The one page to save before you need it. Samui is a safe island, but accidents happen — a scooter spill on the ring road, a rip current, a jellyfish sting, a lost passport. Here are the numbers that actually get help fast, which hospitals have 24-hour ERs, and exactly what to do — including how medevac to the mainland works.
If you remember nothing else: 1669 for an ambulance, 191 for police, 199 for fire, and 1155 for the English-speaking Tourist Police — the line that will translate and coordinate everything else for you as a foreigner. Add them to your phone today. Below is the fuller list, the island's 24-hour emergency rooms, medevac to the mainland, and step-by-step guidance for the situations Samui visitors and residents actually face. For everyday medical care and insurance, see the Koh Samui healthcare & hospitals guide; for prevention, the safety guide.
These are national short codes that work across Thailand, Koh Samui included. The Tourist Police (1155) are staffed to help foreigners in English and are the best first call when you're unsure who to reach.
| Service | Number | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency medical / ambulance (national EMS) | 1669 | Free national line, some English. For serious injury, chest pain, drowning or unconsciousness anywhere on the island. |
| Police | 191 | All-purpose police emergency across Thailand, Koh Samui included. |
| Tourist Police (English-speaking) | 1155 | Your first call as a foreigner — accidents, theft, scams, disputes and translation, 24/7. Samui has its own tourist police posts around Chaweng and Nathon. |
| Fire & rescue | 199 | Fire, building collapse and rescue. |
| Narenthorn EMS (medical dispatch) | 1554 | Alternative medical emergency line if 1669 is unreachable. |
| Marine / water police | 1196 | Boat, ferry and sea-rescue incidents — important on an island ringed by dive sites and ferry routes. |
| Tourist hotline (TAT) | 1672 | Not an emergency line, but a 24-hour English tourist information & assistance service. |
Know your nearest ER before you need one. Samui's private international hospitals cluster around Chaweng and the north coast near the airport and are the smoothest option for foreigners — English-speaking staff, international patient centres and direct insurance billing. The government hospital at Nathon is the main public option on the west coast.
| Hospital | Area | Type | 24-hour ER notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok Hospital Samui | Chaweng (Hospital Road) | Private · international | 24-hour ER, international patient centre, English-speaking — the island's flagship and best equipped for serious trauma. Emergency line +66 77 429 500. |
| Thai International Hospital (Bandon) | Bophut / Bang Rak (Bandon) | Private · international | 24-hour ER, long established, popular with residents and long-stayers; English-speaking departments. |
| Samui International Hospital | North Chaweng Beach Road | Private · international | 24-hour ER, central Chaweng, walk-in consultations and English-speaking staff. |
| Koh Samui Hospital | Nathon (west coast) | Government | 24-hour ER, the island's main public hospital — lowest cost and capable general care, but busier, longer waits and less English. |
For a life-threatening emergency, call 1669 rather than driving. For serious-but-stable injuries, a Grab or taxi to the nearest ER is often faster than waiting for an ambulance on the ring road. Full detail on costs and insurance is in the healthcare guide.
Scooter crashes are the single most common serious emergency for visitors to Samui. If it happens, work through this in order.
Get to safety first. Samui's ring road (Route 4169) is fast, narrow in places and slick in the rains — move yourself and the bike out of live traffic if you can before doing anything else.
Call 1669 for an ambulance if anyone is seriously hurt, or 191 for police. For a foreigner-friendly English response, 1155 (Tourist Police) will coordinate and translate.
For non-critical injuries it is often faster to take a Grab or taxi straight to Bangkok Hospital Samui or the nearest 24-hour ER than to wait for an ambulance on a remote stretch of the ring road.
Photograph everything before vehicles are moved if it's safe: the scene, both vehicles, plates, damage and any injuries — this matters for insurance and any dispute over fault.
Do not admit fault or sign anything you can't read. Wait for police and, if needed, the Tourist Police, and call your travel or health insurer's 24-hour assistance line.
Check your cover now, not later: many travel policies exclude motorbike injuries unless you hold the correct licence and wore a helmet. Keep that assistance number saved before you ride.
The water is the island's most underestimated danger. Rip currents, boat and ferry incidents, and box jellyfish are the ones to know.
If you see someone in trouble in the water, don't swim out after them unless you're trained — rip-current and open-water rescues drown rescuers every year. Throw or extend something that floats and get help.
Call 1669 for an ambulance and 1196 for the marine police for any sea, ferry or boat incident. On a lifeguarded beach, alert the lifeguards first — they have rescue equipment and are fastest.
For a rescued swimmer who has inhaled water, insist on hospital assessment even if they seem fine: secondary drowning can develop hours later. Head to a 24-hour ER.
Box jellyfish are a real, if rare, hazard in the Samui–Pha-ngan waters, especially in the wet months. Flood a sting with vinegar (do not rub or use fresh water), don't remove tentacles by hand, start CPR if breathing stops and get to an ER immediately — vinegar bottles sit at some beaches for this reason.
Diving, snorkelling and boat day-trips to Ang Thong or Koh Tao carry their own risks; use operators with safety briefings and oxygen aboard, and know that decompression emergencies may need the mainland or Koh Tao chamber. See the full water detail in the Koh Samui safety guide.
