Koh Phangan, Thailand – How to Arrive ? Where to Stay ? What to Visit ? Page 1

Maps – Orientation

Map 1 : Transport to the islands (Samui, Phangan, Tao)

Map 2 : Koh Phangan – Overview

Map 3 : Beaches and Attractions

Map 4 : Koh Phangan – Interactive Map

How is Koh Phangan ?

A very nice island. Great beaches, great landscape and great nightlife. Also the food is OK.

Unlike Koh-Samui, here everything is smaller: There are less people and you feel that you are on an island. The tourists are younger compared to Koh Samui. There are some expatriates who has chosen to live here.

Koh Phangan is about 12 Km long. It is the middle size island between Koh Samui and Koh Tao.

Look at Map 2 above. There is not a circular road around Koh Phangan (there is one in Koh Samui). The reason for that, is that there is a mountain on the top right corner of the island and probably the authorities didn’t want to build a tunnel. The main road is running vertically on the left of the island (marked in grey on the map).

The left side of the island is the more developed one (significantly more developed). There are some small roads that go horizontally towards beaches on the right side (you can see the little roads on the Interactive map above, Map number 4).

The main town of the island is Thongsala on the left side.
The main pier is in Thongsala town (marked in red on Map 2).

Haad Rin is a famous beach on the south of the island. The full moon parties are taking place here. See about the full moon parties in Haad-Rin, on page 3.

There is also a small Pier in Haad Rin.
There is no airport in Koh Phangan (there is one in Koh Samui)

How to Arrive to Koh Phangan ?

There is a dedicated page about how to arrive to this group of islands, with maps and location of the stations and piers + Info about the transit cities Surat-Thani and Chumphon + the boats between the islands.

Location of the Piers in Koh Phangan

The main pier of Koh Phangan is in the main town of Thongsala. You will almost certainly arrive to this pier.
See location of Thongsala pier on Google Maps or on the Maps above. Taxis are waiting for passengers on this pier.

The second pier is in Haad Rin. This pier mainly serve for day tours. See location of Haad Rin pier on Google Maps or on the Maps above.

You can book Flights, Trains, Buses and Taxis inside Thailand with the site 12GoAsia Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.

Where to Stay in Koh Phangan ? – Hotels

See this on Page 2 : Where to Stay in Koh Phangan ?

How to Move in Koh-Phangan ?

Note : There are no buses in Koh Phangan and the Taxi service is not great. Rent a motorbike if you can.

Option 1 : By Foot

By foot, you can only visit your neighborhood.

Option 2 : By Motorbike (or rented car)

By far, the best option to move in Koh Phangan. The rent price for a motorbike per day is around 250 Baht for a 125 cc (price at the time of writing). Motorbikes with an engine of 160 cc are also popular and they are a little bit more expensive.

The main roads in Koh Phangan are in good condition. The little roads that lead to hills and beaches on the upper right side of the island, are more problematic.

Note : Unfortunately, there are a lot of irresponsible tourists who ride on their motorbike while they are drunk. Be careful. It is very advisable to put an helmet and to drive slowly when the road is wet.

Option 3 : By Taxi

The Taxi are pick up cars or minivans. You need to stop them on the road or ask your hotel that they will call one. They are also waiting on popular stops like the pier in Thongsala and Haad Rin.

The taxi can take you on a private ride or a shared ride. You need to negotiate the price.

There are also some Motorbike-Taxi on the island, but they work without a smartphone application, you need to catch them somewhere.

Option 4 : By Grab Taxi

Doesn’t seem to work in Koh Phangan (at the time that I am writing).

Option 5 : By Organized Tour

They will transport you to the destination.

How is the Nightlife in Koh-Phangan ?

The nightlife is great. The most intense nightlife is in Haad-Rin, on the bottom of the island. But not only there.

Haad Rin

It is a feast here every night. The beach is full of bars and the town of Haad Rin is full of bars. See location on Google Maps.

On the following photo, one popular bar in Haad-Rin :”One Love Bar”.  A lot of Reggae music is played here and there is sometimes a live band. See location on Google Maps.

See about the full moon parties in Haad-Rin, on page 3.

The Night Market – Café Vintage

Located on the main road between Thongsala and Haad-Rin. See location on Google Maps.
It is a very nice night market for eating. There are several stands with international food. There is a band playing. It is not a market selling goods.

If you don’t know what to eat, take a “Mango sticky rice”. It is always good and healthy.

Thongsala Town

The town is very animated at night. See location on Google Maps.

There are 2 food court here that are open in the evening.

