The speedboat glides across the Gulf of Thailand, trailing a white ribbon of foam in its wake. From a distance, Koh Samui appears untouched. Turquoise waters, jungle-covered hills, and ultra-luxury villas scattered along the coast embellish a familiarly paradisiacal scene. But up close, the island is shifting. No longer just a haven for honeymooners and high-end travellers, it has become a stage.
Since the premiere of The White Lotus Season 3 in early 2025—filmed primarily at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui—the island has been thrust into the global spotlight. The moment represents more than a fleeting surge in interest. For Thailand’s luxury travel sector, it’s an opportunity to reposition Koh Samui as a destination for bespoke, experience-led travel in the post-pandemic era.
When The White Lotus debuted in Hawaii, the real-life Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea saw a 425% year-over-year increase in website visits and a 386% rise in availability checks, according to Marc Speichert, chief commercial officer of Four Seasons Hotels. Season 2 had a similar effect in Sicily, with San Domenico Palace becoming one of Europe’s most in-demand luxury properties.
Pop culture tourism has done this before. Game of Thrones turned Dubrovnik into a year-round destination. The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, brought backpackers to Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi in such numbers that Thai authorities eventually closed it to allow the ecosystem to recover.
Now, Koh Samui rides that same powerful wave. One of the clearest indicators of its impact comes from Minor International, which owns the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui and operates several Anantara properties also featured in the show.
In February alone, website traffic to its Koh Samui resorts more than doubled year-on-year. According to Group CEO Dillip Rajakarier, direct bookings rose by more than 40%, average daily rates climbed by up to 40%, and the number of room nights sold increased nearly threefold in the weeks following the first two episodes.
These early signals—from spikes in bookings to longer guest stays—suggest more than a passing trend. They point to a rare chance to reshape the island’s long-term appeal.
“This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to reposition Samui on the world stage,” says Rajakarier. “The show elevates the island’s image from a tropical getaway to a premium lifestyle destination. For the luxury sector, this creates strong potential not just in leisure, but also in wellness, experiential travel, and high-end family escapes.”
That repositioning is already underway, with growing demand from long-haul markets such as the US and UK, a rise in premium bookings, and longer average stays. “There’s a growing demand for immersive stays,” Rajakarier adds. “Travellers want to go beyond the resort and experience the island’s culture, nature and wellness offerings.”
It reflects a broader shift in luxury travel—less about seclusion, and more about connection. Curated experiences rooted in place and presence now define the new benchmark for high-end hospitality.
For hotel operators, it’s a moment to reset expectations. Despite Koh Samui’s rising profile, the island still offers something rare: immersive travel with a sense of space, calm and purpose.
But that spotlight brings pressure. If momentum is the currency of tourism recovery, Koh Samui is suddenly rich in it—and the same surge in demand is now testing its foundations.
While the resort sector is thriving, the island’s core systems—water, waste, and energy—are under increasing strain. Without strategic investment, Samui risks being caught unprepared. Water use, in particular, is a pressure point. While local consumption is relatively modest, guests in private pool villas may use several times more each day. Energy demand follows a similar curve, and with landfills nearing capacity, waste remains a growing challenge.
According to Lydia Tiasiri, director of design and chief sustainability officer at Fenn Designers, many properties are starting to address these issues—but scalable thinking is urgently needed.
“Solar panels and plastic bans are a start, but they’re only part of the solution,” she explains. “If you’re not actively monitoring energy, water, and waste data, you risk being blindsided as guest volumes climb.”
Tiasiri advocates for resilient design—larger onsite water treatment plants, modular energy systems, and infrastructure that can adapt to seasonal peaks. Just as importantly, she adds, sustainability needs to be embedded from the ground up through both technology and people.
“If employees understand how water and energy use affect the local community, they’ll be more engaged in making sustainable decisions—and they’ll help guests do the same.”
From sourcing local materials to adopting WELL-building elements like air quality and acoustic comfort, properties that go beyond surface-level gestures can reduce their environmental footprint while enhancing guest well-being.
Beyond environmental considerations, the social fabric of the island is also in focus. Claudio Cerquetti, a longtime Samui resident and sustainability advisor at Skål International, believes now is the time to get ahead of future strain.
“From my viewpoint as a resident of more than 25 years—and not speaking on behalf of my Club—I think we have a moment to rebalance,” he says. “Economic expansion is inevitable. But if we can manage resources in parallel with that growth, we can preserve what makes the island special.”
Cerquetti points to the importance of collective action. While many properties already implement green initiatives, the pace of growth risks outstripping even the best of intentions. Knowledge-sharing, coordination, and pooled investment in shared infrastructure will be key.
Efforts to manage growth more cohesively are already underway. The Samui+ Model, introduced during the pandemic to facilitate the island’s safe reopening, brought together local government, tourism operators, and community groups. While initially focused on health and logistics, it established a collaborative framework that could support more integrated tourism planning in the years ahead.
Local initiatives such as Samui.Green have also emerged—an independent platform championing sustainability through campaigns like beach clean-ups, waste reduction drives, and local awareness programmes. But as visitor numbers grow, these grassroots efforts will need to be matched by broader policy support and cross-sector alignment.
“Samui already has a strong network of active citizens and forward-thinking businesses,” says Cerquetti. “The opportunity now is to better connect those efforts—so that data, resources, and solutions are shared more systematically.”
Progress has been made on regulation, but enforcement remains inconsistent—particularly around shoreline development, zoning, and construction controls. With clearer frameworks and stronger coordination, Koh Samui could become a model for how island destinations balance growth with guardianship.
As new projects take shape, decision-makers will need to look beyond short-term returns. The island’s future depends on joined-up thinking—between investors and regulators, hoteliers and communities, guests and the places they visit.
As Dillip Rajakarier put it, The White Lotus may have delivered a once-in-a-decade spotlight. But what happens next is in Samui’s hands.
The final credits may have just rolled on Season 3—but the real story, of how the island rises to meet this moment, is only just beginning.