The island is famous among Thais as the setting for a story by their most famous poet, Sunthorn Phu. Travellers will notice on Haad Sai Kaew the decaying statue of Phra Arpaimanee, who travelled with his flute around Thailand until one day he was captured by a ravenous giantess.
After seeing her chomp the head off a buffalo, he managed to lull her to sleep with his music and ran away. Upon escaping he met and fell in love with a beautiful mermaid. They married and lived happily ever after with a son, Husakorn, who had the body of a horse and the head of a dragon.
