Religion

Like the rest of Thailand, the people of Samui are largely Buddhist, and Buddhism is followed by roughly 90 percent of the island’s population. The remaining 10 percent are mostly Muslim, while the island boasts a small Christian population and animism is also practised by a small minority of people.

Buddhism is practised on a daily basis by most of the people on Samui, and one of the most common Buddhist practices takes place around dawn, when people stand outside their homes and businesses in order to give alms to passing monks. There are a large number of elaborately decorated Buddhist temples on Samui, as well as a handful of mosques.a