Koh Mak Travel Guide

Koh Mak has no airport and no car ferry, so you arrive by boat, and where you start decides which one. From the mainland, the boats leave two piers on the Trat coast. Laem Ngop, the small port town southwest of Trat, has the speedboats from the Kromluang pier, which is a different pier from the Koh Chang car ferry at Ao Thammachat. Laem Sok, farther down the coast, is Boonsiri's catamaran pier for Koh Mak and Koh Kood.

From Bangkok, the easy way is a through ticket. Boonsiri's bus and catamaran leaves Khao San Road at 05:00, 07:00 and 09:00 and lands at Ao Nid pier at 11:15, 15:15 and 16:15 for ฿1,150, with pickups at Suvarnabhumi at 05:30 and 09:00 for the same fare. The 05:00 is the one I'd take, because it gives you the whole afternoon on the island. The cheaper way is the bus from Ekkamai to Trat, from 05:00 for about ฿315, then a songthaew to the pier, but you'll spend most of the day connecting.

To fly, Bangkok Airways goes from Suvarnabhumi to Trat, and its 08:10 and 12:45 flights meet Boonsiri's vans to the pier, which reach Koh Mak at 11:15 and 16:15 for ฿1,000 from the airport. From Pattaya, Boonsiri's 08:30 bus reaches Koh Mak at 16:15 for ฿1,150.

Koh Mak sits in the middle of the Trat islands, so it's an easy stop between the other two. From Koh Chang, Boonsiri's catamaran leaves Bang Bao pier, at the island's southern tip, at 09:00 and 13:00 and reaches Ao Nid an hour later for ฿550, and it can collect you from your Koh Chang hotel. In high season a speedboat also leaves Kai Bae beach at 09:00 and drops you at the Makathanee pier on Ao Kao about an hour later. Going back, Boonsiri leaves Koh Mak at 11:30 and 15:15 and lands at Bang Bao an hour later.

From Koh Kood, Boonsiri leaves Ao Salad pier at 11:00 and 14:45 and reaches Koh Mak 30 minutes later for ฿400, and the boats the other way leave Ao Nid at 10:00 and 14:00. That timetable runs from 1 October to 31 May. From June to September Boonsiri cuts to one sailing a day between the islands, and some agencies say the Koh Chang boats stop altogether, so confirm it with Boonsiri before you plan around it.

Koh Mak is a beach-and-bicycle island, and most days are a swim, a ride and a long lunch. Here's what I'd fit around that.

There's no car ferry and no public bus, so there are few cars on the roads and you'll get around on two wheels or four small ones. Scooters cost about ฿250–350 a day, bicycles about ฿100–200 and often less at your resort, and golf carts about ฿800–1,500 a day. The carts sell out first in high season, so book one with your room if you want one. If you ride a scooter, you need a motorcycle license for your insurance to cover you.

Songthaew taxis meet the boats and run on request. They charge about ฿50 a person a drop with a ฿100 minimum, and more after 22:00, and most resorts will collect you from the pier if you tell them which boat you're on.

Koh Mak follows the Koh Chang calendar, which is closer to the Andaman coast's than to Samui's. November to April is the season. The Trat weather station records 85 mm of rain on seven days in November, 28 mm on two in December and 51 mm in January, with highs around 32°C, calm seas and every boat running. December and January are the busiest, and the Christmas and New Year weeks book out first. March and April are hotter, with the rain starting to build.

From May the monsoon arrives, and June to September is one of the wettest stretches in Thailand, with 777 mm in June and 1,024 mm on 25 days in July at Trat. The sea gets rough on the open crossings, the speedboats run fewer trips, the island boats cut back to one a day, and some resorts close. October is the shoulder, at 338 mm, with the boats coming back. If you can only come in the rains, take Boonsiri's bigger catamaran rather than a small speedboat.

Getting there is the biggest cost after your room, about ฿550 each way from the Trat coast or Koh Chang and ฿1,150 on a through ticket from Bangkok. On the island, budget about ฿250–350 a day for a scooter, ฿350 for the Koh Kham trip and about ฿1,200 for a half-day snorkel to Koh Rang. Rooms run from hostel beds on Ao Kao to beachfront villas, and the hotel search on this page shows prices for your dates.

Bring enough cash for the whole stay. The one ATM isn't reliable, there's no 7-Eleven, and the smaller places take cash only.

Koh Chang is the big, developed one, with the most hotels, restaurants and nightlife, a car ferry and hills. Koh Kood is larger and hillier than Koh Mak, with waterfalls and the prettiest bays. Koh Mak is the small, flat, easy one, best if you want to cycle, swim and do very little. Boonsiri's boats link all three, so a week can split Koh Chang with three nights here, or come down the chain from Koh Chang to Koh Mak to Koh Kood.

Yes, if you want a quiet beach island that's simple to get around. There are no big sights, the nightlife is a few beach bars, and the reefs worth the name are a boat ride away at Koh Rang. But the water is calm and clear in season, the island is flat enough to explore on a bicycle, and an afternoon on Koh Kham is as pretty as anything in the Gulf. I'd give it three nights, two if you're passing between Koh Chang and Koh Kood, and I'd skip it from June to September.