The 247-square-kilometre Samui island is Surat Thani’s major tourism attraction at its widest point, and 25 kilometres at its longest. A 51-kilometre ring and largely coastal road encircles the island, which has numerous lovely beaches and bays, and is almost literally an island of coconuts and forested hills,
Samui’s best beaches line the northern and eastern coasts, the most popular heing Chaweng and Lamai, where generally attractive accommodation can be found. Bo Phut and Mae Nam are other popular beaches. Besides beaches, other island attractions include coral beds at Laem Sed and Tong Takien; the Hin Lat and Na Muang waterfalls; the phallic rock formations at the southern end of Lamai Bay; the nearby butterfly garden and honey farm; a massive seated Buddha image on Fan isle in P1ai Laem Bay; a herbal garden at Ban Makam; a monkey training centre at Ban Khao Phra; and Na Thon, the island’s major seafront settlement where shops, restaurants and tour agencies are concentrated.
Ko Phangan
This increasingly popular 191-square-kilometre island is 60 minutes north of Ko Samui. Attractions include a hilltop temple, Wat Khao Tam, ideal for meditation, the Tan Sadet Waterfall some 30 kilometres from the district office, the Hat Rin Beach, some 12 kilometres from the district office, the Paeng National Park, some 4 kilometres from the district office, and satellite islands such as Ko Tao where pristine beaches and coral reefS are found.
Special Events
Rambtun Fair
(during August) The fair celebrates the delicious fruit, first planted in Surat Thani during 1926. Highlights include floats adorned with rambutans and other fruits, exhibitions of local products and ornamental plants, and demonstrations by specially trained monkeys who harvest coconuts.
Chak Phra Festival
Surat Thani celebrates the official end of the annual 3-month Buddhist Rains retreat (Phansa) with the Chak Phra Festival (literally the procession of hauling the Buddha lmage). The tradition stems from the belief that the Buddha ascended to Heaven during Phansa to preach to his mother. The festival marks the Buddha’s return to Earth, and is an occasion for religious merit-making and general celebrations. Local people organise dazzling land and waterborne processions of revered Buddha images (to symbolise the and boat races on the Tapi River where long boats, each manned by up to 50 oarsmen, are ebulliently raced, Religious devotion, spectacle and merriment combine to make Surat Thani’s Chak Phra Festival a memorable annual event.
Accommodation
A comprehensive list of airconditioned and non-air-conditioned accommodation, and restaurants, in Surat Thani, Ko Samui and Ko Phangan, can be obtained from the local Tourism Authority of Thailand.