Bangkok to Koh Chang: Every Way There (2026)

Koh Chang sits about 300 km southeast of Bangkok, almost at the Cambodian border, and the last stretch is a car-ferry crossing — so “how do I get there” has more than one sensible answer. Here are the four realistic ways to make the trip, compared honestly on time, price and hassle, plus exactly how the ferry works once you reach the coast.

The four ways to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang

1. Private transfer (fastest, door to door)

A private car or minivan collects you from your hotel or the airport, drives straight to the Ao Thammachat pier on the Trat coast, rolls onto the car ferry with you still inside, and continues to your hotel on the island. There is no waiting between connections and no ticket to buy at the pier — the ferry is included in the fixed price. Because the price is per vehicle rather than per person, it’s usually the obvious choice for a family or a group, and the only realistic choice if you land late and need to make the last crossing. Flying in? Our Bangkok-airport-to-Koh-Chang guide covers meeting your driver in arrivals and timing the last ferry.

You pay your driver on arrival — there’s no prepayment — and if your flight is delayed the driver tracks it and waits at no extra charge. See how booking works for the full picture.

2. Shared minibus (best value per seat)

If you’re travelling solo or as a couple, a shared minibus seat is the sweet spot: you still get hotel-to-hotel service and the ferry ticket is included, but you pay per person from 990 ฿ instead of for the whole vehicle. These run daily, year-round, picking you up from your Bangkok hotel and dropping you at your Koh Chang accommodation. The trade-off is time — the van makes several pickups around the city before it leaves, so plan on 6–7 hours rather than 5.

3. Public bus + ferry (cheapest)

Two terminals run east toward Trat and the Koh Chang piers:

• Ekkamai (Eastern Bus Terminal) — the main one. Buses leave roughly every half hour from about 06:00 to 23:00 for around 250 ฿. Operators like 99 Express and Tanakawee run services that take you all the way to the pier.
• Mo Chit (Northern Terminal) — fewer departures, about three a day, around 270 ฿.

The catch is that the bus drops you at the pier, not on the island — there’s still a ferry to catch, your own ticket to buy, and onward transport to sort out on the Koh Chang side. It’s the cheapest way by some margin, but also the slowest and the most hands-on. Fine if you’re budget-focused and unhurried; frustrating if you’re arriving tired with luggage.

4. Self-drive

The drive is straightforward — Motorway 7, then Highway 344 and Route 3 down to the Trat coast — and takes about the same time as a private transfer. You queue for the car ferry and pay for the vehicle on the day (around 120 ฿ for a car, 40 ฿ for a scooter), then drive off onto the island. This only makes sense if you specifically want your own wheels on Koh Chang. Worth knowing before you do: Thailand drives on the left, the island roads are steep and twisty in places, and most rental-scooter accidents involve visitors who underestimated those hills.

How the Koh Chang car ferry works

Koh Chang has no bridge — you reach it by car ferry, and that’s the only way on or off. There used to be two crossings from the Trat coast, but the Centre Point pier is now permanently closed, so as of 2026 there’s a single ferry route: from Ao Thammachat on the mainland across to Ao Sapparod on the island. Boats run every 30–45 minutes from about 06:30 until 19:00, the crossing takes 30–45 minutes depending on the sea, and a foot-passenger ticket is around 80 ฿. On a private transfer your vehicle drives straight on with you inside, and the ticket and timing are part of the fixed price — nothing to queue for or pay at the pier.

Will that ever change? There are long-standing government proposals to bridge Koh Chang to the mainland, but they stay vague — there’s no funding or investor behind them, and the earliest realistic talk points to around 2035. For now, and for years yet, the ferry is the way to the island.

What about flying?

There is an airport at Trat, about 17 km from the pier, with Bangkok Airways flights from Bangkok (typically 3,500 ฿ and up one way). Note that it’s on the mainland — there is no airport on Koh Chang itself — so even if you fly, you still land on the coast and finish on the same ferry as everyone else. It saves a few hours over the road, but the cost rarely justifies it versus a door-to-door drive. It can make sense if your time is tight and the fare is right.

So which should you pick?

For most visitors the decision comes down to group size and arrival time. Two people watching the budget? Take the shared minibus. A family, a group, an evening flight, or anyone who just wants to step off the plane and arrive without thinking about it? Take the private transfer. Truly counting every baht and not in a hurry? The Ekkamai bus will get you there. Whichever you choose, the ferry is part of the trip — and on our transfers, part of the price.