Ko Samui ( or Koh Samui, also often locally shortened to Samui; Thai: เกาะสมุย, pronounced [kɔ̀ʔ̚ sā.mǔj]) is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted municipal status and thus is now locally self -governing. Ko Samui, with an area of 228.7 km2, is Thailand 's second largest island after Phuket. In 2018, it was visited by 2.7 million tourists.
History
The island was probably first inhabited about 15 centuries ago, settled by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and southern China. It appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687, under the name Pulo Cornam.The origin of the name samui is unknown. It may come from the Sanskrit- Tamil word สมวย, meaning ' sea weather '. Or it may derive from the name of a tree known locally in southern Thailand as ต้นหมุย ( full name ต้นสมุย). A third possibility is that it originated from early Hainanese traders to Samui. In Hainanese Chinese, เซ่าบ่วย means 'first island ', 'barrier', or ' gate ', or literally ' beautiful beach '.
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