When most people think of the Thai Gulf’s islands pigs, I imagine pigs aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. That all changed when I visited Ko Mat Sum (also spelt Koh Madsum or Koh Mat Sum, colloquially known as Pig Island. The story starts with a local man called Mr. Kitt, who went shopping on the mainland one day and spotted a family of four pigs. For some reason, he purchased the family and returned to Koh Matsum with a surprise for his own family. Years later, the pigs have multiplied in numbers and created quite a tourist attraction.
1. Getting There
If you do not have your own transport or simply prefer the experience to be arranged for you, most hotels are happy to organise a taxi/ferry combo to get you there. These organised trips often use speed boats instead of longtails and include snorkelling, providing all the gear you need and often food. Many of the Koh Matsum snorkelling trips visit nearby Koh Tean and other local snorkelling spots.
If you are happy to rent a scooter or jeep, then head to the Thong Krut Pier. located on the south-west tip of the island, far away from the noise of Lamai or Samui town, the roads are quiet, and the rubber plantations give way to fishing villages and a small pier from which tourist boats set off to either Koh Tean for snorkelling or Koh Matsum.
2. Getting a Boat
For us, this part took a little haggling. We were given a price of THB 800 for two people but overheard others in the queue getting tickets for THB 250 each. As is common among the island’s smaller peers, the price is higher for the boat than per person, so we quickly recruited some friendly English backpackers to boost the numbers and got a full boat for THB 250 per person. Obviously, these prices are only guidelines and could change seasonally, but my advice is to make some friends and fill up a boat.
Note these prices are only a guide as we haggled there does not seem to be a ‘set price,’ or if there is one, it requires a certain number of people per boat.
3. The Journey
The ride itself takes about 15 minutes and is beautiful, yet terribly noisy due to a combination of wind and a 50-year-old engine on a stick powering a classic Thai longtail. Longtails are beautiful boats, but at this point, we regret not opting for a speed boat. Once you get to the island, there is no wharf, so the longtails plough full steam ahead into the sand and tie up to a tree or anchor in the beach. They will generally drop a ladder off the front, but the boat is far from stable, so watch your step on the way down and prepare to get your feet–ankles and possibly legs–wet.
4. Parking and Facilities
Once our party has disembarked, the longtail captain tells us to come back in a few hours or whenever we are bored before having a cigarette and lying down on the front of his boat. I have found the sabai sabai lifestyle of southern Thailand reflected in many Island residents like our captain, who are friendly, playful and in no rush to be anywhere. The point is to take your time and enjoy the island.
Longtails park up on the western beach, where there is also an area for jet skis–which you can hire. The main action, however, is on the northern beach facing back to Samui. There is a small restaurant, toilets and a few buildings for the families who live there. As you walk up to the restaurant and pig area, one of the islanders will request a THB 30 entry fee, which I assume goes to feeding the pigs and maintaining the island.
I was surprised to learn there are Koh Matsum hotels, or hotel singular, on the southern end of the island. Although we did not see the Treasure Koh Madsum resort, it looks like a spectacular place to stay, and its seclusion would surely make for an incredibly relaxing stay.
5. Pig Time
What started as one family of pigs has certainly multiplied. I am not sure exactly how many pigs live there now, but we could count at least twenty and plenty of little piglets. They are quite friendly and will walk up to you on the beach or behind the restaurant. You can buy small bags of grain to feed them, although I opted to spend my cash on a late breakfast.
The Koh Madsum restaurant is very rudimentary–more of a large roof on stilts, open to the elements on the sides with a few gas cookers and coolboxes full of food and beer–yet somehow, the food is virtually the same as you would find at any standard restaurant on the mainland. The prices may be a little inflated, but nothing that would break the bank.
6. Leaving the Pigs Behind
After a couple of hours basking in the sun and taking plenty of photos with the little piggies, we called it a day. After rounding up the others with whom we shared a boat, we walked down the beach and found our captain reclined in the same way we had left him a few hours earlier. After a quick Thai Red Bull, he took us straight back to Thong Krut, where there are luckily a few waterfront restaurants serving amazing seafood to intrepid day trippers returning from their island expeditions.
