Twenty-four cruise ships are scheduled to visit Koh Samui in Surat Thani in the current high season, helping the southern province rise two places in the top 10 list of most-visited Thai destinations, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The island on Tuesday morning welcomed 2,830 international visitors on the Celebrity Solstice at Nathon pier in tambon Ang Thong. Almost half of them had arranged a one-day island tour, using 80 vans and some buses. Another group was independent tourists travelling by taxis and trucks, and some spent time at the beach.
Each one-day visit by a cruise liner is estimated to generate between 3 million and 5 million baht in spending by passengers.
The Celebrity Solstice, operated by US-based Celebrity Cruises, makes regular circuits of Southeast Asia. After Samui, it will call at Laem Chabang in Chon Buri and them travel to Vietnam. All told, it is scheduled to visit Samui 11 times over the course of the season.
Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said 24 cruise liners with between 1,300 and 3,000 passengers each had been scheduled to visit the island between last month until April 2025.
Surat Thani is now ranked 8th, up from 10th last year, in the list of Thailand’s top tourist destinations, with a 24.5% increase in visitor numbers, according to the ministry.
The other nine provinces are Bangkok, Chon Buri, Kanchanaburi, Phuket, Ayutthaya, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima.
The Celebrity Solstice, operated by US-based Celebrity Cruises, with 2,830 passengers is seen arriving off Nathon beach in Koh Samui on Tuesday. (Photo: Supapong Chaolan)