Samui Airport was voted into joint tenth place at the annual “Best Travel Brand 2008” poll survey carried out by one of Asia’s forefront online travel magazines, Smart Travel Asia.
The airport was also in the top ten ranking in 2006 and 2007 by the same institution.
Smart Travel Asia’s frequent traveller readers voted for the airports, choosing from a field of over one hundred airports around the world in its Best Airports Worldwide category. Top of the list was Singapore Changi Airport, which secured a solid 33 per cent of the vote to propel it upwards from second in 2007.
Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok secured 14.6 percent of the vote (a drop from 22.4 per cent in 2007) to secure second position. Hong Kong airport (which ranked first in 2006) was comfortably clear of third ranked rival, Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok. This picked up 10.5 per cent of the votes indicating it has sorted out much of its earlier teething issues, according to the magazine. It improved by one position over 2007.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport came in fourth position, followed by Incheon International Airport (Seoul) in fifth place and Pudong International Airport (Shanghai) in sixth place. These were followed by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in seventh, Beijing International Airport in eighth, Zurich Airport in ninth and Frankfurt Airport sharing 10th place with Koh Samui International Airport.
Koh Samui’s airport was built and is serviced mainly by Bangkok Airways. The airport features a distinctly tropical open air design with what passes for thatched roof huts serving as terminal buildings. The buildings are arranged around an open garden with palm trees and other local plants.
In 2007 the airport underwent a significant expansion that saw the addition of several more gates and a new international departure lounge. The expansion was complemented in 2008 by the addition of a shopping arcade.