Koh Samui Takes Top Spot as Best Island in Asia Pacific at Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards 2026
The Thai island climbs from second place to first, overtaking Bali and cementing its position as the region’s most compelling island destination.
There is something about Koh Samui that resists easy comparison. It has the beaches, certainly, and the resorts, and the coconut palms that lean toward the Gulf of Thailand like they are listening for something. But the island has always operated on its own terms, neither chasing trends nor trading on nostalgia. Now it has the ranking to match.
In June 2026, the Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific confirmed what many visitors already suspected: Koh Samui is the best island in the region. The award places Samui first in the Best Islands category, ahead of Phu Quoc in Vietnam and Bali in Indonesia. For an island that spent years in Bali’s shadow, the shift matters.
What the ranking actually means
The Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards combine nominations from the publication’s editorial team and expert contributors with a public vote. It is not a purely populist exercise, nor is it decided behind closed doors. The methodology rewards destinations that perform well across both critical assessment and genuine traveller sentiment.
Koh Samui has spent the past several years refining its hospitality offer without losing the character that made it attractive in the first place.
In 2025, Bali held the top position, with Koh Samui in second and Phu Quoc in third. This year, Samui moved up and Phu Quoc followed, pushing Bali to third. Palawan in the Philippines, Langkawi in Malaysia and Sumba in Indonesia round out the regional contenders.
The result reflects a broader pattern. Koh Samui has spent the past several years refining its hospitality offer without losing the character that made it attractive in the first place. The island still feels approachable. It has not been overbuilt. And yet the quality of what is available has quietly improved.
Five resorts in the Thailand top 10
Perhaps more telling than the island ranking itself is the strength of individual properties. Five Koh Samui resorts placed in the top 10 for Best Beach and Island Resorts in Thailand at the same awards.
Cape Fahn Hotel ranked second. Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui came in fifth. Kimpton Kitalay Samui took seventh, followed by Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort in eighth and Centara Reserve Samui in ninth.
That spread matters. It suggests the island’s hospitality base is not carried by one or two flagship properties but distributed across a range of operators and price points. Cape Fahn offers private island seclusion. Four Seasons delivers the brand’s familiar polish. Kimpton brings a more contemporary, design forward approach. Anantara and Centara hold their own with established regional credibility.
A destination with five in the regional top 10 is something else entirely.
For anyone considering Koh Samui for an extended stay or a property investment, this kind of depth signals a maturing market. A destination with one exceptional resort is a destination with a single point of failure. A destination with five in the regional top 10 is something else entirely.
The airport factor
Samui International Airport placed second in the Best Airports category for Asia Pacific, behind only Singapore’s Changi Airport. The recognition is notable not because the airport competes with Changi on scale, but because it does something different entirely.
Designed to sit within the landscape rather than impose upon it, the airport uses open air terminals, natural materials and vegetation that makes the arrival feel like part of the trip rather than a delay before it starts. It remains one of the few airports in the region where the architecture actively contributes to the destination’s appeal.
The ranking also reflects practical considerations. Connectivity to Koh Samui has improved steadily, with direct flights from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur making the island accessible without the transfer logistics that complicate some competing destinations. Arriving is easy. That counts for something.
Government response and stated priorities
Deputy Government Spokesperson Ploythalay Laksamisaengchan announced and welcomed the result on behalf of the Thai government. In her remarks, she framed the achievement as evidence of Thailand’s growing strength in sustainable and high value tourism, noting that Koh Samui continues to combine service standards with well preserved natural assets.
The government’s stated priorities include sustainability, safety, improved connectivity and spreading tourism income to local communities. Whether these translate into policy action remains to be seen, but the framing suggests an awareness that rankings alone do not sustain a destination. Execution matters.
For Koh Samui, the challenge is familiar to any island that becomes fashionable: maintaining what made it attractive while accommodating the interest that follows. The government’s language suggests they understand the tension. What they do next will determine whether the 2026 ranking marks a peak or a foundation.
Why it matters beyond the award
Awards generate headlines. They do not, on their own, change the experience of being somewhere. But the Travel + Leisure result does something useful for prospective visitors and investors: it offers external validation of what the island has been building.
Koh Samui’s appeal has always been slightly harder to articulate than Bali’s or Phuket’s. It lacks the cultural weight of the former and the scale of the latter. What it has instead is balance. The beaches are good but not overwhelming. The dining scene is serious without being pretentious. The resorts deliver without demanding constant attention.
For high net worth travellers looking for a destination that performs without performing, Samui makes sense. For those considering longer stays or property, the combination of airport access, hospitality depth and government attention to sustainability creates a more compelling case than the island could have made five years ago.
A destination that earns its position
Koh Samui did not win the best island ranking by accident. The result reflects consistent investment in hospitality, thoughtful preservation of the island’s natural character, and infrastructure that makes arrival feel like the beginning of something rather than the end of a journey.
Whether the island holds the top spot in 2027 depends on what happens next. But for now, the ranking confirms what visitors have been discovering on their own: Koh Samui is no longer the alternative to somewhere else. It is the destination.
