Trat Travel Guide: Piers, Old Town and the Mainland Coast

Trat is the province you pass through on the way to Koh Chang, Koh Kood and Koh Mak, and most visitors only see its bus station and a pier. The mainland has more than that. Trat town has an old quarter, markets and a night market, Laem Ngop has the waterfront and black-sand shore, and the coast south-east of town runs through Laem Klat and Mai Rut to the Khlong Yai district. This guide covers the mainland only. Where a pier hands you over to an island, we link to the island guides instead of repeating them.

Everything here was checked on 16 October 2026 against the sources listed below. We say where they disagree and where we could not verify something. Hotels are in our where to stay in Trat guide, or in Thai, ที่พักตราด.

What mainland Trat is, and where the island guides take over

Wikipedia puts Trat province in eastern Thailand, bordering Cambodia, with its capital in Trat town. It says the province is about 315 km from Bangkok, and Centara's travel journal gives the same figure. The province includes Ko Chang and more than 40 smaller islands that make up Mu Ko Chang National Park, plus Ko Mak and Ko Kut (Koh Kood). Those islands have their own guides: Koh Chang, Koh Kood and Koh Mak. Anything that happens after you step onto a boat is covered there. Anything that happens on the road, in town, at a pier or on the south-east coast is covered here.

Thai Wikipedia gives road distances from Trat town to the district seats: 18 km to Laem Ngop and 76 km to Khlong Yai. That is why a day on the mainland feels spread out: the old town, the piers and the border-side beaches are each a separate drive.

Getting to Trat

The 12Go page for Bangkok to Trat listed 27 companies when we opened it in a real browser on 16 October 2026, among them Bangkok Airways, Boonsiri High Speed Ferries, Boonsiri Transfer, Koh Chang Transport, Koh Chang Club, Easyride Services, Gosafe, Kim Transfers, Mama Travel and Tour, Tara Tour and Travel and Torch. It showed 78 departures a day, the earliest at 5:00 AM and the latest at 4:15 PM. We do not quote its prices because the page itself showed two different 'from' figures. Some links on this site may earn us a commission; that does not change the times or fares you see.

Where the sources disagree

Treat the shorter figure as the best case, and confirm times, piers and fares on the day.

Trat airport (TDX)

Wikipedia says Trat Airport is in Bang Pit subdistrict, Laem Ngop district, was opened in 2003 and is owned and operated by Bangkok Airways. It has one tarmac runway of 1,800 m by 45 m and a small open-air terminal, and Bangkok Airways flies there from Suvarnabhumi with ATR 72 turboprops. Wikivoyage says the airport is about 17 km from the Koh Chang ferries. Hotel sites give other drive times: Lomtalay Resort says 15 km, Chivapuri Residence says 36 km, and Centara Chaan Talay says a 60-minute drive to its beach resort. Ask your hotel for the transfer time and price.

Things to do in Trat

Trat is a town for walking, eating and getting on with the trip, not for ticking off sights. A Trat hotel's site describes a morning market where buyers start at 4 a.m. to buy seafood for restaurants and island resorts, a covered market for lunch, a night market in the evening, and a Saturday evening walking street from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, on its own claim. Wikivoyage lists Soi Rai Rang as a night market in the heart of the district.

For sights, Wikivoyage names:

• Wat Buppharam: an Ayutthaya-era temple that it says is recognised as the oldest and most beautiful temple of Trat.
• Wat Khiri Wihan, Wat Phai Lom, Wat Saphan Hin and Wat Yotha Nimit: other temples in and around town.
• Old shophouses on Chai Mongkhon Road, Tha Sadet pier, Residence Kampot and the Trat National Museum: the old-town sights.

We could not verify opening hours or entrance fees for any of them, so check on the day. The town is small enough to walk, and the old-town hotels in our stay guide are within walking distance of the night market on their own claims.

