When talking about magnificent islands in Thailand, most tourists would think about Phuket or Krabi islands, which are located farther in the south. Only few people realized that Koh Chang at Ranong is also an interesting tourist island that is equally beautiful and is even closer than other islands of the south.
It is easy and convenient to get to Koh Chang today, for there are both passenger boats and local peoples motorboat service anytime of the day. You can actually choose to get onto the island at all beaches, but during the monsoon season, the port at the bridge in the east is the only possible harbor.

Location: The west of Ranong.

To get there: From the port at Ranong estuary, there are passenger boats to Koh Chang and Koh Pyam. The distance is around 47 kilometers, and the journey takes around 2 hours.
- There are boats from Ranong to Koh Chang at 09:00 am, 12:00 am, 02:00 pm, and 03:00 pm.
- There are boats from Ranong to Koh Chang at 07:30 am, and 03:00 pm. The boat fare is 100 Baht/person.
- Contact Golden Bee boat: 0 7889 9613.

Ao yai is a favorite beach located in the west of Koh Chang. It is very beautiful and is the best sunset view spot of the island. There fore, at this beach you can find many guesthouses for tourists.

Located around 200 meters away from Ao Yai view spot, this small waterfall could very well indicate the richness of natural resources of Koh Chang.

Koh Chang is one of the islands under Koh Pyam National Park. It is approximately 4 kilometers away from Koh Pyam. Actually, Koh Chang is the biggest island of Ranong. This is why it gets the name Koh Chang or the elephant island.

Although there is no road around the island at Koh Chang, this small dirt road that cuts through the community from the east to the west of the island is still available.

Koh Chang community started for about 40-50 years ago. Most villagers here came from Surat Thani and Koh Pha Ngan, and they are mainly fishermen. Apart from fishery, people at Koh Chang also earn a living by growing cashew nuts.

On this island there are temples, a school and a public health center. Koh Chang also has a number of wonderful beaches, mostly in the west of the island. Here you can swim along the beaches, watch impressive sunset scenery, and even skin-dive to see beautiful coral reefs at the front of the beach.

The west of Koh Chang is many other wonderful beaches, Ao Chao Lay, Ao Lek, Ao Kho, for example. Moreover, in the south there is also a natural stony bridge that stretches into the sea, and a small island named Koh Talu that most tourists would not miss when visiting Koh Chang.

The most famous beach of Koh Chang is Ao Yai. The 4 kilometer-long beach is nice for swimming and there are most bungalows for tourists available here. The most outstanding feature of this beach is the wooden bridge that stretches out into the sea. In the evening, tourists could also watch a ravishing sunset from this beach.

Located close to Ao Yai is Ao Kai Tao. The one-kilometer-long beach is suitable for swimming, and it also has very private atmosphere. This bay, however, is accessible by boat only.
As the place is the area of the national park ranger, there are no private resorts or bungalows for tourists here. Nevertheless, tourists could come and spend the night here in the national parks tent but they need to bring along the foodstuff and drinking water.