Samui Airport
Samui Airport is arelatively small airport owned by Bangkok Airways, and has been designed to blend into the natural environment, to the extent that it has won awards for environmental and architectural excellence. It was the first airport built by the airline, and opened operations in 1989. Samui airport buildings have palm-thatched roofs and are surrounded by pleasant gardens with coconut palm trees. The open-air passenger terminals are an interesting experience.
Samui airport is located neat to Bo Phut beach, in the northern part of the island, and is also just a short drive from Chaweng beach. Flying into the island you get some lovely views of the coast and small outlying islands, and it is also possible to see the huge Big Buddha statue.
Since Samui airport is privately owned by Bangkok Airways, they are the only local airline to fly to the island and as such control a monopoly on the route. This explains why the airfares to this island are as competitive as the rest of the country, but they do offer budget rates for early morning and late night flights. They run numerous flights daily between Bangkok and Samui, starting from 06:00 with the last flights at around 21:00. There are several flights a week from Chiang Mai (everyday except Monday and Wednesday). Bangkok Airways also connects Samui to Hong Kong, Singapore, Phuket, and Pattaya (U Tapao). The only other airline to operate services here is Berjaya Air, who fly twice a day from Kuala Lumpur to Samui and back.
Samui airport is small and built on one level, so finding your way around is pretty straight forward, with different thatched buildings for arrivals and departures, as well as for the additional services on offer.
The airport has a pleasant open-air Thai restaurant, a post office, and a souvenir shop to buy some last minute gifts. There is also the opportunity to get a relaxing massage before flying, at the ‘Soul to Sole’ spa.
There are a few transport options from Samui airport, and it’s easy enough to get to your destination. Unfortunately a taxi mafia tends to prevail on the island and most arrivals are faced with a relatively expensive set fee (about 500 baht) to any destination on the island, without the meter. The most expensive option is to take a private taxi, but there are also minivans – where the price will depend on the number of people travelling, the cheapest option is to walk out of the airport and take a songthaew if you can find one, or balance yourself and your luggage on the back of a motorbike taxi.
