For several years now, Samui has been undergoing a rapid transformation from a budget holiday destination to an upmarket resort island to rival nearby Phuket. Older, more affluent visitors from Europe and the USA, have been arriving in increasing numbers to enjoy the tropical holiday of a lifetime and, with its improved air links, large numbers of visitors from nearby Asian countries, especially Hong Kong, see Samui as the perfect short break option.
Many visitors decide that when they next visit Samui, they'd prefer to be in their own luxurious holiday home, rather than in a hotel. Others love the island so much that they decide to retire there and live permanently in the house of their dreams.
It is these visitors who have helped to create and drive the island's real estate boom. What began as a few individuals buying small plots to build a holiday home on has now become a fully-fledged industry on the island. With the completion of the Santiburi Golf and Country Club, a new international airport under consideration and the recent announcement that a branch of Dulwich International College will soon be opening, Samui's attractiveness to both the short stay guest and the long term resident are not in danger of diminishing any time soon.