Natien, Laem Set, Bang Kao and Thong Krut

Samui’s south coast, from Na Tien and Laem Set in the east through to Thong Krut in the west, is about as low-key as Ko Samui gets. Long sweeping white to grey sandy beaches with shallow waters – often mud flats at low tide – are interrupted by the occasional fishing port anchorage, midrange resorts and private residences.

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A seafood restaurant here, a beach bar there. Off the main throughfare, winding, little trafficked roads with confusing signposting weave between coconut plantations. Every now and then you get emptied out onto an expansive stretch of beach good for a long slow stroll or a paddle in the shallow waters. Blisteringly hot in the midday heat but with a cooling sea breeze in the late afternoon; expect coconuts everywhere. This is Samui’s south coast.

Spot of kiteboarding on Laem Set. Photo taken in or around Natien, Laem Set, Bang Kao and Thong Krut, Ko Samui, Thailand by Rosanne Turner.

Spot of kiteboarding on Laem Set. Photo: Rosanne Turner

Very little developed, there are more private homes than hotels and the properties are very spread out. At the eastern end, where Hua Thanon bleeds into Natien, are a couple of beach clubish places, then you pass by the abandoned Laem Set Inn and the (still open!) Centara Villas, with its associated Butterfly Garden. From here the road turns west, passing by the salubrious and healthy Kamalaya, and a little further on Banburee, after which it cuts inland a little.

A little west of Banburee a river breaks the beach (by Samui Kayak) and then Bang Kao beach runs in pretty much one long span of sand right across to Laem Sor headland in the east. There are a few resorts along here, notably Easy Time Family Resort, and Bang Kao Seafood on the beach at Bang Kao village, by the fishing boat anchorage, is a good spot to eat. But by and large, this is a largely undeveloped ... please log in to read the rest of this story.