Pattaya to Koh Chang: Minivan, Taxi & Ferry Options (2026)

Koh Chang lies off Trat province at the far end of Thailand’s eastern seaboard, about 300 km from Pattaya by road. Government and private coaches run from Bangkok to Trat all day, but none of them start in Pattaya, and the Pattaya–Trat corridor is served only by private minivan companies. In practice that is not a problem: the minivan operators sell door-to-door packages that bundle the road leg, the ferry and the transfer on the island, so you buy one ticket rather than three.

The shared services pick up at hotels in Naklua, central Pattaya and Jomtien, drive to Ao Thammachat pier in Trat, put you on the car ferry and hand you to an island songthaew or van that drops you at your resort on Koh Chang. Expect 6–7 hours door to door, with a lunch or toilet stop on the way. Prices vary by operator and season but sit in the 600–1,200 THB per person range; the cheaper end is a standard minivan with the regular car ferry, the dearer end bundles Boonsiri’s faster catamaran or a smaller island van. Most operators run one morning departure a day, so book at least the day before and reconfirm the pickup time.

Three names come up repeatedly on booking sites and in Pattaya travel agencies: Suvarnabhumi Burapha, a long-running Pattaya–Trat minivan operator; 35 Group Pattaya, usually the cheapest package; and Boonsiri, whose package combines a minivan with its own high-speed ferry and island van. All three do the same basic job; pick on departure time and price rather than brand. Travel agencies on Beach Road and Second Road sell the same seats, sometimes with a small mark-up, and will arrange the hotel pickup for you.

A private transfer cuts the road time by roughly an hour and leaves when you want. A standard car to Ao Thammachat pier runs about 3,000–3,800 THB, an SUV or MPV 4,000–4,500 THB and an eight-seat minivan 4,500–6,000 THB, per vehicle not per person, so for a family or a group of four it costs little more than the shared option. The driver drops you at the pier; you buy your own 90 THB ferry ticket and arrange onward transport on the island, where songthaews meet every ferry.

Car ferries cross from Ao Thammachat pier on the mainland to Ao Sapparot pier on Koh Chang between about 06:30 and 18:30 in both directions, with the crossing taking 25–30 minutes. A one-way adult ticket is 90 THB, paid in cash; a car costs extra on top of the passenger fare. Since early 2026 boats between the first and last sailings leave when they are full rather than strictly on the hour, so allow a little waiting time at quiet periods. If you are driving a rental car you can take it across, but check that your rental contract allows the island.

Leave Pattaya early. A 07:00–08:00 pickup puts you on a midday ferry and at your resort by mid-afternoon; later departures risk arriving after dark on an island with no street lighting outside the villages. The return works the same way in reverse, and the same operators sell Koh Chang–Pattaya seats; book that leg from your resort or online rather than hoping to find a van at the pier. In the May–October rainy season the sea is occasionally rough enough to slow the ferries, so do not plan a tight connection to a flight on the day you travel.

Koh Chang is a genuine upgrade on Pattaya’s beaches: jungle, long sandy bays on the west coast and a slower pace. But at 6–7 hours each way it is not a day trip and barely a weekend; give it three nights or more, or choose Koh Samet, which is two to three hours away and has better sand per hour of travel. Our Pattaya vs Koh Chang comparison weighs the two in detail.