Surat Thani's Top Attraction Tours
A 12-meter golden Buddha facing the causeway is the first thing most ferries to Koh Samui’s north coast point out, and it’s only one of four landmarks in the province worth planning a stop around rather than glimpsing from a taxi window.
Wat Phra Yai, the Big Buddha Temple
On a small rocky island linked to northeastern Koh Samui by a causeway, Wat Phra Yai’s naga staircase climbs to a 12-meter seated golden Buddha overlooking the bay. It’s one of the most photographed sites on the island, and it earns that reputation mostly at the hour before sunset, when the light sits directly behind the statue.
Wat Plai Laem, the temple with the 18-armed Guan Yin
A short drive from the Big Buddha, Wat Plai Laem is the newer, more elaborate complex: an 18-armed statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, rises over a lotus-filled temple lake stocked with catfish that will surface for feed pellets sold at the entrance. Pair the two temples in a single half-day, since they’re minutes apart.
Ratchaprapha Dam
Inland at Cheow Lan Lake, the Ratchaprapha Dam is a 94-meter-high rockfill hydroelectric dam with landscaped gardens, royal pavilions, and a lookout that takes in the full reservoir at once. It’s a worthwhile stop even for travelers not booking a lake tour, since the overlook itself is free and reachable by road.
Hin Ta and Hin Yai
At the southern end of Lamai Beach on Koh Samui, these weathered granite rocks have taken on their nicknames, Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks, from their resemblance to male and female anatomy, and they’ve been part of local folklore long enough that guides treat the joke as a fixed stop rather than an afterthought.
What it actually costs
None of these four charge admission for the grounds themselves; expect only an optional donation box at each temple and a small parking fee at the dam. Modest dress is enforced at both Wat Phra Yai and Wat Plai Laem, shoulders and knees covered, with sarongs available to borrow at the entrance for anyone who shows up in shorts. The Ratchaprapha Dam overlook has no dress code at all, which makes it the easier stop to fit in on a beach-clothes kind of day.
Verdict: the two Samui temples and Hin Ta and Hin Yai work as a single half-day loop, while Ratchaprapha Dam deserves its own trip out to Cheow Lan rather than being squeezed in afterward.
Go to Wat Phra Yai in late afternoon rather than midday, both for the light and to skip the tour-bus crush that arrives around noon. For a wider survey of what the province offers beyond named landmarks, see the sightseeing guide .