To show that OnlyInSamui.Com are not being too one-sided about the balmy weather prospects in the tropics we bring you proof in the form of a dramatic picture of the first tornado (or waterspout as some have called it) to have hit the island in recorded history. This unusual event happened in March 2007 and it seems the locals were more surprised than the holidaymakers - many of whom come from countries that have already experienced this phenomenon, if only rarely.
Is this a one-off freak occurrence for Koh Samui or is it a trend for the future? Who can tell? Is this part of a changing weather pattern caused by climate change that is going on all over the world? Who Knows? Is this the naughty 'El Nino' in action? It's a good guess.
Local fishermen said the twister sucked up water from the sea at a terrifying rate and only Buddha luck prevented it from causing their boats to capsize with tragic loss of life. But fishermen are often prone to exaggerate matters as we all know!
Lazily twisting its way towards the Muslim Village (located on the eastern seaboard of the island) it seemed to take ages and ages according to one witness - until thankfully it started to fizzle out - but not before the tail-end of it took a tin roof off one of the fishermen's shacks along the beach.
Maybe it was a waterspout then and not a real tornado? Does anyone out there know the difference? It seems that tropical storms during the monsoon season are gradually starting to affect the Gulf of Thailand more frequently - with their fork and sheet lightening filling the skies and their strong winds blasting the many fragile beach communities.
Floodings too are occurring more often than islanders seem to remember in the old days but this is being put down to the island-wide building boom of new villas and new roads in the mountains, causing the rainwater to be diverted into inadequate man-made channels instead of it being allowed to drain into the natural stream beds which normally would have carried it safely away.
As we can see then, Samui is not completely free from bad weather - so don't be too surprised if you witness this kind of thing happening again on your visit. But please don't let these things put you off coming to Samui - 'cos on the other hand, it can be still an awesome event to witness Mother Nature flexing her muscles!
This is not to assume that Koh Samui does not get flooded now and again (especially late October - early November) as this link will testify. But we are still not talking about life-threatening floods - we are talking about very inconvenient local floods - big puddles if you like - and these occur only in the low-lying areas - where the drainage facilities have been neglected.
We must remember; this is the TROPICS after all said and done!
