Koh Samui News
Stay up to date on the latest happenings in Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao with The Thaiger. Our team delivers up-to-date news, insightful analysis, and exclusive stories from this popular part of the Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Keep your finger on the pulse of Samui’s ever-evolving tourism, economic, and cultural scene, as well as its thriving beach entertainment and nightlife. Stay informed about local events, transportation updates, and expat experiences in this vibrant collection of Islands.
The Thaiger is your go-to source for all things Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao. Don’t miss out – subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay connected with the city’s most trusted news source.
-
Sponsored Leap into English mastery with Green Valley's LEAP Programme
For many years, St. Andrews International School, Green Valley’s students who did not speak English as their first language have typically participated in English as an Additional Language (EAL) programmes to build proficiency. However, the school has recently introduced a...
-
Everything stolen from Danish man’s 3 homes on Koh Samui
A Danish expat living in Koh Samui returned home from a five-month holiday to a most unpleasant surprise. Someone had ransacked his three homes and stolen nearly everything inside. The 43 year old man had been travelling abroad for nearly half a year with his Thai wife. Their homes are in Maenam on the northern coast of the popular holiday…
-
Tourists flock to famous market in Koh Samui
Tourists are flocking to a famous market in Koh Samui for its mouthwatering food. The vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand said the tourists are loving the Pad Thai, papaya salad (Somtam), and grilled chicken at The Wharf Samui. The market opens every Wednesday and Friday from the late afternoon until late night. Tourism Council Vice President Wiwat Chuenban…
-
Planning a small conference? Try Thailand’s super-luxury villas
If you are planning an international get-together, or a training conference for local staff, why waste your time and money on a decaying Bangkok hotel meeting room with ugly furniture, toxic air conditioning and a buffet prepared by the kitchen intern? Try a super-luxury villa. Thailand is home to some of the most spectacular meeting spots in the world. And…
-
Thailand’s southern islands are reeling in tourists
South Thailand’s holiday hotspot islands are reeling in tourists once again. The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Koh Pha Ngan have seen 2.3 million tourists arrive on their shores in the past 10 months, according to the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s office for the islands. This has generated over 40 billion baht in revenue.…
-
Cruise brings 600 tourists to Koh Samui
After three years of pandemic-induced quiet, Koh Samui welcomed back its first major cruise ship. Viking Cruises included Koh Samui in their Secrets of Southeast Asia cruise, stopping on Sunday for some 600 passengers to come ashore and explore the Thai tourist island. The large vessel was welcomed as it docked at Nathon Pier on the west coast of Koh…
-
VIDEO: Naked Russian man walks around with erection in Koh Samui
A naked Russian man was spotted cavorting in Koh Samui yesterday. According to witness Justin Ross Lee, an American expat, the drunk man had somehow managed to find himself in the Secret Garden beach resort mixing with shocked leisure seekers. Lee told The Thaiger… “A drunk guy who was speaking Russian was walking on the beach naked with an erection…
-
Koh Samui’s Hash House Harriers to celebrate 1000th run December 3rd
Koh Samui’s Hash House Harriers are celebrating their 1000th run on the island. Perhaps it isn’t just a celebration of conquering the wild jungles of Koh Samui, but rather a celebration of forged international friendships over the 25 years that the run has operated on the island. As the group normally features around 20-30 participants for each of its Saturday…
-
Thai actress defies laws to build house on Koh Samui mountain
Locals in Koh Samui in the southern province of Surat Thani filed a complaint with authorities after a luxury house belonging to a Thai actress was built on a mountain area that belongs to the government. Officers from the Department of Land and Royal Forest Department yesterday investigated the house, and land around where the building is under construction, in…
-
Koh Samui sees influx of Russian tourism
