Koh Samui lies 35 kilometers off the coast of Surat
Thani (one of the major cities in southern Thailand), and about 700
kilometers south of Bangkok. The island was probably originally
settled about 1500 years ago by fishermen. But its existence has first
been officially recorded by the Chinese only as late as about 1500 AD
in ancient maps from the Ming dynasty. (The long,
sandy white beaches
of Samui make it a popular tourist destination.)
Apparently Samui Island had trade connections with China (at least
Chinese ceramics from that period were found in sunken ships near the
coast of Samui). Probably one of the most dramatic episodes in the
history of the island was the short Japanese occupation during World
War II.
Koh Samui's First Hotel |
Today Koh Samui belongs to Thailand. But due to
the long isolation from the rest of the world (little was known about Koh Samui
until the early 1970s). The Islanders (about 35.000 inhabitants)
are proud of their island culture and still think of themselves as
|
different from the rest of the country.
Samui has a size of about 250 kilometers in square (comparable to the
Malaysian island Penang). As everywhere in Thailand, the major
religion is Theravada Buddhism. There are many simple temples and
shrines on the island, even in the jungle.
Until the year 1940, Koh Samui was without any roads or cars. The
Island lived its own pace with almost no contact with the outside
world . Getting from Maenam to Lamai Beach for example, meant walking
through the mountain jungles for hours and hours, a round trip that
was impossible to do in one day. Tourism was unknown. There was simply
no convenient way for anybody to come to Koh Samui.
The only way to reach the island from the mainland was by a daily boat
(6 hours from Surat Thani harbor to Nathon). Then you had to count on
another couple of hours or even more to reach your final destination.
Early plans of a road construction were laid down because of the
mountainous area and the impossibility of getting heavy construction
equipment to the island.
In 1967, Khun Dilok Suthiklom the headman of the island, decided
something had to be done for development. He contacted the government
for help. The first phase of construction consisted of manual labor.
Hundreds of people began clearing rocks and trees to create a path
around the island.
| After awhile and much handwork, they had a primitive dirt track that
lead almost all the way around. Two major obstacles were the high
mountains between Nathon and Maenam. |
 |
And, the long mountain stretch
between Lamai, and Chaweng. The former had to be lowered by dynamite
to allow the road to ascend at an acceptable angle.
Even so, in the first couple of years before the concrete was laid, to
get up the mountain everyone except the driver had to get out and
push. The area between Lamai and Chaweng is the rockiest cliff
landscape on Samui. The road had to be carved out of the mountains on
a length of 3 km, an impossible task without dynamite and heavy
construction equipment.
These machines were shipped over from the mainland. Lacking a deep
water pier, they had to be brought to land on beaches that were steep
enough to allow the large carrying vessels to anchor. In-between there
were further delays due to prolonged rainy seasons. The heavy monsoon
rains make it virtually impossible to work, not to mention laying out
concrete.
Finally in the year 1973 an order came from Bangkok that they wanted
the Samui ring road project finished. Concrete was run to complete a
52 km. long, 12 meters wide road all the way around the island. It
seems implausible to most people, who can't even imagine a time when
the only way to get from one place to other on Koh Samui was on foot.
Or by boat.
Life on the island is still very quiet, much more so than for instance
on Phuket. There are schools on Samui, but the more well-to-do
families prefer to send their children to the colleges and
universities on the Thai mainland. The main produce of the island is
coconuts (which are processed for copra production), tropical fruit
and bamboo. Fishing is of course, also a major source of income. As is
tourism. Samui is becoming more and more popular. (Most of the
accommodation offered on Samui is still owned by locals.)
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