Ko Samui, Thailand

This pretty coastal island in the Gulf of Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Despite being home to some world class resorts, the island has retained a relaxed, low key environment.

Coconut plantations are another important industry here. We discovered that trained monkeys are key employees for the plantations. Using people to harvest the coconuts from the tall palms is expensive and dangerous for the workers. So the monkeys are brought in to scamper up the trees and twist the coconuts off the palm fronds. Below a trainer puts a monkey through its paces for us.

The monkey is demonstrating the coconut twisting technique before he runs up the palm trunk and frees some coconuts (below).

This worker demonstrates the coconut husking and splitting process. It’s not for amateurs!

The Big Buddha Temple is another example of “if you build it, they will come.” We’ve seen a lot of Big Buddhas in our travels here, just as we see tall church towers and massive mosques in other ports. Big Buddhas bring in pilgrims, tourists and shops. They are a spiritual center and point of pride for the community. This complex, built in 1972, is called Wat Phra Yai but is known as the Big Buddha Temple. Technically it isn’t a temple since the king has not certified it as such. Our guide called it a “meditation center.”

From the Big Buddha hill, 80 steps high, there is a beautiful view of the area. You can see the dragon staircase leading up to the Buddha.

The Temple Plai Laem is a temple complex dedicated to Guanyin, the goddess of mercy and compassion. Her statue is of Chinese design and known as the eighteen armed Guanyin.