KOH TAO TRANSLATES AS "TURTLE ISLAND", SO NAMED BECAUSE OF IT'S SHAPE AND ALSO THERE WERE MANY OF TURTLES LIVING AROUND.

It's only about 21 sq Km and is remotely located about 70 km far from the mainland.

From 1933 to 1947 Koh Tao was used to jail political prisoners of the Bowaradech Uprising. Many were transferred from Koh Tarutao to Koh Tao by reason of its location lonely in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand.

The community in Koh Tao was settled at the first time when the villagers from Koh Samui and Koh Phangan immigrated and were on the land of Koh Tao in 1947. Before that there were some people who came and used the land for coconut plantation and small fishery.

During the past 15 years the reputation of Koh Tao's natural beauty, especially its marine life and coral reefs due to the island's distance from the mouth of Mae Nam Tapi, which affords high visibility and an abundance of marine life. It soon became one of the major dive sites of South East Asia.