Siamese Dreams (Intrepid 350) in Surat Thani

About Koh Samui Koh Samui is Thailands third largest island lies 60 km from the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand. 21 km long and 25 km wide, Samui was first discovered by backpackers in the 1970’s and much of the island is still covered by lush tropical rainforest and coconut plantations. It’s part of the Ang Thong (Golden Bowl) Marine National Park which encompasses 80 mostly uninhabited islands. Recent developments, including luxury resorts, health spas, four international hospitals, an international airport, banks, restaurants and golf courses, have made Koh Samui is the destination of choice for more than 1 million tourists each year. Koh Samui has a population of about fifty-five thousand (source: Samui Mayor’s Office) and is based primarily on a successful tourist industry, as well as exports of coconut and rubber. It even has its own international airport, Samui Airport, with flights daily to Bangkok and other major airports in Southeast Asia such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malayasia. While the island presents an unspoiled image to the public perception, economic growth has brought not only prosperity, but changes to the island’s environment and culture. Despite the development, Samui still maintains the feel of a tropical beach island with an incredible variety of tranquil beaches, and bays around the island. HISTORY OF KOH SAMUI: Up until 1940 the only inhabitants of Koh Samui were a handful of local people who lived almost completely isolated from the rest of Thailand. These people moved around by foot or by boat along the coastline. As Samui had no roads or vehicles, any journey required a trek through the mountainous jungle. There was no tourism because the only way to reach the island was a six hour night boat from Surat Thani on the Thai mainland to Nathon. In 1967 that the then leader of the island, Khun Dilok Sutiklom, decided that development of Samui was needed for the future of the island, and asked the Thai government for assistance to build a road. Initial construction attempts were abandoned because of the numerous natural obstacles of hill and rock and because of the difficulty in getting machinery to the island. In the end hundreds of manual labourers were used to dig and blast a narrow track around the island. It wasn’t until 1973 that this 50 km dirt track around the island was finally concreted so that it became possible to drive on without the passengers having to get out and push. This road is still the main road around the island although it has recently been widened to cope with the increase in vehicles coming to the island.