Koh Chang is the big island nobody flies to. There is no airport, the nearest one is a Bangkok Airways monopoly on the mainland, and the ferry is a car barge that takes half an hour and costs less than an airport coffee. So getting from Bangkok to Koh Chang is really a question of how you want to spend five hours on Highway 3 — in a government coach for ฿300, in a minivan whose driver treats lane discipline as a concept, or in a private car for the price of a decent hotel night.
The catch is the clock. The last car ferry leaves Ao Thammachat at 18:30, and every Bangkok departure is really a bet on arriving before then. Here is every route from Bangkok to Koh Chang costed for 2026, with an honest verdict on each.
The short version: take the 07:45 999 bus from Ekkamai straight to the pier for about ฿300, or a ฿300–400 minivan if you can’t make that start; either way you’re on the island by mid-afternoon. Landing at Suvarnabhumi, skip the city and take the airport’s own bus to your resort (about ฿700, ferry included). Fly to Trat only if someone else is paying, and read our Koh Chang guide and the Trat province profile before you pick a beach, because the songthaew from the pier charges by distance.
Bangkok to Koh Chang: every option costed
One adult, one way, September 2026 prices; “door to door” runs from central Bangkok to your beach including the ferry and the island songthaew. Fares drift with the season — treat the numbers as a compass, not a quote.
| Mode | Door to door | Cost | When it’s right | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 999 bus, Ekkamai → Ao Thammachat pier | 6.5–7.5 hours | ฿300 bus + ฿90 ferry + ฿50–150 songthaew | Anyone who can make the 07:45; the default | Buses on 12Go |
| Minivan, Ekkamai / Mo Chit 2 → pier | 6–7 hours | ฿300–400 + ferry + songthaew | Later starts, lighter luggage, strong stomachs | Minivans on 12Go |
| Suvarnabhumi airport bus, door to resort | 6.5–7 hours | ฿650–750 all in | Straight off a flight; the smart move | Airport bus on 12Go |
| Private car or taxi, incl. car ferry | 5–6 hours | ฿3,500–4,500 per car | Families, groups of 3–4, late flights | Private transfers on GetYourGuide |
| Fly BKK → Trat + minibus + ferry | 3.5–4.5 hours | ฿2,800–5,000 flight + ฿650–750 transfer | Short trips, expense accounts | Flights on 12Go + Trat–Koh Chang transfer |
| Pattaya → Koh Chang minivan | 5–6 hours | ฿300–400 + ferry + songthaew | Combining the two; nobody else | Pattaya minivans on 12Go |
The 999 bus from Ekkamai to the ferry: the sensible default
Transport Co — the government operator, branded “999” — runs a big air-conditioned coach from Ekkamai’s Eastern Bus Terminal directly to Ao Thammachat pier, which is the single most useful fact in this article. Almost everything else to Trat stops in Trat town, 20 km short of the water, and leaves you negotiating a songthaew. The 999 doesn’t. It leaves Ekkamai at 07:45 (a second departure around 09:00 runs in high season), calls at the Suvarnabhumi bus terminal about 08:20, and pulls up at the pier around 13:30, in time for the 13:45 ferry if the driver is in a good mood. The fare has bounced between ฿260 and ฿330 this year; budget ฿300. You buy in person at the Ekkamai counter — there is no official online booking for this coach — and Ekkamai is a two-minute walk from Exit 2 of Ekkamai BTS.
Miss it and the fallback is Cherdchai’s frequent buses to Trat town (about ฿315), then a ฿60 songthaew from Trat bus station to the pier — add 40 minutes and a small argument. If you’d rather hold a ticket before leaving the hotel, 12Go’s Bangkok–Koh Chang page sells bus-and-ferry combinations and minivans side by side, the easiest way to see what actually departs on your date.
Verdict: for one or two people with a rucksack each, this is the answer. Five hours in a proper seat, a toilet on board, a plate of rice at a Chanthaburi service station, and you’re on the barge by two. It fails only those who cannot be at Ekkamai by half past seven.
Minivans from Ekkamai and Mo Chit 2: faster, and the “VIP” myth
Minivans leave for the pier from Ekkamai’s van bays and the Mo Chit 2 van terminal (the Victory Monument ranks are long gone, whatever the agents say) roughly every two hours from 05:00 to 16:30, though “when full” is the real timetable. The fare is ฿300 to the pier, ฿350–400 for a reserved seat through an agent. They’re 30–45 minutes quicker than the coach because they don’t stop, and more tiring for the same reason; big suitcases ride on your lap.
