2.44/5
711 reviews
Photo by Yavor Punchev via Unsplash

Ko Samui

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food

cafes

beaches

island

beach

great

restaurants

good

tourists

expensive

scene

work

nice

bangkok

chaweng

due

locals

Ko Samui is a mixed bag for digital nomads and long-term visitors. On the positive side, internet is fast across most areas, and there’s a growing digital nomad and startup community, mostly centered around a few coworking spots and meetup groups. The island is beautiful with great beaches, and there are many outdoor activities from diving to waterfall hikes. The island also provides convenient access via its central airport, and long-term rent and living costs can be surprisingly affordable if you know where to look. Many expats enjoy the laid-back lifestyle and the diverse local community.

However, there are some consistent drawbacks. Food hygiene is a major issue, with multiple reports of recurring food poisoning, likely due to poor refrigeration and handling. Power and water outages occur more often than you'd hope, especially in properties without backup generators. While some enjoy the quiet, others find it lacks a vibrant nomad culture compared to nearby islands like Ko Phangan or Ko Lanta. There are limited stylish or A/C cafes suited for remote work, and driving a scooter can be risky. Prices for dining and groceries are also higher than in Bangkok, particularly in touristy zones. Overall, Ko Samui can work well if you’re prepared and selective about where you stay and eat.

AI-generated summary of reviews
2 months ago

Ko Samui is an amazing place, I don't agree at all with the CON's. I am a Thai-American and have lived all over Thailand. Ko Samui is my favorite. The people, culture and experience of Ko Samui is wonderful.
The roads are dangerous usually due to tourists. Not the locals LOL! This will be changing with Thai law requiring drivers license's. Of course it is humid and sweaty, my goodness you are in the tropics, and April is the hottest month. I suggest researching the best times of year to visit the islands, and Thailand in general. Most people go from A/C to A/C venues anyhow. The beaches and ocean are magical, the tours to the islands are so inexpensive and you have unique experiences diving, swimming, and meeting new people. In the tourist areas people will speak more English, but then again, you are in their country, there are many apps to help translate. Don't let these CONS deter you from the incredible people and beauty of Ko Samui.. it's our favorite place in Thailand.

2 years ago

We have been living here for 18 months, really love it, it took a while for the island to recover from Covid but general economic activity is back to say 60-70% now and we have two groups for digital nomads (meet monthly or so at various locations) and one for tech startups (Startup Samui on fb meets weekly) plus a few small coworking spaces and friendly cafes for nomads popping up. Our living costs are about $600/month for rent two bedroom+ house near beach and about the same again for food and bike rental and going out. We cook about 40% of the time and eat out mainly. Booze is extra, local beers cheap cocktails are a little expensive 150-250+thb. Air quality and saftey are excellent except need to be careful on roads with motor bikes. Very diverse expat scene.

3 years ago

I stayed in Taling Ngam in a villa at a place called Le Motu for almost a month. I can't recommend it enough. It's amazing, with a very secluded beach, fast wifi, a few great restaurants nearby. If you want to party this is not the area to stay, but if you're looking for a secluded area to just relax and get work done, the southern half of the island is great.

3 years ago

We have been living here for 12 months and love it. Airport is very central for the region and all major hubs. Supermarkets and local markets are plentiful and generally fairly priced especially makro and local. No power outages. Some minor internet fibre outages but mobile generally great. Air quality is excellent except for rare neighbours burning leaves :-) Lots of great beaches, we like the north and west as it is more quiet/family/couples but south and east have more excitement and are arguably more beautiful. Main choice is living on beach or living in hills w view. We are beach people mainly cause it saves 20 mins a day driving up/down and you don't have to plan to run/walk/swim. Prices not that different. We use bikes, 2500thb per month for a newish honda click 125 which is what most locals ride so repairs are cheap and instant. Diving is ok but your really want to do an overnight trip to nearby Koh Phangan or Koh Toa or Koh Team or Ang Thong all of which are close by. Samui is the hub and all the benefits flow from that, choice, price, availability, capacity, information etc... Lots of very long term interested expats what have settled with family, business, local spouse etc. Food panda and lazada and online food are great (and fast) for the things that are not easy to get. I had one bad experience with an oyster (my fault frankly) but otherwise no food poisoning issues. Lots of cool cafes, restaurants etc of all nationalities as in the good years they have 50,000 locals and 2m visitors. There is also a digital nomad group and a startup samui group both with hundreds of members here, nearby koh panghan has lots of crypto. First timers will find it a little expensive but you will soon work out where the local expats go and it is nice, inexpensive, authentic and supportive community. We love climbing waterfalls after rain, exploring new beaches and nearby islands (cheap long boats, sail only too), jet skiing, new restaurants, cafes, setting up the laptop in digital cafes and meeting people and the digital coffee groups.