Laem Ngop and the piers

Laem Ngop is the district on the water side of Trat, 18 km from town on Thai Wikipedia's figures. Its name is used loosely for the whole pier area, which causes mistakes. A Trat hotel's guides separate the piers like this:

The ferries the guides describe change timetables with the tide and the season, so buy tickets at the pier or from the operator and check the last boat of the day.

Beaches near Trat

The mainland coast is not Koh Chang. Thai Wikipedia lists the Ban Khlong Makham fishing community, Hat Ban Chuen and the Hat Lek border market among the sights of Khlong Yai district. Our stay guide places hotels on three stretches:

• Laem Ngop: a black-sand shore in a mangrove forest; a Trat hotel's attractions list says the black sand comes from ilmenite. It is a place to look at, not a swimming beach.
• Laem Klat: Golden Cliff Beach Resort sits on Pha Thong beach, 45 km from town by its own figure, and Centara Chaan Talay describes a 400-metre white-sand stretch.
• Mai Rut: Mairood Resort, De Veranio Resort and Mai Rut Beach Eco-Camp are on the Mai Rut and Ban Chuen coast, in Khlong Yai district.

We have no verified information on swimming conditions at these beaches, so ask your hotel.

Trat to Cambodia: the Hat Lek border is closed

This is the section most older guides get wrong. Khlong Yai district contains the Hat Lek crossing, known on the Cambodian side as Cham Yeam, and Thailand's Route 3 (Sukhumvit Road) ends at the border there. But as of our check on 16 October 2026:

• The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says land borders and crossings between Thailand and Cambodia remain suspended.
• The same page advises against all but essential travel to areas within 20 km of the land border.
• A Trat hotel's border-transfer page is headed 'All Land Border Crossings Closed.'

We found no official source saying Hat Lek has reopened. Some hotel pages still suggest day trips to the Hat Lek market or a stay-over for a visa run; those pages are out of date. If your plans involve Cambodia, fly, and check your own government's advice and the official immigration sources before you move.

Gems and Bo Rai

Trat province was once a major ruby and sapphire area. Wikipedia says the Trat mining area included the Bo Rai and Bo Waen field, that commercial mining was banned in the 1990s, and that ruby deposits in the region had become depleted by 2009. We found no current, sourced information on a gem market that visitors can use, so we do not recommend a trip to Bo Rai for gems. Bo Rai is about 49 km from Trat town on Thai Wikipedia's figures.

The seasons

Wikipedia's climate table for Khlong Yai (1991 to 2020 normals) gives about 4,927 mm of rain a year, falling mostly between May and October: roughly 420 mm in May, 777 mm in June, 1,024 mm in July, 970 mm in August, 816 mm in September and 338 mm in October, against 28 mm in December and 51 mm in January. Boat services also thin out in the rainy season; the island guides give the details. Check the forecast for your dates.

Where to stay

Our stay guide checks 12 mainland hotels against their own websites, in five areas:

• Trat town: Trat 101 Hotel, Trat City Hotel, Avada Hotel, Chivapuri Residence and Baan Rim Nam.
• Mangrove edge: Banpu Resort Trat, about 15 km from town.
• Laem Ngop: Lomtalay Resort, near the Koh Chang ferry.
• Laem Klat: Golden Cliff Beach Resort and Centara Chaan Talay.
• Mai Rut: Mairood Resort, De Veranio Resort and Mai Rut Beach Eco-Camp.

Open where to stay in Trat for the area table and the hotel cards. For hotels on the islands, use the Koh Chang, Koh Kood or Koh Mak stay guides.

Nearby destinations

• Koh Chang: the big island, reached by ferry from Ao Thammachat
• Koh Kood: the quiet island, reached from Laem Sok pier
• Koh Mak: the small island between them
• Bangkok: where most trips to Trat start
• Thailand overview
• Chanthaburi: old riverside town, gems and fruit

FAQ

Prices, schedules and entry rules change. Figures here are approximate as of 2026; always confirm on the official or operator page before you book. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.