All that has changed now and tourists are drawn by its awesome beaches, verdant tropical interior and access to watersports and wining and dining venues galore. Koh Chang is a fairly easy trip from Bangkok and is a combined bus-ferry journey.
In days gone by, there were no direct buses to Laem Ngop, the departure port for ferries to the island, and visitors were required to take a bus to Trat and then switch to a shared songthaew pickup truck for the final stretch. Nowadays, there are direct buses from Bangkok’s Morchit and Ekkamai bus stations as well as Suvarnabhumi Airport’s Transport Terminal.
Minibuses are another option and have the advantage over buses in that they depart more frequently and waits are rarely that long especially when travelling from Morchit. The road trip takes between four and five hours and it is another 30-45 minutes across to the piers at Dan Kao on the north coast of Koh Chang.
Combined bus and ferry services to Koh Chang
News in Asia
The Thai island of Koh Chang lies at the top end of the Gulf of Thailand and is only around 50kms from the coast of Cambodia as the crow flies. Until the dawn of the new millennium, Koh Chang was rarely on the itineraries of international travellers.