|
 |
Samui
: History |
 |
There is evidence suggesting that
Ko Samui was first inhabited by men no later than 1,200
years ago. Until 1940, however, Ko Samui was almost unknown
to the outside world. Those from the mainland had to take
about 6 hours travelling from a harbour in Surat Thani
to reach the island. Samui people themselves had only
one means of transportation, i.e. walking. To illustrate,
it took several hours for people to walk from Maenam district
through jungles to Lamai Beach.
Road construction was hardly conceived since Samui's mountainous
area would require heavy construction machines to carry
out the work but the transportation of such equipment
to the island was impossible. However, in 1967 the government
was asked by a headman of the island to give a hand to
the island's development. Then construction was launched
by manual labour and the result of the long hard work
was a dirt track. Some parts of the track climbing up
a mountain had an unacceptable angle for a car to pass.
The drivers who used the path thus had to come down and
push their cars.
Samui's concrete ring road was finished in 1973 by the
order of the government. The road passing beautiful beaches
around the island made tourism possible. Realizing the
charms of Ko Samui and its high potential to be a successful
tourist destination, the Tourism Authority of Thailand
ordered an exploration of the island in 1980 and made
a plan to develop and promote the tourism on the island.
As time passed, more schemes were initiated and revised
to make it a quality island resort for both domestic and
international tourists. As a result, it has become a popular
tourist destination of Thailand at present. |
|
|
|
Advertisement |
|
|
