How to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang – transport and fares!

Transfer from Bangkok to Koh Chang (minibus + ferry)

In 2016, there was an opportunity to purchase a ready transfer from Bangkok to Koh Chang, which includes moving from the North Bus Station of Bangkok or the capital bus terminal Ekkamai both directly to Koh Chang Island in the Gulf of Thailand and to the ferry pier. Such transfers are provided by Triple T (TTT) transportation company, carrying out a total of about 15 flights a day. Given that the road to the pier in the province of Trat, where ferries depart for Koh Chang, takes about 5-6 hours (depending on the point of departure (specific bus station) in Bangkok), all transfers are carried out in the morning. As a rule, the latest flight from the capital is sent to the island of Ko Chang at 12-00, so that all passengers have time for the last ferry (at 19-00 or 7 p.m.).

To view the current schedule on your dates, you can use the service of transport in Asia (a reference to the english-language version of the service on a route (Bangkok -. Koh Chang) As you can see, the search results will be as joint tickets minibus + ferry so and tickets to the minibus only before the pier. The first option is worth 430 THB, and the second – 350 TBH. Given the fact that the ferry to the island of Koh Chang will cost you just 80 baht, you can immediately buy an integrated ticket to the island, because the minivan in either. case of bud t the same. There’s also on results page you may notice an expensive taxi to Koh Chang from Bangkok and flights to Trat and ticket to this island by a big bus (which is 10 hours in way!!!).

Also in those situations when you do not want to waste a lot of time on buses, you can use minibuses to Koh Chang from Khaosan Road in Bangkok. You can order a similar service in almost any street travel agency, as well as at the reception desk of most local hotels. By the way, to get to Khaosan Road in Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi airport now it is possible for only 120 THB. And the prices there because of high competition are fairly democratic. Such minibuses usually departures to Koh Chang all with the same Khaosan street, so you do not need to spend money on city transport (only if you live in a completely different area).

Minibus – inexpensive and fast transport from Bangkok to Koh Chang

The transfer from Bangkok to Koh Chang, also called the Bangkok-Koh Chang tour, costs a little more than a trip bus: prices start at $ 12 (400 baht) and up, up to $ 30. At the same time, the most budgetary options include only delivery to the ferry pier, and the most expensive offers usually involve a trip to the VIP minibuses, ferry transfer and delivery to a particular hotel in Koh Chang (or to a specific beach if you decide to look for a hotel on site or do not know, how to book a hotel yourself at the best price).

If the price does not suit you, you can spend half an hour to bypass several offices and it is possible that you will find a few cheaper. But in general, prices are approximately the same for similar services, i.e. Find a full transfer from Bangkok to the hotel on the island of Koh Chang less than for 500 baht does not work out how many not to look.  But what will save you money, so this is a transfer round trip (you can open an inverse date). In this case, the total savings can be 200-300 baht (depending on the firm and transfer conditions).

True, this option is suitable only for those who plan to return from Koh Chang to Bangkok and not continue to rest in Thailand at other resorts (for example, in Pattaya) or to leave Koh Chang and travel to Cambodia. Services reverse transfer (from the island to the capital) can also be used by ordering a service at the hotel or at a local travel agency. It is better to take care of this for a couple of days before the end of the holiday in Koh Chang and you need to be prepared for the fact that the service can be a little more expensive than when you book it in Bangkok. But all the same, transfers from TTT transport company from the bus stations of Bangkok to Koh Chang will be cheaper.

Fragment of the schedule of minibus to Koh Chang (to the island and to the ferry pier)

Travel time from Bangkok to the ferry pier (on the mainland, not on Koh Chang) is 5-6 hours (depending on the traffic situation on the road and on the outskirts of Bangkok). The truth when choosing a minibus from Khaosan Rd, you must be ready that minibus need spend for some time to collect tourists from several hotels, and sometimes this is an extra hour in the city. In addition to the transfer minibus, you can leave Bangkok and Koh Chang on the minibuses that depart from the Victory Monument area.

