Secret Buddha Garden (Magic Garden), Koh Samui
A hillside garden of stone figures in the island's interior, built by a Samui fruit farmer from 1976.
Secret Buddha Garden (Magic Garden), Koh Samui
The Secret Buddha Garden, also called the Magic Garden, is a collection of stone statues set into the forest high in Samui's interior on Pom mountain. It was begun in 1976 by Nim Thongsuk, a local fruit farmer, then in his seventies, and added to for the rest of his life.
The figures are a mix of Buddhas, deities and ordinary people - a man asleep, musicians, animals - arranged along a stream running down the hillside. The effect is nothing like a formal temple; it is one person's project, and its charm is that it stayed personal.
The garden's difficulty is the road. The final approach is a steep, rough track that a standard car or scooter should not attempt; visitors normally arrive by 4x4 or on an organised trip. Check how you will get up before setting out.
- Big Buddha (Wat Phra Yai), Koh Samui — The twelve-metre golden Buddha on the islet of Koh Faan, and the most recognisable landmark on Koh Samui.
- Ang Thong National Marine Park — An archipelago of forty-two limestone islands west of Koh Samui, reached as a day trip by boat.
- Fisherman's Village, Bophut — The old Chinese-Thai shophouse street on Samui's north coast, and the island's Friday night walking market.
- Na Muang Waterfalls, Koh Samui — Two waterfalls in the island's forested interior - one reachable from the car park, one at the end of a steep climb.
- Wat Khunaram, Koh Samui — The temple that displays the preserved body of the monk Luang Pho Daeng, seated in meditation.
- Wat Plai Laem, Koh Samui — A temple complex built out over a lake, best known for its eighteen-armed white statue of Guanyin.
