Guan Yu Shrine
A sixteen-metre statue of the Chinese god of war, red-faced and holding his blade, looking out over the sea at Hua Thanon.
Open≈ 0.5 km
A Muslim fishing village on the south-east coast, its painted longtails drawn up on the sand and its fish market busiest before 8 a.m.
Hua Thanon is a Muslim fishing village on the south-east coast, and the part of Samui that has changed least. Painted longtails are pulled up on the sand, the mosque calls, and the fish market is busiest before eight in the morning.
Walk the lane behind the beach for the boats and the drying racks, then the covered market for the catch, the curries and the sweets. It is five minutes from the Guan Yu shrine and ten from Wat Sila Ngu, which makes a natural morning.
Dress a little more conservatively here than on the beach.
Dress a little more conservatively than on the beach — covered shoulders, no swimwear — and ask before photographing people.
On the map…
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The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.
A sixteen-metre statue of the Chinese god of war, red-faced and holding his blade, looking out over the sea at Hua Thanon.
Open≈ 0.5 km
A quiet inland temple with a seated Buddha carved from coral stone, brought here from Sri Lanka. Almost nobody stops.
Open≈ 1.2 km
An unfinished temple in raw terracotta, every surface carved, standing on the shore north of Hua Thanon. The red against the sea is unlike anything else on the island.
Open≈ 1.4 km
Half of these places are easier with a driver who knows which hill road is paved. Tell us which ones you care about and we will build the day around them.