Koh Samui is probably the best known and developed – a totally tropical island with three spectacular beaches and many other small coves.
Flying time from Bangkok is 65 minutes or from KL 95 minutes.
Koh Phangan is a 30-minute speedboat ride from Samui, with much quieter options with some great beach options, real hide and chic retreats.
Koh Tao is wonderfully tropical, 2 hours by ferry from Samui – even less developed with a rather hippy vibe and just a couple of rather funky chilled-out hotels.
Khanom is located on the mainland, facing Samui, and you fly into Surat Thani (75 minutes from Bangkok) and then a one-hour road transfer.
All are generally at their best from March to September, although being lush and very tropical rain can fall throughout the year. December to February can also see some beach erosion and higher sea swells.
Samui – Good, highly innovative hotels and some excellent dining options. The majority of the development has occurred in the northwest area of the island, closest to the airport and the more expansive beaches.
Chaweng is the most popular and crowded beach, with many restaurant and bar options. Mae Nam and BoPhut are equally good beaches but with fewer crowds and a more family/romance focus.
On the west and south coasts, it is still wonderfully real and authentic, although the beaches are less attractive. It is easy to explore, plus you can easily visit some of the offshore islands.
Phangan, Koh Tao and Khanom are much less developed. It is like going back 30 years in time, with just a handful of hotels, and offers a true sense of adventure. The beaches at Khanom are incredible, some of the very best in the region and totally unspoilt, and the scenic contrasts amazing.
Koh Tao rejoices in its laid-back, almost bohemian style. It’s a bit Thai wild west in places with local versions of Lemmy from Motorhead in abundance.
Koh Phangan, despite being one of the largest islands, is still wonderfully tropical and lush with some superb beaches and just a handful of international-styled hotels. It is known for its rather wild and hedonistic monthly Full Moon parties, but that is just on one beach and can be easily avoided.
Samui seems to have focused on building hotels without a lot of thought on the island’s infrastructure. It can show at times. Lively Chaweng is an acquired taste, but it has restaurants and bars galore. It is a small island, so hotels on the popular north coast, within 15 minutes of the airport, might see/hear aircraft.
Phangan, Koh Tao and Khanom will appeal to curious travellers looking to experience something new and fresh. They appeal particularly to those who have visited Thailand as backpackers in their student days, loved it but can now afford something rather more luxurious. Or those who really enjoy Thailand but feel the resorts of Phuket and Samui are now just a little too busy.
Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao & Khanom, Southern Thailand – Chic Locations
"There's no such thing as the best hotel, just the right one..."
Click for Booking Terms, Price Guides, Flight Information
CHIC Locations Terms and Booking Conditions PDF
All price guides are Per Person Sharing Double Room (Entry level), based on travel between May and/or June when prices are generally at their lowest and include promotional offers. Supplements will probably apply at other times, particularly mid-summer in the Med, and for rooms and/or transfers arranged for single travellers.
For example, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean prices for winter can be approximately double the May - June level and about 50% more in Asia. For the Mediterranean & Canary Islands, Caribbean, Arabia and the Indian Ocean (except Sri Lanka) price guides generally include airfare and transfers.
*For Sri Lanka and Far East we show a per-person, per-night hotel guide, excluding air fare, as arrangements tend to be individually tailored multi-centre itineraries.
Please refer to Travel Advice on our home page or look at www.fco.gov.uk as the Foreign Office may have issued specific destination information on safety and terrorism.
All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.
Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk.
Some of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed on this website. This website will provide you with information on the protection that applies in the case of each holiday and travel service offered before you make your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected.