Koh Chang Travel Guide: The Island Escape That Keeps Pulling Us Back
A personal guide to the Gulf of Thailand’s best-kept secret: beaches, boat tours, fireflies and more.
There’s a point, somewhere on the winding road that hugs the western coast of Koh Chang, where Bangkok feels like a different life entirely. The traffic, the noise, the concrete, all of it dissolves.
Koh Chang, “Elephant Island,” is Thailand’s third-largest island after Phuket and Koh Samui, sitting in the eastern Gulf of Thailand. It doesn’t get the same tourist circus as those two, which is exactly why we keep going back.
This is our honest guide: where to stay, how to get there, and the things that made us fall in love with this place.
Table of Contents
How to get to Koh Chang from Bangkok
From Bangkok, Koh Chang is surprisingly easy to reach. The most common route is a combination of bus and ferry, with a total journey time of roughly 5 to 6 hours depending on where you start.
You can take a bus or minivan from Ekkamai or Mo Chit bus terminal to Trat, then hop on a ferry from Laem Ngop pier to the island. The ferry crossing itself takes about 30 to 40 minutes and a nice mental gear-shift as the island comes into view.
Tip
There are also direct air-conditioned minivans from Bangkok straight to the ferry pier that make the journey seamless. Book in advance on weekends and long holidays.
Good to know
The roads on Koh Chang are steep and winding, cutting through mountainous jungle. Getting between beach areas takes longer than you’d expect, and the drive can be a bit sketchy on a scooter. It’s worth picking your base carefully and planning to mostly stay in that area rather than hopping between beaches every day.
Where to stay in Koh Chang
Koh Chang has distinct beach areas, each with its own vibe. White Sand Beach (Hat Sai Khao) in the north is the most developed and lively. Further south, Kai Bae is quieter and more our speed.
Our go-to: Sea Escape Koh Chang
We’ve stayed here multiple times and it just works. The location in Kai Bae puts you close enough to everything without the noise of the busier beaches. Grab a kayak in the morning, watch the sun go down with a drink in hand, and you’re sorted.
Top things to do in Koh Chang
Island tour with fishing and snorkelling
If you do one thing on Koh Chang, make it this. We took a private boat with a local guide who genuinely loves what he does, and the highlight was fresh sashimi he prepared right there on the boat from fish we caught. It cost us ฿4,000 total for four people (฿1,000 per person), and we visited three islands with a mix of fishing and snorkelling.
Local boat operator we recommend
ทรัพย์สุดาทัวร์ (Subsuda Tour)
Tel: 092-440-8336 · Find them on Facebook and Line
If you don’t have someone in your group that speaks Thai. It could be easier to book from GetYourGuide.
Khlong Phlu Waterfall
Set inside Mu Ko Chang National Park, Khlong Phlu is the island’s most famous waterfall and genuinely worth the visit. The trail through the jungle is short and easy, and the reward is a small waterfall with a natural pool you can swim in, home to plenty of big fish swimming around your feet.
Kai Bae Beach and the other beaches
Kai Bae is our home beach: calm water, a gentle pace, and much less crowded than the main beaches further north.
White Sand Beach is for the livelier atmosphere and the strip of restaurants and bars.
Lonely Beach, further south, has a more backpacker, laid-back feel and is worth exploring if you have time. Shout out Roxy Bar for sunset cocktail hour.
Kayaking (and the night we paddled too far)
Kayaking off Kai Bae is easy to arrange. Sea Escape has rentals right on the beach. We’ve done it a handful of times, but one evening stands out. We lost track of time and ended up paddling back in the dark, the sea around us lit up by jumping fish breaking the surface. It was one of those completely unplanned, magical moments that travel occasionally hands you.
Stick to daylight hours if you’re sensible. We are not particularly sensible.
Mangrove forest and fireflies
One of the more unusual experiences on Koh Chang is an evening boat tour through the mangroves. We did a night tour and were treated to fireflies lighting up the mangrove trees.
Is Koh Chang worth visiting?
Koh Chang doesn’t try very hard to impress you, which is part of the charm. The island has real jungle, real beaches, and enough going on to fill a long weekend. It’s become our default answer when Bangkok gets too much, and after all the times we’ve been, it still delivers.
