Koh Samui

Island Thailand, Thailand

Ko Samui is an island in Thailand located in the southwestern tip of the Gulf of Thailand. It is assumed that the island was inhabited as early as the 6th century by fishing communities from the Malay peninsula and southern China. While Koh means island in Thai, the name Samui may come from the Malay term Saboey, which means safe haven.

Thanks to the luxuriant tropical vegetation in which it is immersed, agriculture was, together with fishing, the main means of livelihood for the first inhabitants of the island for several centuries. Samui still exports large quantities of natural rubber, coconut and other characteristic tropical fruits.