On Koh Phangan

Our beautiful island is located in the Gulf of Thailand in the South of Thailand, around 70 km from the mainland and 12 km from Koh Samui. With 167 km2, Koh Phangan is the second biggest island of the Samui-Archipelago which consists of approximately 40 islands.

Koh Phangan features beautiful beaches with different degrees of touristic development, mountains covered with lush tropical vegetation (the highest hill being Khao Ra at 630 m) of which 65 km2 is a protected area within the Than Sadet National Park, lots and lots of coconut palm trees, secret pristine beaches only accessible by boat and many other hidden treasures… Besides these natural gifts, over the last decade a broad selection of activities have become possible on this island.

This makes Koh Phangan so very special!

Yoga and Detox

Koh Phangan has a long tradition as a spiritual place for the Thai people: it is said that monks were the first people to settle down on this island 600 years ago and established the origins of the temple Wat Phu Kao Noi, the oldest of the 20 temples found on Koh Phangan.

Being a place of tranquillity, beauty and spirituality 4 kings of Thailand came to visit the island, with King Rama V (1868 – 1910) being the most frequent royal visitor coming here 10 times. You can find the royal seal engraved on a granite rock at Than Sadet waterfall, and in many shops or restaurants a black and white picture shows the king and his entourage at this very waterfall.

Nowadays, there are various places offering retreats, meditation and detox-programmes, healing services (Reiki) and of course Yoga classes – making Koh Phangan a spiritual refuge for people seeking some peace and quietness in their lives.
Here is a small selection:

• The Yoga Retreat offering Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga classes, detox packages, introduction to the origins of Yoga, meditation and pranayama classes plus sauna.
• Orion Healing Centre with Reiki-courses, daily Yoga, detox programmes, steam room and raw food restaurant.
• Temple Wat Kow Tham for Vipassana meditation retreats (10-20th every month).

And of course you can indulge yourself in many many places on the beach or in Spas with different styles of massages, as well as a variety of saunas or steam rooms. AND especially on the West Coast there are a lot of restaurants and cafes offering delicious vegan, vegetarian and/or raw food…

Water Activities

Besides diving or snorkelling with our dive school, there are many ways to have fun in and on the water around Koh Phangan:

• You can rent kayaks (100 – 150 THB per hour) on many of the beaches around the island,
• Go snorkelling with friends from the beach (for example at Mae Haad Reef and Koh Ma),
• And when the wind is blowing it’s time for the kitesurfers to have fun! Breeze Kiteboarding also offer windsurfing and Stand Up Paddle.
• Don’t forget that Chaloklum Village is also the home of Mr Jamie’s excellent “Wake Up” wakeboarding school,
• And visits to the new water parks like SlipNFly or Koh Phangan Water World will always provide a healthy dose of action and fun!

Trekking and Mountain biking

Koh Phangan is ideal to explore the tropical flora and fauna and trekking routes are often marked; have a look at the island guide maps by PhanganInfo. Anyway, it is highly recommended for your own safety to hire a guide, for example at the office of the Than Sadet National Park located close to Phaeng waterfall. If you do decide to go by yourself, make sure that you have enough water with you, inform your resort or friends where you are going and don’t forget that at 06.00 pm the sun is going down – quickly!

Fancy discovering nature with additional sensations? It’s easy to rent decent bikes, and even get tours organized with FunBike in Thong Sala.

Off Koh Phangan – Khao Sok Adventure

The Khao Sok National Park is situated in the South of Thailand between Surat Thani and Phuket. First established in 1980 by the Royal Thai Forestry Department, the Park now encloses an area of 740km2 of untouched nature with a rainforest which is one of the oldest in the world. The magic landscape features steep limestone rocks, deep valleys and enchanted lakes.
The highest elevation is “Khao Mok” at 961 metres, and with the construction of the Rajjaprabha dam in 1982, the waters of the Paseang River created the Cheow Lan Lake with an area of approximately 165km2. The backflow of the water has flooded more valleys and thus formed a magnificent landscape with steep, jungle-covered or bare and rugged limestone cliffs.
Visiting the National Park is only possible with a tour guide and the number of visitors is limited to approximately 400 persons per night. The excursions you can do there are either on the water by boat or kayak, or trekking through the rainforest, giving you the unique opportunity to observe the rich wildlife of Khao Sok National Park: macaques, gibbons, hornbills, rare butterflies and many other residents….
This is also one of the last places in Thailand where wild Asian elephants and endangered bears have their natural habitat! More information about organized 3 or 4 days / 2 or 3 nights tours are available here.

Get to know Thailand

If you want to know more about the Thai language and the rich culture of Thailand, there are several ways to deepen your knowledge.

• KPT language school would be one place of your choice if you feel like getting into the difficult but rewarding task of learning Thai language either by group or individual lessons.
• C&M culture centre / vocational school offers Thai cooking and language classes and Thai massage courses.
• The delicious Thai food is a very important part of people’s life in Thailand. So, to prepare and enjoy yummy dishes is a very pleasurable a way of understanding more about Thailand.
• Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) is loved by Thai people and on Koh Phangan there are 4 stadiums in Thong Sala, 3 in Baan Tai and 2 around the Haad Rin area. To have an evening at the stadium, usually with 6 fights scheduled, it costs around 650 THB entrance per person. Muay Thai becomes a bit more adventurous when you want to do a little training yourself – several gyms offer individual training sessions in English. Diamond Muay Thai, Muay Thai Chinnarach or Jungle Gym could be your place if you are up for steeling your muscles, getting more flexible and a lot of sweat.

Diverse

There’s a very recommendable Koh Phangan information channel available at PHANGANIST.com

If you are an animal lover there is the possibility to spend some of your time on Koh Phangan supporting PACS – Phangan Animal Care for Strays – as a volunteer.

And for the ‘party animal’ in you, here you can find the dates of the Full Moon Party. This is the biggest outdoor party in the world and can be some kind of experience! For sure Koh Phangan is famous for it, but in fact it’s just the Southern part of our island that gets busy for the dates around the party – the Northern coast, where Chaloklum Diving Centre is located, remains quiet and peaceful – thankfully!