Over the last five years, the property market on Koh Samui has shifted from one based principally on speculative land purchases, to a thriving multi-level economy with a full range of on-site support services.

According to those involved in land and property sales on Koh Samui, investment in real estate is increasing at a rate of no less than 20% per year. In the last two years, however, the arrival of a range of upscale services and facilities has oosted confidence in Samui's economic stability.

Only an hour from Bangkok, Koh Samui and the surrounding islands are the bit of tropical Thailand that time (and the crowds) seem to have left alone.

Thai fishermen settled here more than 1,500 years ago and kept their secret well into the 20th century. There wasn't a road or motor vehicle on Samui, Thailands third largest island, until the 1940s, and even today, the mountainous interior remains largely jungle. The coast is strung with fishing villages, Buddhist temples and thousands of cocnut palms that provide the island's primary export. Motorbike's are still the main way to get around the island.

Samui society is increasingly multicultural.It is easY to mix with the Chao Samui (as the native islanders are called) who have a high literacy rate and often speak English.