Ko Samui is an island on the east coast of Thailand. It has been settled for about 1500 years. The first arrivals were fishermen. The island is found on 500-year-old maps from the Chinese Ming dynasty. Fishing and later coconuts have been the major source of income on Samui.

Koh Samui has been a backpacker's destination since the late 1970s. Today, tourists from the whole world go to this easygoing paradise. It is located in the Gulf of Siam and surrounded by more than sixty other islands, some small and inhabited, some bigger (ex: Koh Phangan, Koh Tao (divers island), Koh Nang Yuan and Ang Tong Islands, the National marine park).