|
Home Page
| Samui Scene
|
Real Estate
| Samui’s
Natural Wonders | Places
to Go | Cooking
Thai
Water Sports &
Diving | Restaurant
Feature |
Important Telephone Numbers | Bangkok Airways
Getting
About |
Around the Island
| Accommodation
Listings | Our
Samui Map
Things to Do &
Places to Go | Koh
Phangan
| Wats to
See
|
Healthy Island Living |
Island Shopping
Restaurant Guide |
Dusk
'till Dawn | Getting There and Away |
Samui Culture
Adventures |
Community |
Beyond Samui
Coming to Koh Samui?
Book your hotel in
advance here and benefit from special internet rates
Samui Culture
 Koh
Samui is a living, working island with distinctive local habits and customs. The
first settlers that landed here were Chinese traders and Muslim fishermen, and
both of these groups still inhabit the island today living peacefully alongside
their Thai cousins. Local markets like the one at Lam Din, behind Chaweng, the
Nathon fresh food market, and Hua Thanon fishing village are good places to get
an authentic taste of local life. Tourism may be the main source of income on
Koh Samui, but scratch beneath the surface and you will find a proud and vibrant
local culture. Below are some suggestions for those who are looking for ‘the
real Samui’.
Thai Festivals are an important part of daily
life on Koh Samui. The larger celebrations are Chinese New Year in February,
Songkran (Thai New Year) in April and Loi Krathong (Festival of Light) in
November. These all involve processions, temple festivities, food fairs and live
performances. There are also regular food and cultural events staged by the
Tourism Authority in Nathon, the island’s capital. Check TAT promotions for
details.
www.tourismthailand.org
 Temple
fairs take place throughout the year, passing from village to village. Popular
with locals of all ages, the bigger ones combine a fun fair with live
entertainment, market stalls, and local food. The temple fair is probably the
only place where you can buy a new pair of flip flops, watch a Kung Fu film,
have your fortune told, and indulge in a bag of deep-fried grasshoppers all in
one evening.
Buffalo Fighting is still a popular sport on Koh Samui and champion buffalos can
be worth several million baht. The fighting season varies according to ancient
customs and ceremonies so it’s difficult to predict when a bout will take place,
but if you visit Samui at the right time, there are stadiums in the south at Ban
Saket, and also in Ban Makham, just outside Nathon. Unlike the Sanish version,
the buffalos fight each other, locking horns until the weaker one submits. The
atmosphere around the ring is usually very lively.
Country bars are the preferred venues for many local people on a night out and
generally feature live local music, good food and a few drinks with friends.
It’s always best to go with Thai people if you want to fully appreciate this
local revelry, but foreigners on their own are just as welcome to join the
party. Look out for cowboy style logos and bars with a small stage, most of
which are located around the main island ring road.
Songkran Festival
April is the end of the Buddhist lunar cycle and therefore heralds three days of
New Year festivities in Thailand. Songkran is celebrated throughout the Kingdom
from 12-14th of the month, and includes both traditional and more modern forms
of revelry. Families pay a visit to their local temple to make merit and share
food, and later in the evening parties are thrown all over the island. Water is
an important symbol of the festival, and on at least one of the days, usually
the middle one, local people go out into the street and pour water over each
other, often by the bucketful. The original gesture was to pour a cup lightly
over someone’s shoulder but nowadays it’s more like the biggest water fight on
the planet. If you want to experience this annual madness from the inside, then
head for Tropical Murphy’s Pub in downtown Chaweng where you can sip a few cool
ones while you shower every passing bike with ice cold ‘nam’, and make lifelong
friends with everyone you meet in the process. In the spirit of the festival,
the Samui authorities are asking everyone to maintain an atmosphere of
light-hearted fun, and to be aware of the dangers posed to riders and passers
by. “Sawat Di Pi Mai.”
|
