Is Koh Samui really the world's best island? An honest take

At a glance

The award: World's Best Island 2026, Travel + Leisure, reader score 95.64, ahead of the Maldives (95.38), Bali, and Milos

Also won: Best Island, Asia-Pacific, Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards 2026

Common criticism: Overdeveloped, too touristy, not the best island even within Thailand

Our take: Both true at once, Samui is developed and untouched depending entirely on where you go and when, and the people are what make it genuinely special

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Koh Samui was just named the World's Best Island for 2026 by Travel + Leisure, a genuinely big deal, ahead of the Maldives, Bali, and Milos in the magazine's reader-voted rankings. It also picked up a separate Asia-Pacific Best Island title at the same publication's Luxury Awards. Two real, current wins, not just marketing spin.

The online reaction hasn't been universally warm. Plenty of comments under the coverage push back, calling Koh Samui overdeveloped, too built-up, or arguing it isn't even the best island within Thailand, let alone the world. That reaction is worth taking seriously rather than dismissing, because it's not entirely wrong.

Here's our honest take, living here. Koh Samui genuinely is both of these things, developed and untouched, and the "which one is true" question is the wrong question. The chaos is part of the adventure, motorbikes weaving in and out of traffic one minute, and then a solo buffalo standing in the jungle the next, not another person in sight. Neither of these is the "real" Samui and the other one fake. They're both real, and the island is big enough that you genuinely get to choose which version you want, sometimes both in the same day.

It's also worth being honest about the development question, because it's a fair one. There's a real amount of half-finished, seemingly abandoned building work scattered across the island, and it's genuinely concerning to see. Whether that gets addressed through some future regeneration initiative from local government is anyone's guess, but it's not something we'd paper over just because the island won an award.

What makes Samui special, though, isn't the beaches or the buildings. It's the people. There's a warmth and kindness here that's typical of Thailand more broadly, and it's genuinely part of what makes the island feel alive rather than just developed. As visitors, that's worth returning, respect for the place and the people, and playing our part in keeping it clean and cared for rather than just consuming it.

What makes Samui memorable, in the end, is the small details. The quiet next to the busy. The old wooden buildings next to the new developments. Genuinely different kinds of life coexisting on one island, rather than one version of Samui being more "authentic" than another.

If you want to find what most visitors miss, our Beyond the Obvious map is built around exactly that, not necessarily quieter, just less obvious, the parts of Samui that don't make it onto the generic "top 10 things to do" lists. Explore the map

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Frequently asked questions

Is Koh Samui really the world's best island? It won Travel + Leisure's World's Best Island 2026 award with a reader score of 95.64, ahead of the Maldives, Bali, and Milos. Whether it's genuinely "the best" is subjective, but it's a real, current title, not just marketing.

Is Koh Samui overdeveloped? In places, yes, there's a noticeable amount of unfinished, seemingly abandoned construction around the island. Other parts remain genuinely untouched. It depends entirely on where you go.

Is Koh Samui too touristy? Some areas are genuinely busy and built for tourism. Others are quiet, local, and barely visited. Samui is large enough to offer both experiences without needing to relocate far.

What makes Koh Samui different from other award-winning islands? Its range, and its people. You can be weaving through motorbike traffic one minute and standing near a lone buffalo in the jungle the next, both genuinely part of the island. The warmth of the people living here is what ties it all together.