Koh Chang is the big island that never got an airport, and everything good about it follows from that. Thailand’s second-largest island after Phuket sits five hours east of Bangkok in Trat province, a few kilometres off the Cambodian border, and to reach it you drive — or bus — to a pier and take a car ferry across a strait that the island’s mountains fill from edge to edge. That filter keeps out the package volume that reshaped Phuket and Samui. What’s left is a jungle island with a single road down its west coast, a string of beaches that go from busy to empty in twenty kilometres, waterfalls you can swim in, a stilt fishing village on a pier, and a weekend crowd of Bangkok Thais who’d rather you didn’t tell anyone. It is also, honestly, a place with a dangerous road, a fair amount of 1990s concrete, and a rainy season that shuts half of it. Here’s the island as we’d give it to a friend — which beach to pick, what’s worth it, what to skip, and what it costs in 2026.
The short version: pick the beach first and the island follows. Klong Prao or Kai Bae for most people, White Sand if you want the strip, Lonely Beach if you’re twenty-four, the east coast or Bang Bao if you want quiet — then do one waterfall, one snorkelling boat and one sunset at the fishing pier, and you’ve had the best of it. The mainland side of the story — Trat town, the piers, the border — is in our Trat guide.
How Koh Chang is laid out
The ferries land at the top of the island. One road runs down the west coast through the beaches in this order: White Sand Beach (Hat Sai Khao), the busiest — a long strip of hotels, bars and a walkable main drag; Klong Prao, the widest and prettiest, split by an estuary, where the better resorts are; Kai Bae, a village beach with families, a viewpoint and the best food-to-price ratio; Lonely Beach, the backpacker scene, not lonely since about 2005; Bailan, quiet and a bit forgotten; and Bang Bao, the fishing village on a long wooden pier where the snorkelling and dive boats leave. The east coast is mangroves, a few resorts and the old island — Salak Phet and Salak Khok — where you’ll meet more fishermen than tourists. The interior is mountain and waterfall and has no road through it; the road around the island does not connect at the southern tip, so east and west are separate worlds.
Getting there
By bus and ferry — the normal way. Buses leave Bangkok’s Ekkamai terminal (and Mo Chit) for Trat through the day, about five to six hours, ฿250–350; from Trat, a shared songthaew or minivan runs the 20 minutes to the piers at Laem Ngop. The car ferries from Ao Thammachat (and Centrepoint) cross in about 30–45 minutes for ฿80 per person, ฿120 for a car, one way — prices went up in April 2026. Simpler: the through-ticket from Bangkok to your beach, bus plus ferry plus island songthaew, sold as one — Bangkok to Koh Chang on 12Go lists the Ekkamai, Mo Chit and Suvarnabhumi departures side by side; the Bangkok to Trat page has the plain buses if you’d rather make the pier connection yourself. By air, Bangkok Airways flies Suvarnabhumi to Trat in about an hour, usually ฿2,500–4,500, then a 30-minute transfer to the pier — it turns a seven-hour day into three. By car from Bangkok is four to five hours on good roads and the ferry takes the car; driving the island itself is another matter (below). From the other islands, speedboats and the Boonsiri catamaran link Koh Chang with Koh Mak and Koh Kood in season.
How this list works
Each entry gets a verdict — Do it, Do it, with a caveat, or Skip it — with the foreigner price (the island is a national park, so dual pricing applies) and the practical detail. Getting around: songthaews shared along the west coast road are ฿50–150 a hop depending on distance, a scooter is ฿200–300 a day and needs a licence your insurer will recognise, and taxis are negotiated. Prices are August 2026, cross-checked against our Thailand Price Index. Nothing here was comped.
Worth the ferry
Klong Plu waterfall — Do it, in the morning. The island’s headline waterfall, a 15-minute forest walk from the car park near Klong Prao to a tall fall with a deep, cold, swimmable pool under it. ฿200 for foreign adults (Thais pay ฿40; that’s the national park fee and it’s official, not a scam), ฿100 for children. In rainy season it thunders; by April it’s a trickle, so pick your month. Go before 10am — it’s the one place on the island that gets a tour-bus hour.
