Two decades of development on Koh Samui

A little longer than two decades ago, Samui Island was a sleepy and tranquil backwater. That time Samui featured crystal clear and calm blue waters. The fine white sandy beach areas were only populated by fishermen and a small crowd of pot-smoking free-spirited backpackers. The scene was similar to what Alex Garland perhaps was thinking when he wrote his novel “The Beach”, which later the Hollywood feature, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, was based on.

The reason for the stunning tropical island’s allure was pretty obvious. Positioned in the Gulf of Thailand’s core, Samui is blessed with 365 days per year sunshine and fabulous dream beaches. Like it usually happens with all perfect secrets, the news travelled fast of this ‘gem in the Andaman’ and the result was that Koh Samui has become one of our planet’s most popular tropical travel destinations offering tourists their endless demands for experiencing stays on a mythical island paradise.

Chaweng on Koh Samui’s eastern shore is undoubtedly the island’s tourist hot-spot. Chaweng represents first-class accommodation establishments, a wide range of Thai and international restaurants, vibrant nightlife scene along with a spacious white-sand beach area.

Today, there’s a shortage of available land around Chaweng. Due to this other environments on the island such as Bang Por, Lamai, Ngam and Ban Taling Ngam are experiencing significant tourist infrastructure development and are expected to become thriving holiday destinations in the near future. The northern and southwestern parts of the island are likely to be transformed into major holidaymakers’ areas. These areas provide several of the island’s largest plots of available land and some of the biggest private accommodations are being constructed.

Today, the situation and reputation of the real estate market on Koh Samui is rather negative due to several illegal construction project scandals and a period of political instability. Perhaps the recent elections and the presence of reliable real estate businesses such as Exotiq and Savills, the situation might only get better.

 Luxurious property on Samui

Today Koh Samui still belongs to Suratthani province. However, in the near future Samui might achieve a provincial status itself. Should the island become a province than it would benefit from a, provided by the national government, significantly decreased amount of money. More money would be invested in more development of the tourist infrastructure, making the island an even more perfect option for international investors.

The unique airport is set for drastic refurbishments, providing more convenient access to locations across South-East Asia and attracting higher tourist numbers. The internationally acclaimed Hyatt is constructing a new hotel establishment while Club Med and Big C are also planning to realise new resort accommodations on Samui.

When combining these prestigious plans with the fact that celebrities such as the Beckhams, Kristen Justin-Henin and Dustin Hoffman have purchased land on this tropical paradise; it will only lend loads of confidence to the entire property market on Koh Samui. With these cultural as well as real estate developments, Samui’s good reputation being one of the globe’s top island tourist destinations will definitely grow.

Comprehensive information on the island is available on this up-to-date and reliable online resource to living on Koh Samui, including real estate, health care, visas and living costs.