Ko Mak in Thailand - Virtual Reality Panoramas (VR), Panorama Pictures, Photos & Information about Infrastructure, Population, Visitors, History, Activities, Travel Times, Banks & Money, Sights and More.
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Worth knowing about Ko Mak in Thailand
- Ko Mak Special -
(Picture of a fisher hut at Aow Nid on Ko Mak)
Picture from Ko Mak in Thailand
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Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand     Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand
At the eastern end of Ko Maaks west coast
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Ko Mak (often also written Ko Maak), the betel nut island, is the third largest island of the province of Trat after Ko Chang and Ko Kood. The island, resembles a shamrock in shape, lies about 350 kilometres southeast of Bangkok and 35 kilometres from the mainland. It’s size is about 16 square kilometres and a radius of about 27 kilometres and it is not part of the Mu Ko Chang National Park.

Besides, Ko Mak is the biggest private island in Thailand.

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Ko Mak can be reached either from Baan Bang Bao in the south of Ko Chang or from Laem Ngop Pier at the mainland.

Ferries from Ko Chang (Baan Bang Bao Pier):
From November to May there are daily boats starting from Baan Bang Bao (south of Ko Chang) to Ko Kham and back. As the departure times change quite often please ask on Ko Chang (tickets are available in almost all travel-agencies).
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Khao Beach

Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand   Ferries from the mainland (Laem Ngop Pier, also called Khrom Luang Pier):
At 9.30 am, 11 am, 1.30 pm and 4 pm speedboats leave the mainland from the Laem Ngop pier. The boats will bring you to Ko Mak, duration about 1 hour. The times for the return trips are available in all resorts on Ko Mak.
There are also several daily fishing boats to Ko Mak, duration about 3 hours. Because the departure and arrival times change quite often, please ask at the Laem Ngop Pier.
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In the north of Khao Beach - in the background Ko Rayang Nai

Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand   Between Mai/June and October/November there is no regular boat service from Ko Chang to Ko Mak and back! Also the boats from the mainland don't leave regularly so it may happen that you can't reach or leave Ko Mak!
(October 2007. All information refer to high-season between November and May. Occasionally, due to high waves, the boats are even unable to leave at this time of the year.
Depending on the weather conditions, boats often can't leave to Ko Mak in low-season between May/June and October/November.)

If you want to come directly from Bangkok to Ko Mak you have to start early to avoid spending a night on Ko Chang or at the mainland.
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Coconut plantation

Arrival by Airplane

If you come by plane you have to get the morning flight, otherwise you will not reach Ko Mak at the same day. At the airport in Trat you have to rent a mini bus to bring you to Laem Ngop Pier where the boats to Ko Mak leave, price 1500.- Baht (June 2008).

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Ko Mak is in contrast with Ko Chang a flat island, only at the southwest there are a few hills. The beaches of Ko Mak are, like everywhere in the region around Ko Chang, flat and withdraw at low tide. A few of them are stony or muddy and therefore not suitable for swimming. But most of them, especially the 2 wonderful big main beaches "Suan Yai Beach” in the west and "Khao Beach” in the south of Ko Mak are sandy and excellent for bathing and swimming. At these two beaches you also find most of the bungalow resorts.
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Suan Yai Beach in the west of Ko Maak

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Meanwhile there are a lot of roads and paths that branch over the whole island so almost all beaches and villages are easy approachable. Only at the north coast of Ko Mak, where you hardly find accommodations, there is a jungle path that runs parallel to the coast and that is quite difficult passable. The important routes on the island are of tarmac or concrete but some of the other ones are still dirt tracks. But Ko Mak is easily passable with rented scooters for those who have a little bit of experience in riding motorbikes. And because of Ko Mak is not too big you can explore it easily on foot.
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Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand   In the meantime there are a few "exotic” vehicles on Ko Mak. They are mainly taken to bring tourists to the bungalow resorts or drive them around the island and are very popular with Farangs (western tourists).

