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5 Forgotten Attractions of Koh Samui
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 Informative Article Summary by Anny Redperz
1 SHOPPING FOR SARONGS, SOUVENIRS AND SAMUI-INSPIRED DECOR
Whether it’s picking up new threads in designer boutiques, bargaining your way into a bikini at a road-side store or finding Samui-inspired decor for back home, the island offers plenty of shopping to break up your beach time.
Clothing boutiques in Chaweng and Fisherman’s Village offer cute and flirty dresses, perfect for a tropical setting and its humid temperatures. A few shops in Chaweng also sell dresses for your return to civilisation with designer labels or club-worthy couture – Vanities (Chaweng Beach Road) is one of these, run by two fashion-studded gals from Bangkok. For Samui-inspired decor, try Doodee Decor or Paraphenalia on the same strip, boThsell stand-out pieces that would put you in the pages of Wallpaper* – the Thai version.
Of course, the one souvenir you can’t forget is a bottle of Samui’s own virgin coconut oil. Pharmacies and sundry shops across the island sell the oil, a natural skin moisturiser that has also been touted as better for cooking than olive or vegetable oil.
2 JUNGLE SAMUI
Take a break from the beach with an exploration of Samui’s forested interior. The undulating landscape of mountains and trees swells and dips much like the ocean beyond. Waterfalls careen and cascade through the exposed rocks and collect into shallow pools before continuing to the sea. The tallest fixtures in the interior are the treetops, not buildings, and the roads are often rutted and dusty.
Most visitors do a one-day jungle safari that includes elephant trekking, 4WD tours and more attractions than you knew you liked. If the 4WD tours seem like the inland version of jet skis, then embrace the idea that less is more: opt for a quieter exploration with a bike tour, or take a vehicle to one of the accessible waterfalls for a short hike. Or fly, rather than walk, through the jungle on one of the island’s zip-line courses. The interior also has the greatest concentration of local Samui people (chow sà·mŭi), who make their living the old-fashioned way with coconut and small-scale farming. There’s a variety of ‘Living Thailand’ tours that include buff alo shows, rice-planting demonstrations as well as elephant trekking and waterfall spotting.
3 IN SEARCH OF COCONUT CURRY
Samui’s signature crop, the coconut, features in almost every dish from savoury to sweet. Wai kôo·a is a Samui invention, using a local octopus in a spicy and sour coconut-based curry. The local catch of fresh fish and farm-raised prawns is given a southern touch with tamarind and chilli sauces, and barbecued over coals made from coconut husks. Bang Po Seafood (438/82 Ring Road) and nearby Sabeinglae are two preservers of old-fashioned Samui food.
Samui benefits from its proximity to the sea and from the culinary crossroads that have shaped southern Thai cuisine.
Malay, Indian, Chinese and Indonesian ingredients and dishes have migrated to southern Thailand, often improving the homeland’s contributions. Southern-style curries are spicier than those found in central Thailand and are typically spiked with turmeric, which imparts a yellowish hue. Fish is a common curry component, along with roots and shoots that have no English-language counterparts. The sprawling seafood shacks and curry shops which line the Ring Road, as well as the busy markets such as Laem Din Market and Lamai Day Market, offer excellent local bites.
4 STEAM AND SPA, SAMUI-STYLE
For pampering or weight loss, Samui offers some of the world’s best spa and health retreats, employing Thai, Ayurvedic and Chinese traditional medicine as well as alternative medicine techniques.
For the full spa experience of being steamed, soaked and scrubbed, many spas oblige in a setting that overlooks the sea or is tucked into the jungle. There is the usual menu of imported massage and bath products, but many places offer locally produced coconut scrubs and massage oils, plus Thai massage and the curious Ъrà·kóp massage (a heated herbal compress is pressed into acupressure points).
Tamarind Springs (North Lamai, tel +66 (0)77 424221) offers one of the best spa experiences on the island, complete with a steam room carved into towering boulders.
5 TEMPLES AND SHRINES
The majority of Samui’s population is Theravada Buddhist and the island is sprinkled with temples venerated for their architecture, famous abbots or contemplative settings. Many tourists might weave some temple spotting into a day’s excursion, but it is difficult to understand the role of these buildings in religious life unless a visit coincides witha holy day or temple fair.
Because Buddhists don’t have one prescribed day of worship, the temples are always open to the faithful who come to make merit by lighting joss sticks and offering lotus blossoms (the symbol of enlightenment) before the temple’s principal Buddha figure.
Temple caves are a vital part of the forest temple tradition in Thailand, and in the past monks have lived inside the cave as meditation hermits. One of the best meditation caves can be accessed via Kamalaya spa (Laem Set Road, Laem Set). A visitor’s pass to Kamalaya allows access to the cave as well as use of the health resort’s steam cavern and plunge pools.
BORED OF THE BEACH? CHINA WILLIAMS, AUTHOR OF LONELY PLANET’S SAMUI ENCOUNTER GUIDEBOOK, RECOMMENDS FIVE ALTERNATE WAYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE ISLAND
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