When Lynn Grebstad of Hong Kong first thought about building a villa in Thailand, she was set on Phuket, the grande dame of Southeast Asian resorts. But Mrs. Grebstad was persuaded to shift her attention to Thailand’s other coast, to the lesser-known island of Koh Samui, by a friend who owns a holiday house here.
The small, 247-square-kilometer (95-square-mile) island in the Gulf of Thailand was shaking off its backpacker past and going upmarket. Bangkok Airways was also planning to start direct service between the island and Hong Kong. (The island is far from the protests that have engulfed the country in recent days.)
So, in 2005, Mrs. Grebstad decided to buy a 1.3-rai (half-acre) plot on a hillside on Samui’s northeast corner with her business partner, Paul Hicks. The two own Grebstad Hicks Communications, a public relations firm based in Hong Kong that represents luxury hotels and other high-end brands.