A lot of minibuses are sent from this area to various destinations, and the route on the bus body is often indicated only in Thai, so additional difficulties may arise with the search for the desired minibus. At the price of a minibus from the Victory Monument is not much different from Khaosan buses , i.e. The fare will be about 400 THB to the ferry pier, which again is more expensive than the transfer of the company TTT from one of the bus stations in Bangkok. Also you can book a transfer to Koh Chang from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Bus from Bangkok to Koh Chang – features and fares

The bus is the transport, allowing with the least material costs to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang. True, the savings compared to the transfers are quite small, and the path turns out to be more complicated. This is due to the fact that there are no direct flights that depart from the bus station of Bangkok and arrive directly to the island. As a result, the route becomes somewhat more complicated due to the fact that most buses arrive to the city of Trat, which is the center of the province in which Koh Chang is located, and then it is necessary to additionally use local modes of transport. However, everything is not as difficult as you already may have imagined and, after reading the section to the end, you will see for yourself.

Ticket office at Ekkamai Bus Terminal – buses to Trat and to Koh Chang

The shuttle buses from Bangkok to Koh Chang leave from two metropolitan bus stations: northern (it’s Northern Bus Terminal or Morchit (Mo Chit) Bus Terminal, it’s the bus station Chatuchak) and East (it’s Eastern Bus Terminal or Ekkamai ). Detailed information about these and other bus stations of the Thai capital (location, how to get there, schedule, etc.) you can find in some Individual reviews on this site, so here I will not dwell on this issue.

Buses along the Bangkok-Trat route run daily from 05:30 am to 11:00 pm or 23:30 pm (depending on the bus station chosen). The total number of flights from both bus stations is more than 25, and buses depart almost every hour and even more often (in the case of Ekamai). From the Northern Bus Terminal platforms, there are fewer such buses – only 7 flights a day, but getting to this bus station is easier when you flew to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok. Therefore, you do not need to purchase tickets in advance (unless you want to get on a particular flight, for example, the very first or the last one).

Depending on the season, there may be some changes in the schedule of scheduled buses, so always check it on site, for example, through official bus terminal websites or bus company websites that work in the direction of interest. The fare from Bangkok to Trat is $ 7-10 depending on the chosen bus company and the bus class in Thailand. Travel time is from 6 to 7 hours, and buses arrive at the bus station in Trat Bus Terminal, from where it is easy to get to one of the two ferry piers in the coastal village of Laem Ngop by local transport (passenger pickups Songthaew) for 50-70 baht (slightly less than $ 2). The trip to the pier on Songthaew takes about 30 minutes.

Bus from Bangkok to Koh Chang (Laem Ngop pier)

It should be borne in mind that some bus companies do not deliver passengers to the Trat bus station, but directly to one of the ferry piers. On such buses it is usually written “Bangkok Laemngop”. Sometimes for this, closer to the end of the path, you need to make a transfer to the minibus, which will take you to the pier, while the big bus will go further to Trat. In this case, you will not have to pay extra for the delivery to the pier, and saving time is also important on vacation, so if possible I recommend choosing exactly such variants of Bangkok-Ko Chang buses that allow you to get to the pier immediately.

Just keep in mind that most of the flights to the piers leave from Bangkok or in the morning – from 05:30 to 10:00, or already closer to 23:00. This is due to the fact that ferries to the island of Koh Chang only work from 06: 00am to 7pm. Those. In any case, I advise you to choose buses from Bangkok to Koh Chang, which will take you to Trat at least an hour (and preferably two) before the time of departure of the last ferry. And it makes no sense to go to the island from the Thai capital by bus in the afternoon, because after being late for the last ferry you will have to look for a hotel in Trat and wait for the morning to move to Koh Chang.

In my opinion, it is much more interesting to spend the whole day in Bangkok, and huddle out of it on one of the last buses to Trat, then on the first morning ferry to cross to the island. By the way, this option is ideal for travelers with a limited budget, because it allows you to save on living in a hotel (because of a night move). For very budget travelers there is also a reverse possibility: the transfer from Trat to Bangkok on a similar night bus. Not for all travelers this option is suitable for health reasons, but it has a right to life.