Being on an island changes the maths for the most serious cases. Here is how transfers work — and why evacuation cover matters.
Koh Samui's private hospitals handle the vast majority of emergencies on the island. For highly specialised trauma, cardiac, neuro or major surgery, serious cases are sometimes stabilised on Samui and transferred to Bangkok.
The fastest transfer is by air: Samui International Airport (USM) has frequent flights to Bangkok (about 1h 15m), and the private hospitals coordinate medical escorts or air-ambulance flights for critical patients.
The cheaper surface route is the vehicle/passenger ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland (Donsak pier), then road to a Surat Thani hospital — slower and weather-dependent, so it is for stable transfers rather than true emergencies.
This island logistics reality is exactly why medical-evacuation cover matters here. Confirm your travel or international health policy includes emergency evacuation and repatriation, and keep the insurer's 24-hour assistance number saved — they arrange and pay for air transfers you could not afford out of pocket.
A lost passport is stressful but routine to fix — as long as you do it in the right order.
Report it immediately to the Tourist Police (1155) or the nearest police station and get a written police report — you cannot get a replacement travel document or leave the country without it.
Contact your embassy or consulate in Bangkok to arrange an emergency passport or travel document. Take the police report, photos and any ID copy you have; most countries have no consulate on Samui, so this is usually done by phone, courier and a Bangkok trip.
Then visit Koh Samui Immigration in Maenam to re-stamp your visa/entry status into the new document — a lost passport also loses your entry stamp and TM card, which you must replace before departure.
Keep digital and paper copies of your passport photo page, visa and TM30/entry card somewhere separate from the original, including in the cloud — it makes replacement far faster.
Useful when it isn't a 999-moment — traffic matters and tourist assistance. For immigration errands and airport queries, the island's immigration office and airport-transfer guides have the current details.
| Service | Number |
|---|---|
| Traffic police | 1197 |
| Highway police | 1193 |
| Tourist information & assistance (TAT) | 1672 |
| Consumer / tourist complaints | 1155 (Tourist Police) |
Dial 1669 for an ambulance and emergency medical services, 191 for police, 199 for fire and rescue, and 1155 for the English-speaking Tourist Police — the best first call for most foreigner situations because they translate and coordinate the other services. For sea, ferry and boat incidents, call the marine police on 1196. These are national short codes that work anywhere in Thailand, including all of Koh Samui.
The main 24-hour ERs are Bangkok Hospital Samui in Chaweng (the island's flagship and best equipped for trauma), Thai International Hospital (Bandon) near Bophut/Bang Rak, and Samui International Hospital in central Chaweng — all private and English-speaking. The government Koh Samui Hospital in Nathon also runs a 24-hour ER at the lowest cost. For a serious emergency a private international ER is usually the smoothest for foreigners, but confirm your insurer covers it.
Samui's private hospitals handle most emergencies on the island. For highly specialised trauma or surgery, patients are stabilised on Samui and, if needed, flown to Bangkok — Samui airport has frequent flights and the hospitals arrange medical escorts or air ambulances. The cheaper surface route is the ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland, but that is for stable transfers, not true emergencies. This is why emergency-evacuation insurance matters so much on an island.
Move out of traffic, then call 1669 for an ambulance if anyone is hurt or 1155 for English-speaking Tourist Police help. Photograph the scene, both vehicles, plates and damage before anything is moved, don't admit fault or sign documents you can't read, and call your insurer's assistance line. Remember that many travel policies won't pay motorbike claims unless you held the correct licence and wore a helmet — check that before you ride Samui's ring road, not after a crash.
Report it to the Tourist Police (1155) or a police station and get a written police report — you need it to replace the document and to leave the country. Then contact your embassy in Bangkok to arrange an emergency passport (most countries have no consulate on Samui, so this is done by phone, courier and a Bangkok trip), and afterwards visit Koh Samui Immigration in Maenam to re-stamp your visa and entry status into the new passport. Keeping copies of everything makes it much faster.
Yes — dangerous box jellyfish are an occasional hazard in the Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan waters, more likely in the wet-season months. They are rare but can be life-threatening. If someone is stung, flood the area with vinegar (never fresh water and don't rub it), do not pull tentacles off by hand, be ready to start CPR if breathing stops, and get to a 24-hour ER at once. Some beaches keep vinegar bottles on posts for exactly this reason — note where they are.
The Tourist Police line (1155) is staffed to help foreigners in English and is your safest first call. The general lines (1669, 191, 199) may have limited English, so if you can, ask a Thai speaker nearby to help, or call 1155 and let them coordinate. Koh Samui's private international hospitals have English-speaking staff and international patient centres, which is another reason they are the smoothest option in a medical emergency.
Settling in? Pair this with the Koh Samui healthcare guide, the safety guide and our relocation guides.
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
Chaweng and the north coast keep you minutes from Samui's 24-hour ERs and the airport; the quieter beaches trade that for calm. Match your home to how you actually live — and where help is fastest.
General information only, not medical, legal, immigration or emergency advice. Phone numbers, hospital services and consular arrangements change — verify a number before you rely on it, and in any real emergency call the national short codes (1669, 191, 199, 1155) first and follow the instructions of on-the-ground responders and authorities.
Hero photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.