I travelled from Phuket to Ko Samui, located off the east coast of Thailand. The island is medium sized - I think it is about 40 miles to go around using the coastal road. There is only one small city on the island, located on the west side near the ferry docks.
One sunny day I rented a motorscooter ($4/day) and drove the entire around the island's coastal roadway. --very fun--
I was staying at a hotel on the Big Buddha Beach on the north. A short distance from my hotel was this "Big Buddha". It was famous thoughout Thailand, I think because this marked the southern extent of Buddhism, and further south was predominantly Muslim.
This rocky viewpoint looked across to Chaweng Beach on the east side of the island, which was the largest beach on the island. This beach also had the most tourist facilities on the island.
