Where to stay in Koh Phangan
Koh Phangan splits, sharply, between its lively south and its quiet north-east, and the two barely resemble each other. Choosing the right coast is the whole game.
Boutique Hotels in Koh Phangan
Introducing Koh Phangan
Koh Phangan has an image problem, or an image, at least, that tells only half the story. To most of the world it is the Full Moon Party: a monthly beach rave at Haad Rin that draws tens of thousands and gives the island a reputation for buckets and body paint. That party is real, and it is loud, and it occupies one beach at the southern tip. The rest of the island, which is to say almost all of it, is another place entirely.
Go north and Koh Phangan turns into one of the quietest and most beautiful islands in the Gulf: a mountainous, jungle-covered interior fringed by bays that are harder to reach and all the better for it, where the sand is white, the water is clear, and the loudest thing after dark is the sea. It is less developed than neighbouring Samui, with fewer roads and more effort required to get around, and that friction is precisely what has kept it lovely.
The trick, then, is knowing which Koh Phangan you are booking. Below, where to stay for the quiet version, and when to come.
Browse on Map — Koh Phangan
Explore 1 exceptional boutique hotel hand-picked in Koh Phangan. Click a pin to discover each property.
Hotels in Koh Phangan
Thailand, Koh Phangan
Anantara Rasananda Koh Phangan Villas
A 64-villa beachfront resort on Thong Nai Pan Noi, one of Thailand's finest beaches on Koh Phangan's quiet side, every villa with a private pool…
€155.50
Price for 1 night from
Koh Phangan Guide
The north-east beaches
The island's finest beaches are on the north-east coast, around Thong Nai Pan, a pair of crescent bays, Noi and Yai, backed by jungle-covered hills and reachable by a winding road or a boat transfer. This is the quiet, beautiful Koh Phangan, a world of white sand and clear water well removed from the party scene, and the natural home of the island's best places to stay. Anantara Rasananda sits on Thong Nai Pan Noi, a beachfront resort of pool villas on one of the loveliest beaches in the Gulf, reached by speedboat from Samui, with a spa set among granite boulders and the sort of arrival, wading ashore to your own host, that sets the tone for the stay.
Haad Rin and the south
- The southern tip is the island's busy end, and the home of the Full Moon Party, held monthly on Sunrise Beach at Haad Rin. If that is what you have come for, this is where to be; if it is not, it is the one part of the island worth timing your visit around, since the town fills, the boats run late, and the whole south end tilts towards the party for a few days each month. Elsewhere the south is more ordinary than the north, with a workaday feel around the main pier at Thong Sala.
What to do
Beyond the beaches, the island repays a little effort. Hire a longtail to the Ang Thong Marine Park, a scatter of uninhabited limestone islands an hour offshore. Walk up through the interior to the Than Sadet waterfalls, once a favourite of Thai kings, whose names are carved in the rocks. Snorkel the coral around the northern bays and the offshore island of Koh Ma. Or do very little, which is the island's real speciality, and the reason many visitors quietly extend their stay.
Getting there
Koh Phangan has no airport, which is part of its protection. Most visitors fly to Samui and cross by boat, around forty minutes by ferry from Samui's northern pier, or faster by private speedboat, which the better hotels arrange; others come by longer ferry from the mainland at Surat Thani, itself reachable by train, bus or air. Either way, the last leg is on the water, and transfers run to a schedule worth planning around.
When to go
The Gulf runs to a different calendar from Thailand's west coast. Koh Phangan is at its best from around January to September, with the driest, brightest weather in the middle of the year, exactly when the Andaman coast is wet. The wettest months are October to December, when heavy rain and rougher seas can disrupt the boat transfers. The Full Moon Party runs year-round, once a month, so check the lunar calendar whether you want to be there for it or well clear of it.
Frequently Asked Questions about Koh Phangan
For the quiet half of the island, which most people miss. Beyond the Full Moon Party at the southern tip, Koh Phangan is one of the more beautiful and least developed islands in the Gulf, with the superb white-sand beaches of the north-east, a jungle interior, waterfalls and marine-park snorkelling. It suits anyone after a genuinely relaxed island stay within reach of Samui.