3 years ago

Samui sucks and is to be avoided by nomads. It's not a nomad hotspot, at all. And probably won't ever become one.

Pros:
- Has an airport, so you can fly in straight from Bangkok and it only takes an hour
- Has nice villas you can rent with beautiful view over the ocean and Ko Phangan in the distance
- Grab and FoodPanda delivery food works okay here, although options are quite limited compared to Bangkok
- WiFi is good and fast around the island, no problems at all
- Driving a bike/scooter here is quite do-able as traffic is not that insane as in Bali or the rest of Thailand
- Nice place to go diving but honestly you're closer to the diving spots from Ko Phangan.
- Big C and Makro supermarkets have all the international food you can wish for like steak, baguettes and camembert, although the raw meat can be dodgy
- You can ship good frozen organic meat in here from Paleo Robbie from Bangkok (just Google this)

Cons:
- There is SO much food poisoning. Me and my 8 friends would get diarrhea every few weeks. It's not about local bacteria that you have to get immunity to, that's bs. You can't get immunity to local bacteria. It's just the food is prepared with bad hygiene, the meat isn't refrigerated and transported properly (see power cuts).
- There was only a few places that we confirmed as clean and we ordered there a lot with high quality food: especially Basilicom and Falafel Factory.
- The scene in Samui is mostly weekend tourists from Bangkok, low class expats who gave up on life with zero ambition and low class neon tanktop tourists in Chaweng who will blast their shitty music on Bluetooth speakers. My friends started calling Samui the "land of losers" cause that's what it feels like. This is not a foreigner opinion either: the Thai we spoke even from Samui would agree.
- Very few hipster cafes. I can count them on one hand. Most other cafes are Thai chains like Amazon and coffee is not good. Even fewer cafes where you can work in A/C
- The young/hipster/nomad scene on the Thai islands still isn't in Ko Samui, instead they're in Ko Pha Ngang (next door) and Ko Lanta (on the other/left coast of Thailand) and Phuket.
- Restaurants are really average but really expensive (see food poisoning above too), and very touristy but more like the touristy you know from your parents going to Thailand riding elephants and buying sarongs in the tourist shop inside the restaurant
- Regular power cuts, which usually also means the water stops running, so no shower, toilet, tap water etc. Unless your house/hotel/villa has a power generator (most don't), you're stuck without. Also AC won't work so it'll quickly become boiling hot inside your place
- In many ways Ko Samui is more expensive than Bangkok, because it's a tourist island and quite small
- Samui lacks a specific identity, it's unclear for who it is, I'd describe it as "Ko Meh"

Summary:
- Samui is nice if you come with a group, book a luxury villa and cook your own food. But then it gets boring after a few weeks.

Where to go instead?
- If you want an island place with nomad scene and hipster cafes, of course Canggu in Bali. Otherwise Ko Phangan, or Ko Lanta might be better. If you want a vibrant social scene go to the south of Phuket or Chiang Mai.

4 years ago

I spent 21 days here. Granted it was in Feb 2021 so there were not many tourists here, that made for a very enjoyable time experiencing the beautiful beaches and viewpoints without the swarm of wailing selfie sticks. Some very nice beach bars and cafes to work from with amazing views. A little more expensive than other areas of Thailand. If you go, a day visit to Ang Thong is a must. That place is just mesmerising.

5 years ago

I stuck here due COVID 19 quarantine. And it's best place to be right now. There are no big diifference compare to normal life. Locals are still friendly. Goverment doesn't pushes too much if you follow 2 simple rules: no partys due carantin and wear mask. Beaches are one of the best i've ever been and now they empty and even more clean. Food delivery works fine, Internet is good if you use your own line, and it's cheap to do. Great place to be here!

