If you were making a film about a mystical, tropical paradise, you’d set it on Thailand’s Koh Samui – and that’s exactly what the makers of ‘The Beach’ did back in 2000.

When you set foot on these famous white sands for real though, you’ll realise no camera on earth could possibly do the place justice. Palm trees skirt along the shoreline yielding coconuts at regular intervals, while high above them all, a sublime granite peak cloaked in lush rainforest reaches up towards the sky. There’s lively nightlife too – naturally set around the beautiful beaches.