Now the honest bit. Every agency on Khao San and in the hotel lobbies sells a “VIP minivan to Koh Chang” for ฿900 or so including the ferry. It is the same Toyota Commuter as the ฿300 van, occasionally with a curtain, and it will still collect eleven other people from eleven guesthouses before it finds the motorway. If you want VIP, buy the private car below; if you want cheap, buy the ฿300 van at the terminal and spend the ฿600 on dinner at Bang Bao. Our Thailand scams guide covers the rest of the agency repertoire.
Verdict: the right choice if your day starts after lunch — a 12:30 van makes the 18:30 ferry with an hour to spare; a 12:30 coach to the pier doesn’t exist. Reserve on 12Go in December or over Songkran; otherwise turn up.
Straight off the plane: the Suvarnabhumi to Koh Chang bus
If Koh Chang is the first stop of the trip, do not go into Bangkok. Suvarnabhumi is already on the right road, and Suvarnabhumi Burapha runs a microbus from Level 1, Door 8 (arrivals, outside the doors) at 07:00 and again at 10:00 or 11:00 depending on season. The ticket is ฿650–700 and includes the ferry and delivery to your resort’s driveway as far down the west coast as Kai Bae; Lonely Beach and Bailan cost ฿50 more. The 999 coach also calls at the airport’s bus terminal around 08:20 — cheaper, but it leaves you at the pier, not your hotel.
Two cautions. Book ahead on 12Go’s Suvarnabhumi–Koh Chang page in high season, but there’s no refund if your flight is late and you miss the 11:00. And if you land after about 11:30, you are not making the 18:30 ferry on public transport; that’s a private-car day or a night in Bangkok. Our Suvarnabhumi arrival guide has the Door 8 geography.
Verdict: with a morning arrival, the best-value door-to-door option on the list, and the one we’d book without thinking.
Private car or taxi from Bangkok to Koh Chang: the door-to-door price
A private car — a sedan or a Toyota Commuter with a driver — from a Bangkok hotel or the airport to your resort costs ฿3,500–4,500 in 2026, and the good operators include the car ferry and the drive round to your beach. Sedans sit at the bottom of that range, a Commuter for six with luggage at the top, and a competent driver does the run in four and a half hours with one stop. Book the night before through your hotel, through GetYourGuide’s private transfer listings, or on 12Go, where the same cars appear as “private taxi” on the Bangkok–Koh Chang page. A street taxi hailed on Sukhumvit will quote ฿5,000-plus, meter off.
Verdict: at ฿4,000 split four ways it is ฿1,000 a head — roughly coach plus ferry plus songthaew plus lunch, with none of the changes. For a family, or anyone landing after lunch who still wants to sleep on the island, it is the right spend. For a couple with backpacks, it’s ฿3,000 that buys two more nights.
Flying Bangkok to Trat: an hour in the air, and the price of a monopoly
Bangkok Airways owns Trat airport and, as with Samui, prices the route accordingly. Three flights a day from Suvarnabhumi, one hour in an ATR turboprop, and fares of ฿2,800–5,000 one way as of September 2026, ฿4,500-plus over Christmas. No low-cost carrier flies it; there is no Don Mueang option. From the airport it’s 17 km to Ao Thammachat, about 25 minutes, and the airport minibuses charge ฿650–750 a head to your resort with the ferry included. Compare flights on 12Go’s Bangkok–Trat page and book the Trat–Koh Chang transfer separately; together they put you on your beach about four hours after leaving a Bangkok hotel.
Verdict: the same arithmetic as our Bangkok to Koh Samui piece, only less favourable — the flight saves three hours, not seven, and costs ten times the coach. Worth it for a long weekend after thirty hours getting to Thailand; daft for a fortnight. Spend it on the room instead — Koh Chang hotels on Agoda jump from ฿1,200 to ฿4,000 a night, and that jump buys a pool.
The Koh Chang ferry: Ao Thammachat, and what happened to Centrepoint
There used to be two car ferries. The Centrepoint ferry has been suspended since mid-2024 and, as of September 2026, still isn’t sailing; older guides and a few Bangkok agents still sell “Centrepoint” tickets, so check the name on yours. Everything now goes from Ao Thammachat, 10 km before Laem Ngop town, to Ao Sapparot on the island’s north-east tip. The crossing is 25–35 minutes depending on which boat you draw; first sailing 06:30, last 18:30 in both directions; nominally hourly, in practice the boats loop all day and, outside the first and last, leave when full. Foot passengers pay ฿80–90 (it crept up this year), a car is ฿120–200 depending on the boat and a motorbike about ฿90. No return tickets, no advance sales — you pay at the booth, and ignore the man in the car park selling “the ticket” for ฿150. These and most other fares you’ll meet are in our Thailand Price Index.
