Home to the Big Buddha
Published/Last edited on 25th September, 2016.
Bang Rak Beach is often commonly referred to as Big Buddha Beach thanks to the gigantic, impossible-to-miss seated Buddha statue overlooking Wat Phra Yai at the eastern extreme of the beach.
If you're coming by ferry from Ko Pha Ngan, this may well be your arrival point onto Samui as the beach itself has several piers – Big Buddha, Petcherat and Bang Rak – ferrying passengers between the two islands. Luxury vessels as well as local fishing boats moor in the bay and along the piers, making for an interesting outlook. Likewise if you're flying to Samui, Bang Rak is the closest beach to the airport.
Bang Rak runs more or less east to west. Over the headland to the west lies the very popular, and more sophisticated, Bophut Beach, while to the east, after Big Buddha the beach bleeds into the mudflatish and extremely low-key north-south running Plai Laem. Like Bang Rak, it's home to a large temple, Wat Plai Laem.
Big Buddha, an impressive golden landmark, has several clothing and souvenir shops on the grounds and the upper deck offers views across the bay and over to the small island of Ko Som, inhabited only by one fishing family. This island can be reached by kayak or sailboat, and is great for exploring or to get a true deserted ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 500 words.)
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Address: Northern Ko Samui
Coordinates (for GPS): 100º3'27.27" E, 9º33'34.78" N
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Reviewed by
Stuart McDonald
Stuart McDonald co-founded Travelfish.org with Samantha Brown in 2004 and has been writing about travel in Southeast Asia since 1997. He has lived in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, where he worked as an under-paid, under-skilled language teacher, an embassy staffer, a newspaper web-site developer, freelancing and various other stuff. He’s also the author of Couchfish, a Southeast Asia travel and sustainable tourism newsletter. In his spare time he’s doing his Masters in Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds Beckett University in the UK.