Samui Guide Magazine Online Version. "Koh Samui. "Koh" is Thai for Island and Koh Samui is Thailand's favorite island getaway location. Located in the south of The Gulf of Thailand just offshore from Surat Thani. The island is surrounded by white sand beaches and coral reefs. The Angthong Marine National Park lies just a few kilometers away. Samui is a favorite with young and old, singles and families, Thais and International visitors. Features and attractions include natural beauty, waterfalls, national parks, inland mountains, coral reefs, extensive white sand beaches, scuba diving, four-wheel-driving, elephant trekking, mountain tours, island tours, national park tours, accomodation, night life, zoos, parks, gardens, temples, wats, restaurants, markets, fishing villages, buffalo fights, working monkeys, snake farms, butterfly farms, bungalows, 5-Star accomodations, PADI & BSAC dive courses, land & house rentals and purchase. Samui is the place to be for the holiday of your lifetime." 
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Samui Clubs and Associations

ROCKS (Rotary Club Koh Samui)
The rotary Club is an international organisation and boasts members in over 160 countries worldwide. Their motto is "Service Above Self” and on Samui members organise fundraising events and co-ordinate charitable activities both on and off the island. ROCKS played an important role providing direct relief to tsunami victims on the west coast and the organisation also provides help to local schools and other community services. The membership is largely made up of local business people, both Thais and Foreigners, and the club holds weekly meetings to discuss and plan its projects. For more information visit the website at www.rotarysamui.org.

SCC
The Samui Culinary Circle is a network of food and beverage professionals who work in resorts and restaurants around the island. It boasts in the region of forty members, mostly drawing on executive chefs, FNB managers, and restaurateurs, and all the main hotels, as well as many of the island’s top restaurants are represented.

Samui Spa Association
The spa Association was set up to monitor and maintain Spa standards, including the application of legal limits and the standardization of Health Spa practice. Members are also involved in protecting and preserving the nature and environment of Koh Samui and its surroundings, with a special attention paid to the regions icons and symbols. Together the various Spa owners on Samui hope to promote a healthy, stylish image for the island, especially with relation to holistic and Spa treatments, both amongst local residents and members of the wider general public. To guarantee quality when you visit a spa on Samui, always make sure it is a member.

Sisters on Samui
SOS is a ladies only group that meets every third Wednesday of the month for lunch at different venues around the island. It is a great way to meet other women of all nationalities, who live or are visiting the island, in a friendly atmosphere. A percentage of the meal price is put aside each month and at the end of the year a significant donation to a mutually agreed deserving cause is made, so everybody benefits.

Samui Lions Club
The Koh Samui Lions Club regularly makes donations to the island community. These include contributions like the installation of a water filter in a school to provide the children with fresh drinking water on site, and a gift of fifty footballs, given to the municipality office for the renovation of a youth football pitch near the airport as part of the national anti-drugs campaign. The Lions Club also help organise charity sporting events in conjunction with the Tourist Authority of Koh Samui. The club meets on every second Thursday of each month and all those interested in joining can call 01 892 0384

TAT and TAKS
There are two main tourism organisations on Samui, the Tourist Authority of Thailand and the Tourist Association of Koh Samui. The former is part of a national network of TAT offices and is based in Nathon. There you can find information on travel promotions, as well as special campaigns such as ‘Unseen Thailand’. The TAT also helps organise local events and festivals, and provides information on Samui tourist numbers and tourist revenue. The TAKS is a local organisation of tourism businesses that supports projects that help local people and protect the island environment. It also promotes Samui abroad, particularly at the annual ITB Tourism Fair in Berlin.

Animal Help

Dog Rescue
Unfortunately, stray and abandoned dogs can still be found everywhere on Samui. But the pooch’s lot has improved dramatically over the past three years since the Dog Rescue Centre Samui (DRCS) was founded by a dedicated group of animal lovers. DRCS provide essential medical care, food and a home for many canines and can advise on how to take a dog back to Europe. None of this comes cheap and the DRCS needs to raise 150,000 baht every month for dog food and medication. This is where you can help. Simply log on to www.samuidog.org for details of how to make a donation, or, if you have time, help out at the centre for a day. Tel. 077 413 490 or e-mail info@samuidog.org

Wild Aid
An alarming – and illegal - trend has started in Soi Green Mango lately with touts encouraging tourists to have their photograph taken with wild birds, reptiles and monkeys. Wild animals (usually infants whose mothers have been killed) are taken from forests on the mainland, smuggled to Samui and kept in unbelievably poor conditions. Many have their claws and teeth ripped out and are kept drugged so that the handler can control them more easily. Samui is a wealthy island; this ‘business’ does not represent these people’s only income. However cute these animals look, DO NOT AGREE TO HAVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WITH THEM. If people refuse to have their pictures taken, this cruel trade will die. Also spotted recently: young elephants being led around the streets for tourists to pay to feed them. Samui’s roads get baking hot by mid-afternoon and can damage the elephant’s feet. Prolonged exposure to sunlight also burns their skin.