From the pier to your beach: the island songthaew, costed
Ao Sapparot is a concrete ramp at the wrong end of the island; every beach is 20 to 50 minutes further round a road that climbs and drops like a fairground ride. White pick-up songthaews meet each boat and run the west-coast loop, fares painted on the tailgate: ฿50 to White Sand Beach, ฿60 to Chai Chet, ฿70 to Klong Prao, ฿80 to Kai Bae, ฿100 to Lonely Beach, ฿150 to Bang Bao. Those are shared fares and the driver leaves with eight or so aboard. On a bus-plus-ferry ticket bought in Bangkok this leg is often included — check, because it’s the ฿100 the agent quietly kept.
Onward, speedboats and the Bang Bao ferries run Koh Chang to Koh Mak in about an hour for ฿500–700. The Trat travel guide has the mainland piers for Koh Kood if you’d rather skip Koh Chang altogether.
Pattaya to Koh Chang: for people combining the two
Pattaya is on the way, more or less. Minivans from the North Pattaya and Jomtien ranks to the pier take about four hours, at 08:00 and 10:30 for ฿300–400; Beach Road agents sell the same seats at ฿500–700 with the ferry folded in. If Koh Chang is a side-trip from Pattaya, honestly consider Koh Samet from Rayong instead — half the distance and a twenty-minute boat. Seats on 12Go’s Pattaya–Koh Chang page.
Timings: how not to miss the last ferry from Bangkok to Koh Chang
Work backwards from 18:30. The pier is five hours from Ekkamai on a good day and six on a bad one, so the latest sensible road departure from Bangkok is 12:30, from Suvarnabhumi about 13:00. The last direct coach leaves at 07:45; after that you’re on vans. From June to September, Trat’s wettest months, allow an extra hour and see when to go. Miss the boat and it’s a ฿500 guesthouse in Laem Ngop, a private longtail through your resort for ฿2,500-plus if you called ahead, or a night in Trat town. In high season (November to February) the morning departures and the airport bus sell out, so book the seat, not just the plan. The rest of the budget is on our cost-per-day guide.
Bangkok to Koh Chang: your questions, answered
What is the cheapest way to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang?
The 999 government coach from Ekkamai to Ao Thammachat pier (around ฿300), the ferry (฿80–90) and a shared songthaew to your beach (฿50–150) — call it ฿450–550 all in. A terminal minivan is the same money; the agency “VIP” van at ฿900 is the same van, bundled.
How long does it take to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang?
Six to seven and a half hours door to door by bus or minivan, including the 30-minute ferry and the drive round the island. A private car is five to six hours. Flying to Trat cuts it to about four hours, at ten times the cost.
What time is the last ferry to Koh Chang?
18:30 from Ao Thammachat, and the same back from Ao Sapparot, year-round as of September 2026; the first boat is 06:30. Leave central Bangkok by 12:30 to make it by road, and don’t rely on a Centrepoint sailing — that ferry has been suspended since 2024.
Can I get from Suvarnabhumi airport to Koh Chang without going into Bangkok?
Yes, and you should. Suvarnabhumi Burapha’s microbus leaves Level 1, Door 8 at 07:00 and late morning, costs ฿650–700 including the ferry and delivers you to your resort; the 999 coach also stops at the airport around 08:20.
Is it worth flying from Bangkok to Trat for Koh Chang?
Only for a short trip or when the fare isn’t yours. Bangkok Airways charges ฿2,800–5,000 one way for the hour-long flight, then you still need a ฿650–750 minibus-and-ferry transfer; it saves about three hours over the coach. For a week or more, the money is better spent on the room.
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Bed first, then the bus: the beaches are 20 to 50 minutes apart and the songthaew charges by distance, so pick your Koh Chang hotel on Agoda before you pick a ticket. Tickets: coach, minivans and private cars are side by side on 12Go’s Bangkok to Koh Chang page; from the airport, the Suvarnabhumi to Koh Chang page; for the plane, Bangkok to Trat plus the Trat to Koh Chang transfer. Not sure Koh Chang is your island at all? Our Where to Go in Thailand matcher scores all 77 provinces against your month, your budget and what you actually want.