With flights increasing from Russia to Thailand, Koh Samui is seeing an increase in European travellers. The holiday island expects to see a surge in Russian tourism in particular, especially in December to close out the year. Russian tourism has been a big revenue-producing staple of Koh Samui but was stymied by the Covid-19 pandemic and then the Russian invasion…
-
No foul play in death of missing Russian man in Pha Ngan
In an update to the tragic news out of Koh Pha Ngan yesterday, a body found in the woods has been confirmed to be that of a missing Russian tourist. Further, initial investigations point to no signs of foul play in the Russian man’s death. It appears that Nikita Grigoryev snuck out of Koh Pha Ngan Hospital into the woods…
-
Missing Russian man in Koh Pha Ngan believed found dead
The Russian man missing in Koh Pha Ngan for a month has been reportedly found dead in the forest of the island. The man had been reported missing since September 13. On Wednesday a Burmese person stumbled upon a body in a dense forest area on the Pha Ngan and notified the police immediately. A friend took to Facebook to…
-
Five senior Koh Samui police officers transferred over two criminal case investigations
Five senior Koh Samui police officers have reportedly been transferred over two criminal cases on the island. Surat Thani provincial police chief, Sathit Phonphinit, signed the order to transfer the officers pending factual evidence in the two cases. The order was carried out on Wednesday, one day after it was signed. One of the criminal cases being investigated allegedly involves…
-
Foreign gang allegedly extorts Russian couple of crypto worth US$50k in Thailand
A Russian couple in Koh Samui in southern Thailand claims that a gang of six foreign men – including Russians, Kazakhs and a German – extorted them of cryptocurrency worth US$50,000, or 1.89 million baht. On Sunday, 31 year old Evgeny Abdullin and his wife Ekaterina Abdullin filed a complaint at Koh Samui Police Station. The couple said that six…
-
Fishermen rescued after going missing in stormy seas off Koh Samui
Fishermen who went missing amidst stormy seas off Thailand’s island of Koh Samui were rescued by fellow fishermen earlier this week. The two men, a 70 year old and a 50 year old, were reported missing near Baan Tai Beach in the Koh Samui district. The boat capsized that the two men were travelling in as strong wind and waves…
-
Koh Samui hotel thieves may have been led by the ex-lessee
In the curious case of a hotel owner claiming her hotel was dismantled by thieves who took literally everything, three more suspects were arrested in Koh Samui. Police executed a search warrant on Thursday for a warehouse on Samui that they say contained items they believe to be stolen from the remains of the Chaweng Blue Lagoon Teak Wing. Though…
-
Koh Samui seeks special approval to sell alcohol after hours
The President of Koh Samui Tourism Promotion urged the government to introduce a special rule to allow the island to sell alcohol after hours. In Thailand, alcoholic beverages, both in restaurants and shops, are only allowed to be sold from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to 12am. The President of Koh Samui Tourism Promotion, Ratchaporn Poonsawat, believes this is…
-
Market fire in Donsak, gateway to Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan
A community market went up in flames in Donsak, the southern port district in Surat Thani province that serves as the gateway to the tropical tourist islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. The fire erupted in the wee hours yesterday morning and spread to damage two houses adjacent to the Donsak market. The fire erupted in a house…
-
British expat killed in Koh Samui motorbike accident, another seriously injured
A British expat has been tragically killed in a motorbike accident on Thailand’s island of Koh Samui in the early hours of yesterday morning, with another man from the UK seriously injured. The two men had been on a motorbike together when they collided with a garbage truck. The man killed had been the passenger on the motorbike. He was…
-
Vietnamese man to be deported after robbing Dutchman on Koh Samui
A Vietnamese man who stole 15,000 baht and an iPhone from a Dutch tourist on Koh Samui is set to be deported after he faces penalties. The suspect, Tueng, snatched the iPhone and cash from the victim’s bag at an entertainment venue, according to Bo Phut Police. The victim, 25 year old Hanifi Mert, filed a complaint on August 20.…
-
Koh Samui man busted for allegedly opening illegal venue