5 years ago

Samui is Thailand's second most popular island for tourists, after Phuket. The main areas are Chaweng and Lamai. Chaweng used to be more backpacker and trashy (like Bali's Kuta) but is now rapidly developing into a real clean town. Since 2014, it now has a giant air-conditioned Central World mall, an increasing number of coffee places, good restaurants and more upscale hotels and resorts.

Lamai Beach used to be the more clean and laidback area but is now deteriorating. The beaches are still okay but the streets are now filled with sex bars and bad restaurants. Worse, prices in Lamai are often higher than in Chaweng due to less competition.

The preferrable spot to stay in Ko Samui now is the more mellow South Chaweng.

7 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Beautiful beaches

✅ Good for digital nomads (some coworking spaces and groups)

✅ Decent diving and island tours nearby

✅ Affordable long-term living

✅ Friendly expat scene

✅ Convenient airport access

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Very safe

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Food poisoning is a recurring problem

❌ Power and water outages reported in some areas

❌ Few quality cafes for working

❌ Not a strong nomad hotspot compared to alternatives

❌ Higher cost of living than other parts of Thailand

❌ Dangerous roads, especially with scooters

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Not much to do

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are not that great

❌ Roads are very dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

30°C / 86°F warm

29°C / 84°F warm

31°C / 88°F hot

32°C / 90°F hot

31°C / 88°F hot

30°C / 86°F warm

29°C / 84°F warm

Real (median)

27°C / 80°F
warm

27°C / 81°F
warm

28°C / 82°F
very warm

27°C / 81°F
warm

27°C / 80°F
warm

26°C / 79°F
warm

Humidity

sweaty
81%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
79%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
78%

sweaty
79%

sweaty
81%

sweaty
82%

sweaty
86%

nice
79%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
37mm

dry
18mm

dry
30mm

rainy
119mm

rainy
133mm

rainy
104mm

rainy
93mm

rainy
100mm

rainy
162mm

rainy
198mm

rainy
298mm

rainy
140mm

Cloud

pockets
39%

pockets
25%

pockets
28%

pockets
48%

pockets
50%

cloudy
50%

cloudy
55%

cloudy
53%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
54%

cloudy
58%

pockets
39%

Sun

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

1,638 people

1,614 people

1,667 people

1,364 people

877 people

818 people

1,325 people

1,108 people

673 people

836 people

1,143 people

1,350 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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$2,008 / mo

25 Mbps

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 85°

✈️3h

$2,908 / mo

70 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 28° 82° 26° 79° AQI 53 😷

✈️15h

$4,423 / mo

28 Mbps

Phuket

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️20min

$1,879 / mo

21 Mbps

Berlin

Germany

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety great

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 33° 91° 29° 84°

✈️1h

$4,171 / mo

🌇 Also went here298 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 30° 86° 26° 79° 🥵 AQI 18

✈️1h

$1,104 / mo

🌇 Also went here382 people

Ubud, Bali

Indonesia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 16° 61° 16° 60° AQI 22

✈️13h

$5,980 / mo

🌇 Also went here227 people

Paris

France

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.44/5 (Rank #451) 711 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍9 liked it 👎7 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,815 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 20 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 29°C84°F (feels 33°C91°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 73%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Low: 37%
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Good
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Bad
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Okay
💰 Income level*	Very low: $493 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Good
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Good
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Thailand
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	20 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 29°C 84°F + 🥵 Sweaty (73%) = feels 33°C 91°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Fisherman's Village
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Bang Kao
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 THB in USD	USD 3.10
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	THB 10,000 = USD 310
💸 Tipping	Yes, 5%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	The Big Buddha
☕️ Best coffee place	The Big Buddha
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍12% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	2,500,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	47,912 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	63,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,911 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 83% 👱‍♀️ 17%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Lazada
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Asia
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Asia
🏥 Best hospital	Bangkok Hospital Samui

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,815 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,506 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,762 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$789 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$501 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,065 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$662 / month
🏠 Median home price	$371,371
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$23 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$100 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$231 / month
🍛 Dinner	$2
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$8,994 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$2 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$5 / trip