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Tourists embrace Koh Samui 
Tourists embrace Koh Samui
The flash resorts have moved into Koh
Samui but the main attraction is still the island itself, reports James
Shrimpton, of AAP.
Shattering the calm of a warm afternoon in the
Samui township of Lamai, two vans prowl the streets with loudspeakers
espousing the delights of two beach parties organised by the rival Ark
and Reggae clubs, promising music and fun lasting until 2am.
It's
a reminder that while Koh Samui in recent years has climbed to the top
end of Thailand's tourism market, it still caters to the backpackers and
budget travellers who in the 1970s first "discovered" the
then-undeveloped island, on the Gulf of Thailand 700km south of Bangkok.
Non-fancy
accommodation is still available around Samui from about 400 baht
($NZ17.30) a night, but on and around the cliffs overlooking the sea is
now a growing warren of resorts with matchless views, five-star
furnishings, exquisite cuisines and infinity swimming pools - at umpteen
times the cost.
And these deluxe havens of privacy are
attracting more and more attention from the ranks of the rich and
famous.
American singer Britney Spears was reported staying at
one of the newer resorts during our visit, and we were told that British
soccer star David Beckham had invested in a million-dollar villa here.
We
took a look at half-a-dozen of them and stayed a couple of nights at
two: the Baan Taling Ngam Resort and Spa (70 villas, suites and rooms)
on an old coconut plantation on the west or so-called Virgin Coast, and
the Silavadee Pool Spa Resort (55 villas, suites and rooms) near Lemai
in the southeast.
Both have spacious reception areas atop cliffs
110m or so above the gulf, and both use golf carts to ferry guests from
their tiered rooms to the white-sand beaches below, from which boats can
take them on excursions to small offshore islands for exploration,
swimming and snorkelling.
The immaculately-furnished guest rooms
all have stunning sea views, as do diners in the outdoor/indoor
restaurants.
Samui itself is Thailand's third- largest island
with an area of 228.7sq km, roughly the same shape as Tasmania but about
300 times smaller.
The weather is tropically warm all year, with
an average high of 30degC; September and October are the rainy months.
Tourism
has become the number-one industry on Koh Samui.
First settled
some 1500 years ago by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula, the island
was known as a grower and exporter of kapok cotton and coconut products
before the backpackers began arriving 25 years ago.
A trickle
soon became a stream as mostly young people from Europe and elsewhere in
the West came to enjoy cheap holidays in the sun - not totally unlike
(at least geographically) the island of Phi Phi Le featured in the
Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach, released in 2000.
The stream
became a flood in the 1990s as the choice of resorts grew, offering
enjoyment to holidaymakers of all ages from Europe, the Pacific, Asia
and North America.
Around the most popular beach areas grew the
townships of Chaweng, Lemai, Taling Ngam and the capital, Nathon.
Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/travel/80438/tourists-embrace-koh-samui
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