Koh Samet — Sai Kaew Beach
The closest proper island beach to Bangkok: 3 hours door to sand, if you leave before 7am.
Sai Kaew is the beach everyone lands on first, and for good reason. The sand really is white and squeaky, the water is calm from November to April, and you can walk the whole length in ten minutes.
Getting there by car
Leave Bangkok before 7am. The 220 km to Ban Phe pier takes just under three hours on Motorway 7 and Highway 36. Park at one of the paid lots behind the pier (100–150 THB per day) and take the slow ferry (40 min, 70 THB) or a speedboat.
What we’d do differently
Book the ferry back for 15:00 at the latest on a Sunday — the queue at the pier by 16:00 is brutal.
Photos from the trip
Every photo on this site was taken on the trip described. Distances, road conditions and parking notes come from actually driving there.