A Week in Paradise: Koh Mak, Thailand
Koh Mak is a peaceful island nestled in the calm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. It is away from the usual tourist hustle, definitely not a party island. During my week-long stay, I uncovered the island’s natural wonders and genuine charm. Let me share my notes with you.
Personal Thoughts and Observations
- The island is not overrun with hotels/resorts. This is nice because nature is preserved and there is a lot to explore in the wild. However, it makes it a bit difficult to find accommodation, it might be a good idea to reserve the accommodation in advance. As of March 2024, most of the good options were already sold out and the owner of the resort is saying that the island is already at full capacity, even better than the numbers before COVID-19.
- At first look when I arrived, I realized that Koh Mak was way less developed compared to other islands in Thailand. The most similar would be Koh Tao.
- Koh Mak attracts more middle or expensive holiday people compared to Koh Tao. You can understand these if you look for the accommodation type in Koh Mak, it is not easy to find hostels/guest houses for backpacking people.
- I realized that business owners try to make the island eco-friendly and promote low-carbon tourism. Some examples are bicycles and electric golf carts.
- There are a lot of German business owners and tourists on the island. Just in case you want to hang with Germans, this is the island for you. 😃
How to get to the island
I was travelling with a group of 4 people, we took a van 🚗 from Bangkok to Trat and a speed boat 🛥 to Koh Mak. The journey took around 5 hours and cost 1700 Baht.
Places to stay
I stayed in two places, first in the jungle and second on the beach. If you like to stay in the jungle with the ocean view I strongly recommend you to stay in Good Time Sports Village Koh Mak, the owner is super sweet. They also have gym 🏋️♀️.
After the jungle experience, I moved to Koh Mak Resort to be closer to the beach. My stay was quite good but I would have liked to stay next door, Seavana Beach Resort, if they had availability. So you can check these three.
Moving around the island 🛵
The island is not big but also not small enough to walk around everywhere. I rented a motorcycle for the first couple of days. It can be handy if you wanna go to different piers and bars. If you do not want to drive motorcycle, you can either rent a bike 🚲 or golf cart.
Things to do
- Koh Mak Art House is cool place to hangout after dinner. Nice music and vibe. It is one of the few places that open till very late. The stuff is nice and very friendly.
- Ball cafe is good for breakfast. It is mostly western food. I loved the design of the place. It is on the main road.
- M.A Bistro is good for both breakfast and dinner. Interior design is not my favourite but I loved their dinner options. Also their musli is so yummy.
- Blue Pearl Bar is a nice place to hang out and watch the sunset. You can also do some snorkelling there at the end of the pier. I would recommend going there a couple of hours before sunset, doing snorkelling and chilling at the bar while the sun is setting.
- I took a snorkelling day tour with Koh Mak Divers. We started around 10 am and came back around 4 pm. There were 3 snorkelling stops in small islands close to each other. Highly recommended!
- I think almost all the beaches are amazing on the island but my favorite was Ao Soun Yai Beach to swim.
- You may see some sculptures around the island. I heard most of the pieces are the legacy of artists who already passed away but another artist continues to do similar art, I am not sure about the names. You can see leftover sculptures in the open-air museum it is called The Kingdom of Somchai’s Affection.
Random Notes
- The island is known for its sand flies, which differ from mosquitoes and can leave you feeling quite itchy after their bites. To protect yourself, it’s recommended to apply coconut oil and take a shower after swimming in the sea. Locals say that sand flies are attracted to body sweat and salty water.