A snorkelling boat from Bang Bao — Do it; it’s the best day out here. Day trips south to Koh Rang and its satellite islets — the clearest water in the archipelago — run ฿700–1,000 per person for the wooden-boat versions including lunch, ฿1,200–1,800 for speedboats, and the ฿200 park fee is sometimes on top: ask. Four or five stops, reef fish in numbers, and a beach or two. The big slow boats are better value and calmer than the speedboats; book from an agent on your beach a day ahead, or compare Koh Chang snorkelling trips by group size before you arrive.
Bang Bao pier at sunset — Do it. Walk the long wooden pier through the fishing village past the seafood restaurants, shell stalls and the lighthouse at the end, and eat at one of the over-the-water places as the boats come in. Touristy in the best way; the seafood is fresh because it landed beside you. Budget ฿300–600 a head with a beer.
Kayaking the Salak Khok mangroves — Do it, with a caveat. On the quiet east coast, a community-run kayak trail through the mangrove channels — an hour or two of herons, mudskippers and silence for a few hundred baht. The caveat is getting there: it’s 40 minutes by taxi or scooter from the west-coast beaches, and the road over the top has the hairpins. Worth it as a half day if you’ve rented a car.
Diving the HTMS Chang wreck — Do it if you dive. A 100-metre former US Navy landing ship sunk as an artificial reef in 2012 off the south coast — the largest wreck dive in Thailand, now thick with fish — plus the Hin Luk Bat pinnacles and the Koh Rang sites. Two-tank day trips ฿3,000–3,500, Open Water courses ฿11,000–13,000 (Koh Tao is still the cheap place to learn — see our Koh Tao diving guide). Visibility is best November to April.
Kai Bae viewpoint and the beach walk — Do it. Free, five minutes up from the road south of Kai Bae village, with the islets offshore in the afternoon light; then walk the beach at low tide. This is the island’s most sensible base for most people and the viewpoint is the reason.
The east coast drive to Salak Phet — Do it with a car, not a scooter. Rubber plantations, fishing villages on stilts, a temple, a couple of resorts with nobody in them, and the Than Mayom waterfall (same ฿200 park fee) on the way — the island before tourism. Empty roads and no traffic, but the same steep sections to get over.
Skip it, or sidestep it
Elephant “trekking” camps — Skip it. Koh Chang still has riding camps in the Klong Son and Klong Prao valleys selling rides and bathing as a jungle experience. Riding is the thing to say no to; so is bathing. If elephants matter to you, our ethical elephant sanctuaries guide explains how to tell a real sanctuary from a rebranded camp — and why the honest answer on this island is to skip the elephants entirely.
The White Sand Beach strip, as your base — Sidestep it, unless it’s what you want. It’s the liveliest, most convenient beach with the most bars and the longest walkable stretch of restaurants — and the least Koh Chang of any beach here. Fine for a night; for a week, Klong Prao or Kai Bae are the same sea with more room.
Renting a scooter to “do the island” — Skip it if you’re not a regular rider. The west-coast road is easy until it isn’t: two short, brutally steep, hairpinned climbs (south of Kai Bae, and on the road down to Lonely Beach and beyond) with worn surfaces, sand, and a local clinic that sees the results daily. The island’s accident rate is notorious. If you ride regularly and have the licence, fine, slowly; otherwise the songthaews go everywhere on the west coast for ฿50–150 and a car rental is ฿1,200–1,500 a day.
Lonely Beach for peace — Skip it for that reason; go for the opposite. The name survives from another era. It’s the island’s party beach, with a rocky shore and the cheapest beds; the beach you want for quiet is Bailan, one bay down, or the east coast.