Except the food courts, there are quite a lot of restaurants and bars which are active

Hin Kong Beach

A very nice beach with good restaurants-bars right on the beach. See location on Google Maps. Quite active in the evening. I would rate this place very high in its attractiveness. A very good place to have a cocktail.

Srithanu Beach

The road in front of Srithanu Beach is moderately animated at night. There are some good restaurants in the area. See location on Google Maps.

Everywhere on the island

There are of course, bars and restaurants in places where tourists stay. Sometimes it is in an isolated resort.

How is the Climate in Koh-Phangan ?

Note : The climate in Koh-Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao is quite similar.

Temperatures

It is hot in this zone, all year round. At day time around 30 degrees Celsius. At night around 25 degrees celsius. You better have air-conditioning in your room.

Rain

Like in all Thailand, there is also in this zone a rainy season. The rainy season here is from May to January.

  • The month of November is very rainy, around 400 mm rain.
  • October and  December around 200 mm rain.
  • The rest of the rainy season is moderate : May to October around 120 mm rain.
  • In the dry season, it can also rain. February, March, April : Around 60 mm rain.

What to Eat in Koh-Phangan ?

There are plenty of restaurants and food courts.
Let’s start with the cakes. There are 4 bakeries owned by French. As everyone knows, French cakes and Croissants are superior, so don’t look anywhere else.

Authentic French Bakeries

Note : The following bakeries are very small. It will often be the French owner serving you.

French Bakery Phangan – Located right in Thongsala town.

You can arrive here by foot, if you live in Thongsala. They mainly have Pain au Chocolat and Croissant in the morning. So, not a lot of choice but these two pastries are made with top quality ingredients and they are very good (That’s exactly what I need in the morning).

They have also this strange stuff :

Julien’s – Located 2 Km from Thongsala on a road towards inside the island. They have pastries, cakes and bread. You can have a breakfast here.

A lot of bread

Croissant & Ko – Located on the main road between Thongsala and Haad-Rin. About 4 Km from Thongsala.

They have cakes

And bread

Albert’s macaron – They are located at the upper side of the island in a beautiful area.

It is relatively far from Thongsala but as a tourist, you will arrive to this corner of the island, at least once. They have here Macarons and cakes but no bread.

It is a Patisserie and not a Boulangerie.

Haad Rin

There is a lot of food here. See location on Google Maps. It is mainly a backpacker area and the general style is Schnitzel and Pizza. Yes, I generalize. There may be good restaurants in this lively zone, but from my personal experience the food was less good than in the upper-left side of the island.

The Night Market – Café Vintage

Active in the evening. A pleasant place to eat + live band. There are many stands, some of them look good. See location on Google Maps.

Thongsala Town

There are several restaurants in the town and 2 food courts.

Phangan Food Court

The first food court is on the road towards Haad Rin. See location on Google Maps. This food court is mainly active at day time and deserted in the evening. There is a lot of choice of international food here.

The quality of the food is that of a food court.

Pantip Market – Food Court

The second food courrt is in the heart of the town.

See location on Google Maps. This food court is very live at night.

From my personal experience, the quality of the food is not optimal but the atmosphere is great.

Vegetarian

There is a lot of food for vegetarians (like me) in Koh Phangan.
Take note of : Pure Vegan Heaven.

They are located on the upper left side of the island on the main road. About 3 Km from Thongsala.
The courtyard of the restaurant is very pleasant.

Good quality food at affordable price.

Taboon Restaurant – Middle eastern food

Good Israeli food. Here you can eat Hummus, Falafel, Salad and more. They are located on the upper left side of the island (see on Google Maps).

They have a lot of Humus here

Italian Restaurants

Italian food is almost always the most popular food. There are several Italian restaurants on the island with an authentic Italian owner. There is even a good Italian restaurant in the remote right side of the island in Thong Nai Pan Yai. The restaurant is called That’s Amore – Pizzeria Trattoria. In order to find Italian restaurants near you, type “Italian restaurant” on Google Maps.

Restaurants on the upper left corner of the island

It seems that the best restaurants of the island are located in this part of the island.
There are good restaurants in Hin Kong Beach.

It is the beach, with the sand strip in water

On the beach there are fancy restaurants with excellent view.  Among them is Alcove.

On the road, there is the Mexican restaurant El Barrio. They are good and they have a branch also on the island of Koh Chang.
It is nice to sit in the restaurants of the small beaches, in the upper left side of the island :

Secret Beach: Lost ‘N Found Beach Bar on Secret beach.

I am a fan of Pasta, so I ate pasta here. It was good.

SaladHut on Salad Beach

I ate a decent Pasta here

Continue to Page 2 – Where to  Stay in Koh Phangan

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