Whichever way you get by bus to one of the ferry piers, the ticket for the ferry will have to be purchased separately. In 2016, the cost of one-way ticket was 80 baht, and round-trip ticket – 120 baht. Considering the fact that you are unlikely to live on an island, it is wiser and cheaper to immediately get a round-trip ticket. To do this, specify in the ticket office that you need a return ticket with an open date (Open Ticket). Time of the ferry on the way is from 30 minutes to an hour, the frequency depending on the chosen pier is the same. I advise you to read detailed information about ferries to Koh Chang in a separate article (under the link).

Bangkok to Koh Chang flight (schedule and fares)

The flight from Bangkok to Koh Chang is the most expensive, but the fastest way to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang. The truth with the flight between the capital and the island is also not very simple: flights are not made to the island of Koh Chang. On this island there is no big airport that can take such flights, so you need to fly to the city of Trat. At the same time from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) now only Bangkok Airways planes fly to Trat, which perform three flights a day, usually in the first half of the day (for example, at 04-45, at 08:20 and at 11:20). Depending on the season, the departure time can vary slightly (+/- 25 minutes), the current schedule and the best prices you can always see when you use the search form in the sidebar of the site (the price for the same airplane can sometimes differ by 2 times) .

Flight from Bangkok to Trat – fastest way to Koh Chang

Travel time is exactly one hour, so taking advantage of the evening flight (sometimes there is a flight at 17-10) you can late for the last ferry to Koh Chang, because the plane arrives at 18-10, and some time you need to get out of the plane , Baggage collection, etc. In addition, you will still have to get to the ferry pier from the airport on the songthaew (100 baht). The minimum cost of air tickets is not at all budget for domestic flights across Thailand and is currently about $ 160 round trip (or $ 80-90 one way). This is explained by the same reasons that are described in the article “How to get from Bangkok to Koh Samui” – the airport in Trat is the property of the airline and its competitors are simply not allowed.

If you monitor the site of the specified airline, it is quite possible to catch a cheaper air ticket to Bangkok – Trat, for a special promotion, for example, for $ 60 one way. On some sites about Thailand, you can find information that the budget airline Air Asia flies from Bangkok to Trat. I specifically checked – there are currently no such flights, and there are no direct flights to Trat from the island of Phuket and Koh Samui. At one time such trends were true, but now the information about them has become outdated and does not correspond to reality.

How to get from Bangkok airport to Koh Chang

If the option with a flight from Bangkok to Trat does not fit into the budget of your holiday in Thailand (in my case it is so), but you want to quickly go on vacation to Koh Chang, without wasting time to get from the Suvarnabhumi airport to Bangkok, and after on moving to one of the bus stations of the capital, I hasten to please you: Thais are happy to offer you several not bad options. ou can again use the popular service of transfer in Asia and buy joint tickets from Suvarnabhumi to Koh Chang Island in the Gulf of Thailand. These tickets cost about 600 THB and include a road trip to the ferry pier and directly big sea ferry to the island. A minibus ride from Bangkok airport to Koh Chang will last from 6.5 to 7 hours, including the time by ferry to the island.

Bus and minibus schedule from Suvarnabhumi to Koh Chang (picture clickable)

You can also use a large bus to travel to the island, which leaves for Koh Chang from the bus station nearby Suvarnabhumi Airport  area in Bangkok. This bus leaves only once a day – at 8:20 am and is on the road for 5 hours and 40 minutes. This means that you will arrive at the ferry pier (on the mainland) at about 14:00. Next, you yourself have to buy a ticket for the ferry for 80 THB and get directly to Koh Chang Island. The bus costs less than $ 10, and the entire trip to the island (with the account of the ferry) will be about 12-13 USD.

Using the service of transport in Asia, you can always see the exact place of landing and disembarkation from the bus. For this you just need to click on the destination or arrival point in the search results of the transport on the route you need on the desired date. After that, you can see a Google map and take a screenshot to make it easier to find the right place at the airport or elsewhere. Also the detailed information obout it you will receive after online booking of tickets. Since there are only 10 seats in the minibuses from the airport to Koh Chang, it makes sense to purchase tickets in advance, especially when traveling on Fridays, weekends and holidays, when not only tourists but also Thais want to get to Koh Chang quickly and inexpensively.

Big bus from Bangkok airport to Koh Chang near ferry pier