Koh Phayam is one of the two largest islands in Ranong Province, and it has even earned the nickname “the Maldives of Thailand.” These days, it has become one of those islands that both Thai and international travelers love visiting. The island’s name comes from an old story: locals used to call it “Koh Phayayam,” which means “the island of effort,” because back in the day, anyone who wanted to get here had to wait for a ferry that ran only once a day. Miss it, and you had to wait until the next day. On the way back, you even had to wave down a passing boat. Basically, it took a lot of effort to reach the island, and over time the name was shortened into “Koh Phayam.”
After visiting it myself, I would easily say that this island has some of the most beautiful sunset beaches in Ranong. It also offers snorkeling and coral-viewing trips, so anyone who loves the sea should definitely try it. For me, Koh Phayam is one of those islands that has almost everything you want from a beach getaway, without needing to try too hard at all.
How to Get to Koh Phayam from Ranong + Getting Around the Island
To get to Koh Phayam, we first need to go to the Nawa Andaman Pier in Ranong. There are two boat options: the local ferry, which costs 200 THB per person (around US$6) and takes about 2-3 hours, and the speedboat, which costs 350 THB per person (around US$10) and takes only around 45 minutes. Personally, I would recommend taking the speedboat. It saves a lot of time, and honestly, that makes a big difference.
Once you arrive on Koh Phayam, the boat will dock at the island’s pier in Ao Mae Mai. From there, you can wait for your accommodation to pick you up. If your hotel does not provide transfer service, you can rent a motorbike right at the pier. The standard rate is around 200 THB per day (around US$6), and you can ride around the whole island with it. One thing I want to mention first is that there is no public transportation on the island, so renting a motorbike is by far the easiest and most convenient way to explore Koh Phayam.
4 Places to Visit on Koh Phayam + Snorkeling at 3 Bays Around the Island
| Places to visit on Koh Phayam | 1. Ao Yai 2. Sea Chapel, Wat Koh Phayam 3. Hin Talu, Ao Khao Kwai 4. Ao Khao Kwai |
| Snorkeling around Koh Phayam | 5. Snorkeling: Ao Yai 6. Snorkeling: Ao Khao Kwai 7. Ao Kwang Peeb |
Let’s Start Exploring!
Ao Yai
Ao Yai is the largest bay and the longest beach on Koh Phayam. It stretches for around 4 kilometers and is divided into northern Ao Yai and southern Ao Yai, with a small canal separating the two sides. The lovely thing about Ao Yai is that it is beautiful both during the day and in the evening.
I’ll take you here in the evening first, right around sunset. If you love chasing sunsets, Ao Yai is number one on the island. This is where you can watch the sun slowly sink into the sea, and it is seriously gorgeous. I would honestly call this the best sunset spot on Koh Phayam.
If you are looking for restaurants or a nice beach bar, Ao Yai has quite a few places to choose from. They line the beachfront in a very relaxed way, so you can sit with a beer, have a meal, and enjoy the beach mood properly. And if you want to stay right by the beach, Ao Yai also has plenty of accommodation options. I did not stay in this area on this trip, but if I could choose again, I would probably book a place around Ao Yai immediately.
Beyond the restaurants, beach bars, and those beautiful sunset views, the sand at Ao Yai is also stunning. The beach has a mix of sand and mud, but in a very special way: the texture is smooth, firm, and beautifully patterned when the waves roll in. During sunset, the light reflects on the wet sand, and the whole beach turns ridiculously beautiful. This is one of the beaches that impressed me the most.
Sea Chapel, Wat Koh Phayam
If you get off the boat at Ao Mae Mai Pier, you can take an easy little walk to the Sea Chapel of Wat Koh Phayam. This is the only Buddhist temple on the island. The highlight here is the ubosot built out over the water, often called the “sea chapel.” The white chapel is surrounded by lotus-petal details, with a standing Buddha image in the walking posture on the roof, facing out toward the sea. It is one of the landmarks you can already spot from afar while arriving by boat, and up close, it is genuinely one beautiful temple.
After walking around and exploring it myself, I have to say it looks especially beautiful in the daytime, when the white chapel contrasts with the blue sea. The scene is so clean and calm, and when I visited, there were barely any tourists around. That said, it looked like some parts of the temple were still under construction, with wooden frames still left in certain areas, so just walk carefully.
Hin Talu, Ao Khao Kwai
One of the most photogenic spots on Koh Phayam has to be Hin Talu at the end of Ao Khao Kwai. The area is filled with rock formations of different sizes, many of them pierced with strange and beautiful holes. Locals say these openings were carved out naturally by seawater erosion, and because there are so many holes in the rocks, people simply call the place Hin Talu, which literally means “pierced rock.”
Personally, I would call Hin Talu at Ao Khao Kwai the most Instagrammable spot on Koh Phayam. There are so many corners, gaps, frames, and rock openings that you can play around with different angles. The photos come out seriously good. Anyone who wants a chic island photo spot should pin this place immediately.
If you feel like taking a dip, the beach in front of Hin Talu is also swimmable. The sand is pretty, the water is clear, and the beach was not crowded at all when I visited. It almost felt like a private beach, which was honestly such a good feeling.
Ao Khao Kwai
Let’s continue with a relaxed stroll at Ao Khao Kwai, the same beach area as Hin Talu. The part I visited was the northern side of the bay, where the famous Hippy Bar sits as a standout landmark with its quirky boat-shaped, hippie-style structure. The atmosphere here is lovely in its own way, with several dogs running around, playing, and even sitting in the sea. Ridiculously cute.
