Koh Pha Ngan Travel Information

Koh Pha Ngan is an island paradise in the Gulf of Thailand (Southern Region). It is about 100 km from Surat Thani Province and about 20 km north of Koh Samui. The island has a tropical combination of powdery beaches, accessible coral reefs, and rugged, forested interior. Budget travelers come to enjoy a bohemian lifestyle, staying in rattan huts beside idyllic bays.

Thong Sala


This town is the entrance port to Koh Pha Ngan, and, like Nathon on Koh Samui, acts as a service town with a bank, post restante, supermarket, travel agent, and photoprocessing store. Next to the pier, and armada of songthaews (boats) wait to take visitors around the island.

Haad Rin

The greatest number of bungalows on the island is at Haad Rin, located at the southeastern tip, 10 km (6 miles) from Thong Sala. It has become a popular destination with backpackers, many of whom now consider Samui’s resorts to be too commercialized. Haad Rin has two wide beaches flanking the headland. Its accommodations are often fully booked for a week either side of the monthly full moon beach party, which starts after dark and goes on beyond sunrise.

Chaloklam


The village of Ban Chaloklam, on the largest bay on the north coast, has long been a famous R&R spot for fishermen from all over the Gulf of Thailand, with sometimes as many as a hundred trawlers littering the broad and sheltered bay. Nowadays it is also a low-key tourist destination, as it can easily be reached from Thong Sala, 10 km away, by songthaew or motorbike taxi along the island’s best road. Facilities include travel agencies, motorbike rental, clinics, international phone and internet services and scuba outfits.


Haad Khom
The best bit of beach is at Haad Khom, a tiny cove dramatically tucked in under the head-land to the east, with a secluded strip of white sand and good coral for snorkeling. For accommodation, try Fanta at the eastern end of Ban Chaloklam, on the wide spread of beach backed by casuarinas with clean, en-suite bungalows and good food. Or walk out to friendly Coral Bay, which has plenty of space and great views on the grassy promontory dividing Haad Khom form the rest of Ao Chaloklam. Snorkeling equipment is available to make the most of Haad Khom’s reef.


Haad Khuat or Bottle Beach
If the sea is not too rough, longtail boats run three times a day for most of the year from Ban Chaloklam to secluded HAAD KHUAT (Bottle Beach), the best of the beaches on the north coast, sitting between steep hills in a perfect cup of a bay; you could also walk there along a testing trail from Haad Khom in around ninety minutes. The four friendly resorts here are all owned by the same extended family, so there’s little to choose between them. The original is Bottle Beach, which has smart beachfront bungalows, tightly packed huts behind and highly recommended food.

Haad Yao

Haad Yao Beach Koh Pha Ngan is one of Thailand's most beautiful islands. Its crystal waters teem with colorful fish, the soft golden sand stretches for miles and the gently swaying palm trees add a tropical touch.

Thong Nai Pan

Thong Nai Pan Yai


Thong Nai Pan Noi
Although the majority of the beaches are on the east side of the island, most are accessible only from a rough track running along the coast. The twin bays of Thong Nai Pan Noi and Thong Nai Pan Yai in the northeast offer arguably the most attractive scenery. They can be reached by pickup truck from Thong Sala or, between January and September, by long-tail boats, which sail from Maenam beach on Koh Samui.

Than Sadet, 3 km (2 miles) to the south, is the island’s biggest stream and waterfall. It owes its name, “royal stream,” to the ten visits King Chulalongkorn made between 1888 and 1909. Since then most Thai monarchs have left large stone inscriptions on rocks alongside the stream – finding the signatures requires scrambling among the rocks. The stream has two falls, Sampan and Daeng. Both are suitable for swimming, but heavy rainfall from September to December makes the stream bed too dangerous to walk along.

Haad Chaophao & Ao Si Thanu

Haad Chaophao is a round beach, two headlands south of Haad Yao; then around a larger headland at the south end of Ao Chaophao is Ao Si Thanu. In these areas you begin to see the occasional mangroves along the coast; inland there's a pretty lagoon at the southern end of Haad Chaophao.

