Bangkok airways historically were the only carrier to fly to Koh Samui private airport. Although in recent times the price of the fares have been a topic of hot debate, it is undeniable that they played a large part in promoting Koh Samui as a tourist destination an opened the island up to visitors who were not prepared to take a long overnight bus or train journey down from Bangkok. With routs all over the world now Samui has never been more accessible and several carriers now use the airport but how did it all being?
Bangkok Airways was established in 1968 as Sahakol Air and operated an air-taxi service, with a two engine 9 seater plane “Trade Wind” under contract from Overseas International Construction Company, an American company, United States Operations Mission (USOM) and a number of other organizations engaged in oil and natural gas exploration.
In 1986 it began scheduled services and became the first privately owned domestic airline in Thailand that re-branded to become Bangkok Airways in 1989. In 1986 the airline offered scheduled flights from Bangkok to Krabi, Korat and Surin.