Hat Bang Rak is a small village on the north coast of Koh Samui and a quiet place with a scattering of restaurants, bars and a long stretch of beach. It is located close to the airport, is only a 20-minute drive from the busy town of Chaweng and is a popular place with the expat community.
There is a selection of top quality holiday homes scattered at the back of the beach in Bang Rak as well as a small assortment of nice hotels and guest houses. There is a road that runs adjacent to the beach that is perfect for hailing a taxi or songthaew (shared taxi) to take you out of the quiet village to anywhere you chose.
There are two piers in the village; Big Buddha Pier is home to the Haad Rin Queen ferry that takes travelers back and forth from Koh Phangan and the Pretcharat Marina, which is much larger and deals with many tour and diving boats, ferries passengers as far away as Koh Tao.
Getting There & Away
Koh Samui has a new airport that is owned by Bangkok Airways and welcomes flights from various locations around Thailand, including Bangkok, and other nearby countries every day. A taxi or songthaew can be found at the airport, which is only a 10-minute journey from Bang Rak. There are also numerous boats docking at Koh Samui in various locations around the island that have a selection of taxis and songthaew to take you to Bang Rak.
Things to Do
Hat Bang Rak Attractions
- Big Buddha Pier
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The main focal point of the village is the popular pier that runs boats to and from koh phangan as well as a handful of dive boats.
- Pretcharat Marina
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A large docking area that is popular with fishing trips, dive boats, island tours and scheduled daily ferries from koh phangan and koh tao.