Trat Airport (TDX), often also listed as Trad Airport, is the designated airport for the up-and-coming Thai tourist destinations Koh Chang, Koh Kood, Koh Mak & Koh Wai. This airport is owned by Bangkok Airway, giving them (for now) the exclusive right to operate all flights to and from this airfield that is also know as Koh Chang airport. Currently Bangkok Airways operates between 2 and 4 flights from Bangkok's international Airport Suvarnabhumi direct to their "boutique" airport nearby the Laem Ngop piers to Koh Chang, Koh Mak and Koh Wai. This flight takes only about 45 minutes to get from Bangkok to Trat, even though the official flight time is one hour. Trat airport is located approximately 17 Km's (10 Miles) from the main ferry jetty to Koh Chang, 25 Km's from the Krom Luang pier from where the speedboats to Koh Mak depart and about 60 Km's from the Laem Sok piers that service most travelers to Koh Kood. Unlike most people might suspect it's not actually located in or even really near Trat city. Trat is both the name of the province and it's capital.

When going from Trat Airport to the Laem Sok pier from where nearly all boats to Koh Kood depart, the option of the shared minibus service is much less commonly available, so a private transfer by minibus is practically the only way to travel safely. For this reason we also offer a rate for a smaller, chauffeur driven, car from Trad airport to either of these speedboat piers. This will enable single travelers, couples, or families with a single child to also travel safely and comfortably in air conditioned surroundings to any of these piers. Song Teaw drivers (a converted pick up truck with 2 benches in the back) in this part of the country are notorious for doing the 40 or so KM's as fast as their diesel or NGV (Gas) engines allow them to, leading to very frightening situations that will cause some people to be in a shock-like state until well into the next day

Note that most of these speedboats to Koh Mak have a 15:00 last departure time, so if your flight arrives after 14:30 it will usually not be possible to make it to the ferry piers on time. Most boats to Koh Kood depart strict at 14:00 or earlier, so flights after 12:00 (noon) will come with the added bonus of being able to spend a night in the lovely quiet town of Trat and enjoying their incredibly cheap restaurants and night market.

Being the owner of this Trad airport also allows Bangkok Airways to select a single "limousine" service from the Airport to nearby destinations. This limousine service is actually a shared minibus service which is excellent for those that travel alone or as a couple. For just 650 baht / person (on arrival "walk-in" rate), these minibuses will carry all passengers to their resort or guesthouse on Koh Chang island. We at Koh Chang minibus offer that exact same service at a much better rate, as you can see in the top most table on this page. This special discount rate is only available online, not at the airport itself. Obviously, with this being a shared service, it can sometimes be a bit crowded on the first leg of the journey from the airport to the ferry and from the ferry to the first resorts on the island, but once the first few couples get dropped off, these shuttle buses are always comfortable.

However, most families and other groups will surely appreciate the additional comforts that a private minibus can offer at nearly the same rate as 4 persons in a shared minibus. For a mere 2300 baht you will be carried by a freshly air-conditioned minibus direct from Trad Airport to your resort on Koh Chang, saving you not only the waiting time when the shared minibuses at the airport are being loaded, but you will also get to skip the many drop off stops that will be made before reaching your resort. This will often result in a better spot on the ferries to Koh Chang, thus giving you the chance to be on the beach as much a 30 minutes earlier than other passengers from the Bangkok to Koh Chang flight. Other advantages are of course: there will be plenty of space for both luggage and people, unless you group consists of more than 9 persons, which is the maximum number of passengers we can carry assuming that there isn't any excessive luggage. Note however, that only 4 (one-way) tickets for the ferry are included in the transfer from Trat Airport to Koh Chang rate, but you can ask the driver to buy additional (round trip) tickets at the ferry pier. Any groups consisting of more than 4 persons should clearly not even consider the shared minibus to Koh Chang option, as that will only be more expensive and slower than the private transfer.

When you are ready to do book a private transfer, please visit the Trat Airport Transportation booking page to make your reservation. You will see an immediate on screen confirmation in most cases or a manual confirmation within between 30 minutes and 18 hours if we need to check or correct details manually. In our online confirmation and / or e-mail you will find a link where you can pay the 50% deposit that we will request for private transfers, online via our secure credit card processors: Paypal.com and SiamPay.com, or via Bank Transfer or ATM for Thai residents. The same 50% deposit requirement applies for transfers back from Laem Sok to Trat Airport or from Laem Ngop to Trat airport, but for transfers from Koh Chang to Trat airport just a 500 baht deposit will suffice, as we will start the journey from the island itself with little initial expenses other than the driver and gasoline. Tickets for the shared shuttle bus will require a full prepayment.

When arriving at Trat airport, you will find our driver waiting with a sign with your name on it. As Trat Airport is a tiny airport with only a few small aircraft arriving per day, it will be impossible to miss our driver and his sign.

Our private minibus driver will also gladly make an extra stop on ko chang if you are in urgent need of an ATM machine, medicine, sun cream, mosquito spray, sunglasses or other basic needs for your stay on a tropical island, which is something that the shared minibuses won't be able to do, for obvious reasons.