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Koh Samui geography & distances

The island in facts: location, size, the ring road, piers, airports and how far the neighbouring islands and the mainland are. Where sources disagree, the guides say so.

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  1. Airports: on-island and nearest mainlandSamui Airport (USM) is on the northeast coast of the island, near Chaweng and Bophut. It is a private airport built and owned by Bangkok Airways…Read guide
  2. Climate and seasons (affects travel times and sea crossings)Koh Samui has a tropical monsoon climate. Unlike Phuket and the Andaman coast (wet May-October), Samui's heaviest rain falls roughly from…Read guide
  3. Distance to Koh PhanganKoh Phangan lies about 15 km north of Koh Samui (some sources quote up to 20 km depending on which piers are measured). The ferry crossing takes…Read guide
  4. Distance to Koh TaoKoh Tao lies roughly 50-70 km north of Koh Samui (published figures vary: ~50 km in some references, ~70 km in others). The fast catamaran from…Read guide
  5. Distance to the mainland (Donsak)The sea crossing between Koh Samui's west coast piers and Donsak Pier on the mainland is roughly 25-35 km depending on the source and route…Read guide
  6. Island size: 228.7 km2 vs 247 km2 (source discrepancy)Two different area figures circulate for Koh Samui. Wikipedia and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) quote 228.7 square kilometres. Older…Read guide
  7. Location: Gulf of Thailand, Surat Thani ProvinceKoh Samui is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, off the east coast of southern Thailand. Geographically it belongs to the Chumphon Archipelago…Read guide
  8. Main piersKoh Samui's main piers: Nathon Pier (west coast, main town pier, mainland ferries and some island boats), Lipa Noi Pier (southwest, car ferries…Read guide
  9. Neighbouring islands overviewKoh Samui is the largest island of its group. To the north: Koh Phangan (~168 km2, 15 km away) and Koh Tao (~21 km2, ~50-70 km away) with tiny Koh…Read guide
  10. PopulationKoh Samui's registered population was 70,059 in 2019 (municipal registration figure used by Wikipedia). A 2023 estimate reported by The Guardian put…Read guide
  11. Shape, dimensions and highest pointKoh Samui is roughly oval, measuring about 25 km at its widest point. The interior is mountainous jungle. The highest point is Khao Pom at 635…Read guide
  12. Size ranking among Thai islands (source discrepancy)Sources disagree on whether Koh Samui is Thailand's second- or third-largest island. English Wikipedia states Ko Samui is 'Thailand's second largest…Read guide
  13. Time zone, currency and phone codeKoh Samui uses Indochina Time (ICT), UTC+7, with no daylight saving - the same time zone as Bangkok and all of Thailand. The currency is the Thai…Read guide

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