Park, a kayaking and snorkeling paradise. At 25km long and 21km wide, Samui is big
enough for serious exploration by the adventurous and fit, but can be circumnavigated in
just a couple of hours by motorbike or car.
The island was probably first inhabited about 15 centuries ago, settled by fishermen from
theMalayPeninsulaandSouthernChina.ItappearsonChinesemapsdatingbackto1687,
underthenamePuloCornam.ThenameSamuiismysteriousinitself.Perhapsitisanex-
tensionofthenameofoneofthenativetrees,mui,oritisacorruptionoftheChineseword
Saboey, meaning "safe haven".
Until the late 20th century, Samui was an isolated self-sufficient community, having little
connectionwiththemainlandofThailand.Theislandwasevenwithoutroadsuntiltheearly
1970sandthe15kmjourneyfromonesideoftheislandtotheotherinvolvedawhole-day
trek through the mountainous central jungles.
Intheearly1970sthefirstbackpackers traveling onthebackofacoconutboatarrivedon
KoSamui. Foryears after that the island just had a few bungalows and a trickle oftravel-
ers. Things started to change in the early 1990s when tourists started arriving in full boats
andsincethentheplacegrewsubstantially.Samuiisnowthesecondmostpopularplaceas
anislanddestinationinThailand(firstisPhuket).KoSamuimaynotbethecountry'smost
beautifulislandbutitisstillanoasisofnaturalbeautywithitswhitesandybeaches,dazzling
coral,lusciouslagoons,picturesquewaterfalls,swayingcoconuttreesandcrystalclearwa-
ter. The water at Bophut beach, though, is often murky, especially around December.
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