Actually, Ao Khao Kwai is another spot on Koh Phayam where you can watch the sunset. But since I was already completely satisfied with the sunset at Ao Yai, I did not wait until the sun went down here. I simply walked around, enjoyed the breeze, soaked up the atmosphere, and played with the dogs instead.
Snorkeling Around Koh Phayam (Ao Yai - Ao Khao Kwai - Ao Kwang Peeb)
If you are visiting Koh Phayam and want to take the trip up another level, you can hire a long-tail boat for a snorkeling trip around the island. This usually takes only half a day, or around 4 hours. The boatman will take you around Koh Phayam, stopping at two snorkeling spots around Ao Yai and Ao Khao Kwai, before taking you to Ao Kwang Peeb, a small hidden beach that is incredibly beautiful.
Snorkeling #1: Ao Yai
The first snorkeling spot I visited was Ao Yai. We had already seen the beach at sunset earlier, but this time we came in the middle of the day. And wow, Ao Yai is beautiful. Especially when you ride a long-tail boat out from shore and look back at that wide, white stretch of beach against the blue sea. It impressed me a lot.
For me, this snorkeling spot at Ao Yai was the prettiest one of the trip. The water was not too cloudy, so I could see plenty of coral underwater, and a lot of it still looked healthy. There were many fish, along with several sea anemones where clownfish were hiding. Overall, it was a pretty lovely snorkeling spot.
Snorkeling #2: Ao Khao Kwai
After snorkeling at Ao Yai, we continued by boat to Ao Khao Kwai. Along the way, we passed rocky outcrops and small island-like formations, and this is exactly why taking a boat trip is so nice. If you only explore the island by land, you do not get to see these views at all.
Once we reached Ao Khao Kwai, we jumped in for another snorkel. The water here was a little deeper than Ao Yai, and it was also much cloudier. But since we had already come all this way, of course we had to take a look. There were quite a few coral rocks in the area, though they were more scattered rather than clustered together like at Ao Yai.
Ao Kwang Peeb
We ended the snorkeling trip around Koh Phayam at Ao Kwang Peeb, a hidden bay that not many people visit. Earlier, when I was riding a motorbike around the island, I had actually planned to come here by road. But after seeing the way down to the beach, I gave up because I am not exactly a confident motorbike rider. In the end, I got here by boat instead.
Honestly, I was so surprised when we arrived. Even though Ao Kwang Peeb is not as large as Ao Yai or Ao Khao Kwai, it is still seriously beautiful. The sand is a pretty white, and the seawater is crystal clear.
The boat guide let me spend time at Ao Kwang Peeb freely, so I walked around and took photos on the beach for quite a while. It was genuinely beautiful and the atmosphere was so good. Behind the beach, there was an abandoned bungalow left from the pandemic period, which made a surprisingly cool backdrop. The whole scene made it feel like I had washed up on my own private island beach with nobody else around. So good.
I spent quite a long time at Ao Kwang Peeb. After that, our boat guide took us back to Ao Yai, and the rest of the day was basically me melting into that happy kind of exhaustion on my last full day before heading back to the mainland the next day. Overall, Koh Phayam felt beautiful, relaxing, and genuinely memorable. Loved it.
And that was my entire Koh Phayam trip. The only word I can really use is beautiful. Loudly, unapologetically beautiful. Even though the island is already popular among travelers, it still keeps a peaceful atmosphere where you can slow down and enjoy nature properly. The underwater world here is still rich and full of life too. Anyone who feels tired of the city, wants to escape the noise, or needs a place to rest both body and mind, I really recommend Koh Phayam. Trust me, nature here has a way of healing you. I only stayed for a few days, and it already felt like a full recharge.
ส่วนลดจองโรงแรมจาก Agoda, Expedia, Booking และบัตรสวนสนุก ตั๋วรถไฟ กิจกรรมท่องเที่ยวจาก Klook และ KKday ปี 2025
⚡️ สำหรับใครที่กำลังจะจองที่พักและหาส่วนลดจองโรงแรมอยู่ ลองดูตามลิงค์ด้านล่างได้เลย มีทั้ง Agoda, Expedia, Booking รวมถึง Hotels.com ด้วย ประหยัดไปได้อีกเกือบ 10-20% ใช้ได้กับโรงแรมทั่วโลก
หลายคนอาจจะไม่รู้ว่าเว็บไซต์จองโรงแรมพวกนี้ มีส่วนลดท็อปอัพจากบัตรเครดิตเพิ่มเกือบทุกธนาคาร ไม่ว่าจะเป็นบัตรเครดิต Citibank, KBANK, SCB, Krungsri, KTC, Bangkok Bank, UOB และ TMB หรือแม้แต่ส่วนลดจากค่ายมือถืออย่าง AIS, DTAC หรือ True ซึ่งส่วนลดพวกนี้จะเปลี่ยนตลอดทุกเดือน และเก๊าก็อัพเดทให้ตลอดเวลาเน้อ 🧡
> ส่วนลด Agoda.com (อโกด้า)
> ส่วนลด Booking.com (บุคกิ้ง)
> ส่วนลด Expedia (เอ็กซ์พีเดีย)
> ส่วนลด Klook (คลุก)
> ส่วนลด KKday ( เคเคเดย์)