Where to sleep, by beach
Rough cool-season “from” rates, all verified on Agoda. Klong Prao (wide beach, the resorts): The Emerald Cove Koh Chang (from around ฿3,500, the big beachfront resort with the long pool), The Dewa Koh Chang (from around ฿3,000, the boutique pick), Centara Koh Chang Tropicana (from around ฿2,800, families) and Koh Chang Paradise Resort (from around ฿2,000, the value beachfront). Kai Bae (village, viewpoint, the sensible base): GajaPuri Resort (from around ฿3,500, teak villas on the sand), The Chill Resort & Spa (from around ฿3,000) and Awa Resort (from around ฿2,500). White Sand Beach (the strip): KC Grande Resort (from around ฿3,000, the beach’s landmark) and Kacha Resort & Spa (from around ฿2,500). Lonely Beach: Warapura Resort (from around ฿1,500, the quiet end) and hostel beds from ฿300. East coast: The Spa Koh Chang Resort (from around ฿1,800, the Salak Khok retreat with the mangroves out front). Bungalows with a fan on most beaches run ฿600–1,000; expect 30–40% off everything May to October, and full houses over Christmas and Thai long weekends.
Honest warnings before you go
The road. Covered above, and worth saying twice: Koh Chang’s hairpins hurt more visitors than anything else on the island. Season. Mid-May to October is wet on this coast — the west beaches get surf and debris, boat trips are cancelled, some places close in June and September — but the waterfalls are at their best and rooms are cheap; our month-by-month guide covers the east coast’s pattern. Weekends and holidays. Bangkok arrives on Friday night; book Saturdays ahead and expect ferry queues on Thai long weekends. Sandflies on some beaches at dusk — repellent helps, and ask locally which stretches are bad that month. Cash. ATMs exist on every main beach and charge the ฿220 fee; the east coast and Bang Bao boats are cash. The ferry “helpers”. Touts at the piers sell overpriced transfers; the shared songthaews at the island-side ferry ramp are fixed-price by beach, and the scams guide covers the rest.
Koh Chang: your questions, answered
Is Koh Chang worth visiting?
Yes, if you want a big, green, beach-and-jungle island without an airport crowd — it’s quieter and cheaper than Samui or Phuket, with better waterfalls and a more Thai weekend feel. It’s less polished, the road is hazardous, and the rainy season is long, so pick your month and your beach.
Which is the best beach on Koh Chang?
Klong Prao for the prettiest long beach and the better resorts; Kai Bae for a village feel, families and value; White Sand Beach for the bars and convenience; Lonely Beach for the party; Bailan, Bang Bao or the east coast for quiet.
How do you get from Bangkok to Koh Chang?
Bus from Ekkamai or Mo Chit to Trat (5–6 hours, ฿250–350), songthaew to the pier, then the car ferry (฿80 per person, 30–45 minutes) — or a through-ticket that does all three. Bangkok Airways flies to Trat in an hour for ฿2,500–4,500 plus a 30-minute pier transfer. Driving takes 4–5 hours and the ferry takes the car.
How many days do you need on Koh Chang?
Three nights is the minimum that justifies the journey: one waterfall, one snorkelling day, one lazy beach day with a Bang Bao sunset. A week is easy if you move beaches once or add Koh Mak or Koh Kood.
Is Koh Chang better than Koh Samet?
Different trips. Samet is a small, close, weekend island with prettier sand and a ฿200 park fee for a day on the beach; Koh Chang is big, mountainous and a proper week with waterfalls, dive sites and island-hopping. Our Koh Samet guide covers the short version.
Related guides
- Trat, Thailand: The Gateway to Koh Chang That Deserves More Than a Ferry Queue
- Koh Samet From Rayong: The Beach Weekend That Beats Pattaya
- Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries in Thailand: Real vs Rebranded
Book the trip
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Getting there: bus-plus-ferry through-tickets and the Trat flights — book Bangkok to Koh Chang on 12Go. Hotels: pick your beach first, then compare Koh Chang hotels on Agoda. Boats: Koh Rang snorkelling and the wreck dives — browse Koh Chang trips on GetYourGuide and read the newest reviews before you commit. Not sure the east coast is your Thailand? Our Where to Go in Thailand matcher scores all 77 provinces against your month, your crowd tolerance and what you actually want from the trip.