There are four places to stay along the beach at Haad Chaophao. The popular Jungle Huts, Sea Flower, Sri Thanu and Great Bay all have bungalows with private bath for 100 to 250 Baht. The Sea Flower (their card reads 'no telephone numbers, no air condition') is especially well run. At the southern end of the bay, past curving Laem Niat, Bovy Resort has standard huts with attached bath for only 70 Baht - when it's open. Ask at the Bovy Supermarket in Thong Sala to make sure.

On the pine-studded cape of Laem Son, at the northern end of Ao Si Thanu proper, lies Laem Son Bungalows, with simple, quiet, shaded huts for 50 to 100 Baht. Next door, Laem Son Bay Bungalows has nicer huts with attached bath for 100 to 200 Baht, depending on the season. South over a creek comes Seaview Rainbow with very basic 60 to 80 Baht huts. Down towards the southern end of the bay, Lada offers 200 to 250 Baht bungalows with fan and bath.

Loy Fah and Chai, both sitting high on a point at the southern end of the bay on the cape of Laem Sit Thanu, offer good views and sturdy huts. Nicely landscaped Loy Fah, the better run of the two, offers good-sized wooden cottages for 150 Baht and cement ones for 200 Baht, all with fan, mosquito net, toilet and shower. Loy Fah also has two large, 400 Baht cottages at the bottom of the cliff on a private cove. In the low season you can knock 40% off these rates. Down at the southern base of the cliff is the similarly priced Nantakarn, but it's not as good value.

Ao Hin Kong/Ao Wok Tum

Hin Kong Bay
This long bay - sometimes divided in two by a stream which feeds into the sea - is just a few kilometers north of Thong Sala but so far has hardly any development. At the center of Hin Kong, not far from the village of Ban Hin Kong, is the basic Lipstick Cabana with rooms for 60 to 180 Baht. On the southern end of the village is the similarly priced Hin Kong (closed in the low season).


Wok Tum Bay
Down at the southern end of Ao Wok Tum on the cape between this bay and Ao Nai Wok is Kiat, in the 60 to 80 Baht range. A little further down around the cape that separates Ao Wok Tum from Ao Nai Wok are OK, Darin, Sea Scene, Porn Sawan, Cookies and Beach 99, most with simple have bungalows with private bath in the 120 to 150 Baht range. Songthaews to this area cost 30 Baht per person but you won't see them outside ferry departure/arrival times. See the earlier Thong Sala section for accommodation just north of Thong Sala at Ao Nai Wok.

Getting to Koh Pha Ngan
Boat services to Koh Pha Ngan are even more changeable than those to Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Politicking for landing concessions, variable passenger demand and seasonal fluctuation combine to make the picture changeable and unreliable, but the services listed below seem the most dependable.

The slowest ferry from the Gulf coast leaves Ban Don pier in Surat Thani at 11pm every night for the ferry pier at Thong Sala; tickets are available from the pier on the day of departure. One Songserm express boat a day runs from Tha Thong to Thong Sala. Three express boats a day do the 45-minute trip from Na Thon on Koh Samui, while two vehicle ferries cover the same route for the same price. Two vehicle ferries a day sail from Don Sak, 68 km east of Surat Thani, to Thong Sala, with connecting buses from Surat Thani to Don Sak, run by Samui Tour. Small boats also shuttle between Samui and the eastern side of Pha Ngan, and speed boats from Bophut, Maenam and Na Thon on Samui call in at Thong Sala after thirty minutes on their way to Koh Tao.

Three kinds of vessel run between Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, though from roughly June to November they are occasionally cancelled due to bad weather. At least two speed boats a day cover the distance in 50min, two express boats a day take 1hr 30min, and one slow boat spends 3hr over it. From Bangkok, bus and train packages similar to those for getting to Koh Samui are available.