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Koh Samui history

How a remote coconut island became a holiday island: early settlers, the coconut trade, the ring road, the first ferries and backpackers, the airport and city status.

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  1. Chinese and Hainanese heritage in NathonChinese migrants, especially Hainanese, settled on Koh Samui as traders and farmers. Their heritage survives in Nathon's old shophouses, Chinese…Read guide
  2. City status (2012), population growth, and Samui todayKoh Samui became a city municipality (thesaban nakhon) in 2012, gaining local self-government within Surat Thani province. Registered population…Read guide
  3. Early settlement of Koh SamuiKoh Samui was probably first settled around 1,500 years ago (about the 6th century) by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and traders from the…Read guide
  4. Full Moon Party and the regional party economy (1985 onwards)The Full Moon Party began on Haad Rin beach, Koh Phangan, around 1985 as a small backpacker gathering. It grew into an event drawing 10,000-30,000…Read guide
  5. Isolation until the 20th centuryUntil the 1970s Koh Samui had no roads. Crossing the island meant a full-day trek through mountainous jungle, and the only link to the mainland was…Read guide
  6. Landmarks of the era: Big Buddha (1972) and the mummified monk (1973)Two of Samui's best-known sights date from the same years as the ring road: the 12-metre Big Buddha at Wat Phra Yai was built in 1972, and the…Read guide
  7. Regular car ferries (1980) and the tourism boomA regular car ferry service from the mainland began around 1980, allowing vehicles, construction machinery, and goods to reach Samui. Combined with…Read guide
  8. Samui Airport opens (25 April 1989)Bangkok Airways built Samui Airport - Thailand's first privately owned airport - starting construction in 1982. It officially opened on 25 April…Read guide
  9. The coconut era: 'Coconut Island'For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Koh Samui's economy ran on coconuts. The island shipped over two million coconuts a month to the mainland…Read guide
  10. The first backpackers (early 1970s)The first foreign backpackers reached Koh Samui in the early 1970s, arriving by night boat or on cargo boats carrying coconuts. They slept in simple…Read guide
  11. The ring road (Route 4169), 1967-1973In 1967 island leader Khun Dilok Sutiklom pushed the government to help build a road around Samui. After years of blasting through hills, the…Read guide
  12. Where the name 'Samui' comes fromNobody knows for sure where the name 'Samui' comes from. The main theories are: the native 'mui' tree, the Malay word 'saboey' (safe haven), a…Read guide

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