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Backpackers' paradise pays for its popularity Tourism has changed island where student was killed
(The Daily Telegraph, Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TWENTY years ago, the island where the British student Katharine Horton was found murdered was an unspoilt paradise visited by only a handful of intrepid travellers who stayed in cheap beach huts.
Getting to Samui involved an overnight train journey from Bangkok, then a slow ferry. Today, the island off the south-east coast of central Thailand has its own airport and is just an hour's flight from Bangkok.
It now rivals Phuket as one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, but it has come at a price. Although still beautiful, its main beach, Chaweng, has been spoilt by the trappings of western tourism: bars, nightclubs, souvenir shops and sprawling developments. Branches of Boots and McDonald's have recently opened.
Today, Koh Samui (the coconut island) attracts mostly budget travellers and gap-year students who stay for a month or two in simple beachside bungalows.
Miss Horton, 21, from Cardiff, and her friend were staying at the pounds 10-a-night New Hut bungalow resort on Lamai beach.
Samui's pull to the backpacking generation was fuelled by the publication in 1996 of Alex Garland's The Beach, set on the east coast of Thailand near Samui, and the subsequent film starring Leonardo Dicaprio.
But flights to the island, Thailand's third largest, also disgorge the wealthier traveller, thanks to some luxury hotels on its coastline.
The island still retains its charm despite the increasing tourism. Attractions include windsurfing and snorkelling - the coastal waters are rich in shoals of brightly coloured fish and coral formations.
The interior of the island consists of accessible tropical rainforest, offering visitors the chance to go on trekking tours and elephant safaris.
Among Samui's natural sights are two waterfalls, while on Koh Fan, linked to Samui by a causeway, is the Wat Hin Ngu temple.
On Samui itself, Wat Phra Yai (Big Buddha Temple) in the north has a 40ft statue of Buddha. Monks conduct meditation courses for foreigners at Wat Pang Ba.
Buffalo fighting is a famous spectator sport on the island
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