Club Med has officially begun construction of its highly anticipated Koh Samui resort, marking a significant new chapter for the French hospitality group and its development partner, Central Capital Group. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, bringing together representatives from both organisations to celebrate the start of a project set to introduce Club Med’s Exclusive Collection concept to Thailand for the first time.
The ceremony combined traditional elements with a symbolic planting of native Samui coconut seedlings, paying tribute to the island’s natural heritage while representing a new beginning and the partners’ vision for the resort’s future. The milestone comes shortly after Club Med and Central Capital Group signed the Hotel Management Agreement (HMA) earlier this year, formally setting the project in motion.
Once completed, Club Med Exclusive Collection Koh Samui will become the brand’s first Exclusive Collection resort in Thailand and only the second Club Med property in the country. It will also join an increasingly selective portfolio of Exclusive Collection resorts across the East and South Asia, and Pacific (ESAP) region, where it will become the third property within the product range.
The Koh Samui development also represents a notable evolution of Club Med’s presence in Thailand. The company first entered the country with Club Med Phuket in 1985, meaning the new resort arrives four decades after the original property opened its doors. While Club Med Phuket established the group’s longstanding connection with the Thai market, Koh Samui is set to introduce a more elevated interpretation of the brand through the Exclusive Collection positioning.
The project forms part of Club Med’s broader global expansion following the completion of its upscale transformation in 2024. Having repositioned its portfolio toward a more premium offering, the group has since accelerated the development of new destinations spanning its Premium All-Inclusive and Exclusive Collection concepts.
Club Med’s current growth strategy is built around an ambition to double its global resort portfolio by 2030, with a development pipeline that continues to expand across established and emerging leisure markets. Among the newest additions is Club Med South Africa, which officially opened in July 2026, while Club Med Borneo in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, is scheduled to open by the end of 2026, adding another beachfront destination to the group’s growing Asia-Pacific presence.
Further Club Med developments are also planned in Canada, Italy, Oman and Indonesia over the coming years, underscoring the group’s continued focus on international expansion and its strategy of introducing its evolving hospitality concepts to new destinations.
For Koh Samui, the arrival of an Exclusive Collection resort places the island firmly within Club Med’s next generation of premium destinations, while the groundbreaking ceremony signals the beginning of what is expected to be a significant new addition to Thailand’s luxury hospitality landscape.