One Koh Samui man’s new entertainment venue, which he named ‘Dream Land,’ has turned into the scene of his worst nightmare. Officers from Bo Phut Police station raided Dream Land yesterday, and the owner now faces charges of opening the venue without a permit. The man, 45 year old Puwanai, also faces charges of selling alcohol over the legal time…
-
South African’s life sentence reduced to 33 years for drug trafficking in Thailand
Koh Samui Court decided to reduce 23 year old Ashley Oosthuizen’s life sentence to 33.4 years at a hearing on Wednesday. Ashley, from South Africa, is behind bars in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand for signing for a package containing MDMA at a restaurant in Koh Samui in late 2020. She was found guilty of international drug trafficking.…
-
Another long weekend brings huge crowds to Surat Thani
Another long holiday weekend has benefited tourism in southern Thailand, as the province of Surat Thani recorded over 57,000 visitors. Both domestic and foreign travellers made their way down to Surat’s popular islands for the three-day weekend. Data shared by the Surat Thani office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said that 24,639 foreigners made their way to one…
-
Tourism Minister visits Full Moon Party, supports later curfew
The Full Moon Party week is just wrapping on the island of Koh Pha Ngan, and while attendance was down, there was at least one special attendee that could influence the future of the party. Minister of Tourism and Sports Pipat Ratchakitprakarn visited Haad Rin, home of the iconic party that draws tens of thousands of tourists to the island…
-
Investigation begins into Thailand’s latest maritime incident off Chumpon
Thailand has logged another maritime mishap with the fire on a passenger ferry, about 5 kilometres off the coast of Chumpon. The sea conditions were reported as “rough” at the time of the incident off the uninhabited Koh Thong Lang. This time 20 people were on board, but the 18 passengers jumped into the water and were all rescued. A…
-
American man who fell through roof at Full Moon Party in critical condition
Friends and family of an American man who was seriously injured at a Full Moon Party have launched several GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for his treatment and repatriation. The man remains in critical condition at Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok after falling through a roof in the wee hours of the famous party on Haad Rin Beach in Koh Pha…
-
Koh Pha Ngan springs back into gear with the July Full Moon Party
This holiday weekend hosted the largest Full Moon Party since February of 2019 before the pandemic, with the biggest crowd the beach and venues of Haad Rin on Koh Pha Ngan have seen since the party restarted tentatively in November 2021. Some estimated as many as 20,000 people flooded the island to take part in the festivities – the first…
-
Russian billionaire’s superyacht Samui visit spurs hope of wealthy tourists
The arrival of a few mega billionaires to the tourist island of Koh Samui and surrounding islands has sparked hope that Thailand will begin to see a rise in wealthy travellers again. Perhaps now that Covid-19 restrictions are finally mostly lifted, several luxury superyacht vessels have been spotted arriving on the shores of Samui. Most notably, Alexander Alexandrovich Svetakov, a…
-
Ferry routes resume operation in Surat Thani after storms
After all boats in Surat Thani were cancelled on Monday due to storms, with partial service resuming yesterday, Ferry routes are in full service today – though scrambling and late. In addition to the ferries that had been running before the fierce and windy storms shut everything down, Seatran Ferry has relaunched its service to Koh Phangan from the mainland…
-
Buddha Days, Full Moon Party brings 5-day holiday surge to Surat
The Southern Thailand province of Surat Thani – home to Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Tao – is set to see a money-making surge of travellers during next week’s 5-day holiday. The Surat Thani office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand is estimating over 70,000 visitors generating about 833 million baht in tourism revenue for the province. The…
-
Ferries to Koh Pha Ngan is costing 40% more (and the other islands too)
Business owners on Koh Pha Ngan are demanding cheaper ferry charges after they increased by more than 40% since the start of July, impacting businesses and living expenses. For the average car, the ferry service from Don Sak dock to Pha Ngan with the Raja Ferry increased from 620 baht to 900 baht as of July 1. The Raja Ferry…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.