Ko Mak
is not connected to the power supply at the mainland but there is a big generator that supplies the whole island 24 hours a day with electricity. Also mobile phone connection is available at most of the places on Ko Mak.
Ko Mak was the first island in Thailand to have wireless Internet, but it was stopped again at the beginning of 2006. Currently there are internet cafes located at Ko Mak Pier (west coast) and at Aow Nid Pier (east coast).
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Click to enlarge this Virtual Reality Panorama (VR) / panorama picture / photograph from Ko Mak (Ko Maak) in Thailand   Also a central dump was built in the interior of the island so there is less waste on Ko Mak as years ago. Beside a little post office at Ko Mak Pier at the west coast, there is a police box located at the road to Aow Nid. There you also find a clinic, the island school, a new built kindergarten and a beautiful temple.
In the interior of Ko Mak there are more shops, gas stations and restaurants. You can also find pool tables, mainly used by locals, at the roundabout at the main road that connects the west coast with the south coast.
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Family grave

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Most of the island inhabitants, at the moment around 700 people, are fishermen or make their income from the profit of the coconut and rubber plantations that can be found all over Ko Mak. But because of the increase in tourism since the 80’s, more and more of the locals earn their money from the bungalow-resorts and restaurants on Ko Mak.
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Fishing nets at the north coast

Visitors on Ko Mak

Due to the rising level of awareness of Ko Chang also the popularity of Ko Mak is growing. The number of visitors is rising continuously. 2006 almost 71.000 guests came, in 2007 already almost 103.000 made their way to the island. Like on Ko Chang also on Ko Mak there are about double as much Thai visitors compared to foreign guests. Though the number of foreign visitors increased more than 100 % compared to the preceding year the growth of Thai guests was just about 25 %. The average duration of stopover of the non-Thai holidaymakers amounted to almost 5 days in 2007 while the Thai visitors spent not even 3 days on Ko Mak. As on Ko Chang also on Ko Mak there will be more visitors coming within the next years.
(Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand)

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Travelling-Time for Ko Mak

The best time for a visit on Ko Mak is between the beginning of November and the end of February. At this time it is relatively cool, dry and mostly sunny.
It gets hotter and hotter until the end of May, but a visit during these months is still pleasant. Even during the monsoon Ko Mak is worth a journey because it usually doesn’t rain every day all day long (see also "Travelling-Time and Weather on Ko Chang").

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Ko Mak
is the biggest island in Thailand that is privately owned. It is reported that Ko Mak was populated first by Chao Sua Seng, who ran a coconut plantation at the end of the 19th century, during the term of King Chula-Longkorn (Rama V). Later Ko Mak was bought for 300 Chang (the former currency in Thailand, 1 Chang = 80 Baht) by Khun Mae Mulee, the wife of Luang Prompakdee (Plian Taveteekul). Their descendants, who belong to the "Taveteekul Clan”, still own the biggest part of Ko Mak.
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Island crossing with roundabout

Banks and money on Ko Mak

In November 2007 there were neither banks nor ATMs on Ko Mak, so you should take enough cash money with you if you want to stay on this wonderful island. Some of the bungalow resorts change money and / or traveller cheques but the exchanging rates are worse than in the banks at the mainland or on Ko Chang.

Activities on Ko Mak

Besides relaxing and reading at the beach you can swim and snorkel at one of the beautiful beaches. There are also 2 diving schools located on Ko Mak to discover the beautiful dive grounds around this wonderful island, At some of the bungalow resorts kayaks and surfboards can be rented as well as scooters and mountain-bikes to explore the island on your own. The small villages, the tempel at Aow Nid and the view points on Ko Mak are worth a visit. There is a surfing school, boats can be hired and boat tours to the nearby islands can be booked. Also apparently archery is possible on Ko Mak and of course traditional Thai massages can be enjoyed.

In the interior of Ko Maak   Village at the north coast of Ko Maak   House boat in the north
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