Hotels in Koh Phangan
On Koh Phangan the booking question is unusual: as well as where, you have to decide when relative to the moon. The island runs on a monthly cycle, and the same room on the same beach is a different proposition three days before a Full Moon Party than it is two weeks after one. Check the date first, then pick the coast.
Getting your bearings
Thong Sala on the west coast is the town and the pier. Sri Thanu is north of it on the same coast. Haad Rin is at the far south-eastern tip, half an hour from the pier. Ban Tai sits between Thong Sala and Haad Rin on the south coast. Everything north and east of those is remote, and some of it has no road at all.
Haad Rin
The Full Moon beach, and where to stay if that is why you came. Beachfront hotels, hostels and mid-range resorts, all within walking distance of the party. Around the date it is expensive and fully booked; the rest of the month it is a fairly ordinary beach town.
Thong Sala and Ban Tai
The practical middle. Thong Sala has the pier, the banks, the night market and the best transport links; Ban Tai is a strip of quiet beach just east of it. Both put you within reach of the whole island without committing you to any one scene.
Sri Thanu
The wellness village: quiet bungalows, yoga schools, vegan cafés and a community of long-stay visitors and remote workers. Sunsets over the water and almost no nightlife. Stay here if the point of the trip is to slow down.
The remote beaches
Haad Yuan, Bottle Beach, Thong Nai Pan and the coves near them — rustic resorts and small bungalow operations, reached by boat or by a track that a scooter should not be on. Beautiful, genuinely quiet, and a commitment: getting out for dinner is a boat ride, not a walk.
What to check before booking
- The full moon date, before anything else
- How the place is actually reached — boat only, road, or rough track
- Whether there is food on site, which matters enormously on the remote beaches
- Recent reviews for cleanliness and for whether the resort is currently open
Types of place to stay
Beachfront resorts
Along the south and west coasts, with direct access to the sand and the road behind them. The straightforward option and the easiest to get to.
Eco retreats and wellness resorts
Concentrated in Sri Thanu and around Haad Yuan: yoga, detox programmes and long-stay rates. Book directly with them for anything longer than a week.
Guesthouses and hostels
Cheap, sociable and everywhere, particularly around Haad Rin and Thong Sala. The island's default for solo travellers and the reason a lot of people stay longer than they planned.
A note on the low season
Some resorts and many restaurants close for parts of October and November, when the Gulf is at its wettest. If you are travelling then, confirm directly that the place you have booked is actually open, and expect fewer options once you arrive.
Getting around from where you stay
There is no public transport worth the name. Scooters are how most people move, taxis and shared pickups run the main routes at fixed prices, and boat taxis serve the beaches with no road. The island's hills are steep and several of the roads to the remote beaches are genuinely dangerous on two wheels — if you are staying somewhere out of the way, budget for transport rather than assuming you will ride.
How long to stay
Phangan rewards a longer stay more than most islands. A few days is enough for Haad Rin and a waterfall; a fortnight is where the wellness end, the remote beaches and the boat trips start to make sense, and where the weekly and monthly rates begin to matter.