Bangkok to Koh Chang

The cheapest way is the government 999 bus, run by the Transport Company, and it's the one bus that goes all the way to the ferry. It leaves Ekkamai's Eastern Bus Terminal, next to BTS Ekkamai, at 07:45, stops at Suvarnabhumi airport's bus station at 08:20, and reaches Ao Thammachat pier at about 13:30 to 13:45. The fare is ฿329. Buy the ferry ticket at the pier, ฿90, and a songthaew on the other side.

Miss it and you still have options. Buses to Trat town leave Ekkamai through the day from about 05:00, around ฿315 and five to six hours, with a night bus at 23:30. From Trat's bus station a shared songthaew to the pier costs about ฿60 a person, or about ฿300 to hire one for two. It's a slower day, but it never strands you.

If you'd rather not change at the pier, take a minivan that rides the ferry with you and drops you at your hotel. From Suvarnabhumi, Suvarnabhumi Burapha's minibus leaves Level 1, Door 8, at 07:00 and 11:00, and costs ฿700 to anywhere as far south as Kai Bae, ฿750 to Lonely Beach and Bailan, and ฿800 to Bang Bao. From June to September it runs once a day. This is the one to book if you land in the morning and want to be on the beach the same day.

From Khao San, tourist vans leave in the morning for about ฿900 including the ferry, around six and a half hours to your hotel. Boonsiri, the company that runs the catamarans to Koh Kood, sells a bus and boat from Khao San, Ekkamai, Suvarnabhumi and several other Bangkok pickups for about ฿1,000. Vans are quicker than the bus, but they are cramped.

Trat airport is the nearest to Koh Chang, about 20 km from the ferry pier, and Bangkok Airways is the only airline flying there, three times a day from Suvarnabhumi in about an hour. The flights leave in the morning, around midday and in the late afternoon, and the first lands at about 09:15, so you can be on the beach before lunch. Fares on 12Go started at about ฿2,800 one way for mid-October.

At the airport, a counter after baggage claim sells a shared minibus that goes over on the ferry and drops you at your hotel on the west coast for about ฿1,000. A private car with the ferry costs from about ฿1,900 on 12Go, the better deal for three or four people.

Every route lands at the same crossing. Ferry Koh Chang runs the car ferries from Ao Thammachat pier on the mainland to Ao Sapparot on the island, between 06:30 and 18:30 in both directions. The fare is ฿90 for an adult, ฿40 for a child between 110 and 150 cm, ฿90 for a motorbike and ฿200 for a car, paid in cash at the pier, one way only. The crossing takes 25 to 35 minutes. Since April 2026 the boats between the first and last sail when they're full rather than on the hour, so allow for a wait at quiet times. The older Centrepoint ferry to Dan Kao isn't running, so ignore any timetable that sends you there.

On Thai long weekends and at New Year the car queue can be enormous. On the 1 May 2026 holiday it stretched about 7 km, some drivers waited over six hours and the last boat left at midnight. If you're driving over a holiday, go midweek or take the first boat.

Shared songthaews wait at Ao Sapparot and leave when they have about ten people. Most hotels are on the west coast road, and the fares go up the further south you're going. Mu Ko Chang National Park's ฿200 entry fee is charged at the waterfalls, not at the pier.

A private car from Bangkok takes about five hours to the pier and drives onto the ferry. On 12Go a sedan for two started at about ฿3,200 from central Bangkok, and an SUV from Suvarnabhumi with the ferry runs to about ฿4,600 on the island agencies' price lists. Split between three or four people it costs less than four plane tickets, it leaves when you do, and it takes you to the door of your hotel.

Koh Kood and Koh Mak are further out than Koh Chang and have no car ferry. Boats run from Laem Sok pier, south of Trat, and the easy way from Bangkok is a through ticket. Boonsiri's bus and catamaran leaves Bangkok early and reaches Koh Kood before noon, about ฿1,000 on 12Go, and Seudamgo runs a van and catamaran for about the same.

If you're starting from Koh Chang, Boonsiri's catamaran leaves Bang Bao pier for Koh Mak and Koh Kood, with one sailing a day from June to September and more in high season. Our island-hopping guide has the schedule.

Going back, most minivans pick up from your hotel in the morning, catch a ferry about 09:45 and reach Bangkok in the late afternoon. Koh Chang Transport collects from 08:20 for about ฿700, and Suvarnabhumi Burapha leaves White Sand Beach at 10:00 and 13:00 for Suvarnabhumi at about ฿650. Hotel minibuses that go to Suvarnabhumi cost about ฿850. Boonsiri's bus and boat leaves between 08:00 and 14:00 for ฿800 to ฿1,000. The 999 bus leaves Ao Thammachat pier at 14:30 for Ekkamai.

For a flight home, the morning minivans reach Suvarnabhumi in the afternoon, which is fine for an evening departure and tight for anything earlier. Bangkok Airways flies back from Trat three times a day, morning, midday and late afternoon.