Things to do in Ranong
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ranong
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, the time to come: calm seas, full boat schedules, Walking Street running, January the driest month.
Hot and dry: waterfalls thin to a trickle, grass hill golden and shadeless, boats still run well. Songkran is 13 to 15 April.
Rainy season unsoftened: about 486 to 772 mm a month, over 20 rain days a month mid season, boats reduced and falls unsafe in heavy rain.
Shoulder month: rain easing, waterfalls still full, island services reopening, the best waterfall timing of the year.
What's on
- Songkran 13 to 15 April
Thai New Year water festival in Ranong town, in the hot dry month before the rains return.
- Ranong Walking Street Saturdays in dry season, roughly December to April
A weekly Saturday market on Rueangrat Road in dry season, not a festival. Confirm on the day whether it is running.
Best things to do in Ranong
Raksawarin Hot Springs
A free public hot spring park in town, with source wells at about 65 degrees blended down into soaking pools.
Rattanarangsan Palace
A replica throne hall built for Rama V in 1890, now a museum with a tower view towards the Myanmar border.
Ranong Governor's Residence
The 1877 compound of Ranong's first governor, the Chinese-Thai tin magnate Kho Su Chiang, still held by descendants.
Baan Roi Pee Tian Shi
A century old Sino-Portuguese house that was home and tin trade treasury for a Na Ranong governor's family.
Ranong Walking Street
The dry season Saturday market on Rueangrat Road, Burmese, Chinese-Thai and southern Thai food at market prices.
Where to stay in Ranong
Ranong Town
hot springs, heritage, food and boat connections
Walk to the markets and restaurants, soak at Raksawarin, and reach every pier by songthaew in the morning.
Koh Phayam
the island trip, quiet beaches and slow days
Buffalo Bay for quiet swimming, Ao Yai for sunset and surf, and the pier area for the island's best facilities.
Koh Chang, Ranong
deepest quiet at bungalow prices
A cashew island of beach cabins and part day electricity at some stays, with almost no vehicles or nightlife.
Think twice about
- Kawthaung and the Myanmar side of the Kra Buri estuary
The Tanintharyi Region including the Kawthaung area is affected by civil conflict, armed violence and landmines. Do not treat the crossing as a tourist excursion.
- Island boats and waterfall trails in heavy rainy season weather
May to October seas cancel boats and rain swollen falls and trails are unsafe. Decide on the morning, not from a booking made months earlier.
Best restaurants in Ranong
Khun Lin Restaurant
The top southern Thai dinner in town, opposite the hot springs: petai prawns, turmeric fish and gaeng som.
FarmHouse Restaurant Ranong
The FarmHouse Hotel kitchen on Rueangrat Road, a safe, well liked Thai dinner for mixed groups.
Buono Ranong
Ranong's proven Italian kitchen, pizza, pasta and steaks at the top of the town's modest price range.
Bang Ki Roti Arab
A long running Muslim Thai roti shop for breakfast, savoury roti with curry and a sweet one to finish.
J&T Restaurant
A cheap, reliable Thai table on the main street, open for the unplanned lunch or late arrival dinner.
Best coffee in Ranong
Sunny Side Up
A cheap cafe for breakfasts and coffee in Ranong town, vegetarian friendly and gentle after southern heat.
Outdoor things to do in Ranong
Koh Phayam
A car free island 2 hours by ferry from Ranong, with Ao Yai for sunsets and Buffalo Bay for quiet swimming.
Koh Chang
Ranong's quieter island, not the Trat one: cashew groves, a long empty beach and almost no vehicles.
Ngao Mangrove Forest Research Centre
A research station south of town with raised boardwalks through dense mangrove forest, free to walk.
Phu Khao Ya
A treeless grass hill amid jungle, green in the rains and golden in the dry season, best at sunset.
Ngao Waterfall
A tall national park waterfall south of town, dramatic in wet weather and a thin stream in the dry season.
Punyaban Waterfall
A roadside waterfall north of Ranong town, a 20 minute stop after rain that thins sharply in dry months.
Pornrang Hot Springs
A forest garden of more than a dozen pools in Namtok Ngao National Park, the quieter Ranong soak.
Best hotels in Ranong
Tinidee Hotel Ranong
Ranong town's top hotel in local terms, with a pool and its own hot mineral baths on site.
The Blue Sky Resort Koh Payam
Phayam's most upmarket resort near the pier, villas with air conditioning, a pool and a beachfront restaurant.
The Galla Hotel
A smart, clean mid range town hotel with spacious rooms, a reliable one night base before the island boats.
FarmHouse Hotel Ranong
A central hotel praised for spotless rooms and a Thai style breakfast buffet, on the Walking Street road.
Buffalo Bay Vacation Club
A mid range bungalow resort on quiet Buffalo Bay, Phayam's calmer swimming and kayaking side.
Sino Mansion
A small, clean Sino-Portuguese style hotel in central Ranong, the budget stay with a sense of place.
Cashew Resort
Simple beach cabins on Koh Chang's long beach, with a well liked restaurant and almost no nightlife.
Is Ranong expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | THB 1,100 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | THB 2,400 a person |
| Splurge | THB 5,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Koh Phayam: a few days ahead
- Koh Chang: a few days ahead
- Tinidee Hotel Ranong: a few days ahead
- The Blue Sky Resort Koh Payam: weeks ahead
- Buffalo Bay Vacation Club: a few days ahead
- Cashew Resort: a few days ahead
- Book Blue Sky, Buffalo Bay and the better town rooms ahead for December to February.
- Confirm every boat, and which pier it leaves from, on the day before and the morning of travel.
- Check the Governor's Residence and Baan Roi Pee Tian Shi opening locally on the day, as both are family held.
Is Ranong safe?
- Heavy rain brings flash floods, landslides and road closures, and the Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar is affected by civil conflict, armed violence and landmines.
- The Raksawarin source wells at about 65 degrees Celsius will scald: use only the managed soaking pools.
- In May to October, heavy rain brings flash floods, landslips and cancelled boats: keep a buffer night in Ranong town.
Ranong travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not confuse Ranong's Koh Chang with the large Koh Chang in Trat province on the other side of Thailand.
- Do not build a trip, or a Thai immigration plan, on the Kawthaung crossing without confirming both sides in Ranong on the day.
- Do not judge Ngao or Punyaban waterfalls by wet season photographs if you are visiting in the dry months.
Getting around Ranong: public transport and more
- Walk central Ranong town and use songthaews for the piers, springs and bus station, which are not the same place.
- Rent a car for the southern loop of mangrove centre, Phu Khao Ya, Ngao Waterfall and Pornrang Hot Springs.
- On Koh Phayam and Koh Chang there are no cars: motorbike rental, motorbike taxis and walking only.
Who Ranong suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Ranong your trip
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