Bophut



Bophut is a beach village on the northeast shore of Ko Samui. Confusingly, Bophut is also a large administrative and postal district (amphoe) even encompassing Chaweng. Therefore a Bophut address is no guarantee that it is in or near the village.

Understand
Bophut is one of the few places on Samui that retains some of the island's original Thai-Chinese atmosphere. It has many hotels and guesthouses. The traditional core of Bophut, known as the Fisherman's Village, is a charming village on the east end of the beach while the new developments are to the west. In contrast to Chaweng there has been a conscious effort to dissuade the more commercial elements of Thai nightlife from setting up shop, and instead aim for couples and young families. The beach road retains much of its charm although the new construction took a bit away. Old Chinese shop-houses crowd the narrow street many with sympathetic conversions to modern use as restaurants and cafés and small trendy shops. The beach itself encompasses some 2 km of white sandy shoreline fringed by coconut palms and the calm waters of the bay make this a popular spot for playing or relaxing, rather than swimming, because the water here is often murky, especially around December.

Get in
Bophut is 15 minutes from the airport by bus or taxi. Many ferries from Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao dock at the small pier in east Bophut.

From the Nathon pier, take a brown songthaew going north (to the left) as you leave. It will cost 50 baht or so. This is the way the locals travel around the island. Do not ask a fare or you will be making a private hire. Push the button to stop the driver when you are where you want to be and pay on exit.

Do
Activities on Bophut are pretty much limited to the beach, which is quite narrow and drops off rapidly. Jet ski hire operators are located (mercifully) at the west end of Fisherman's Village. A go-kart track can be found on the main road adjacent to the village. Bophut is famed for its sunsets, fine restaurants, numerous pubs, and complete absence of girly bars. Thai Massage, (temporary rejuvenation on the beach or in the village's numerous spas) manicure and pedicure treatments are popular bargain spends for visitors of either sex.

Eat
Bophut has a reputation as being one of the best places to eat on Samui. The village boasts many fine restaurants offering a wide choice of speciality cuisines in addition to a wealth of Thai dishes. French, Italian, BBQ, Indian, and seafood outlets predominate, but there are several pubs and two bakeries offering standard European-style snacks and typical British and Australian pub grub. Some 30 bars and restaurants are located in little more than 700 m of village street. All the places below are clustered in the Fisherman's Village within easy walking distance of one another.



Sleep




Medical tourism
Increasingly popular among Western visitors is a trip to one of Samui's superb dentists. So uniformly good are the dentists, several of which are established in Bophut, and reasonable their prices, that medical vacationing is a growing segment in Samui. Some visitors arriving just to receive extensive dental treatment locally, at a fraction of the European cost. Samui's four major international hospitals each have dental departments, but there are numerous other excellent dental clinics to choose from, usually at lower cost. All conduct restorative or general dentistry from a basic inspection, clean and polish, routine fillings, extractions and root canal work, but several specialise in much more complex oral issues, including a broad spectrum of cosmetic treatments. Laser whitening is on offer at several dentists in Bophut for around 8,000 baht.

Go next

 * Bang Rak
 * Chaweng
 * Choeng Mon
 * Laem Yai
 * Lamai
 * Mae Nam
 * Nathon
 * Samui South Coast