Ban Phe

Ban Phe (บ้านเพ) is on the gulf coastline of Eastern Thailand in Rayong Province. Ban Phe was previously mainly known as a stop-over for the Ko Samet National Park “Khao Laem Ya-Mu Ko Samet" as well as a seafood processing town, mainly for fish sauces. Today tourism is steady growing and Ban Phe gets a major source of income from tourism.

Ban Phe is about 25 km from Rayong, between Sattahip and Chanthaburi. Ban Phe For maps and basic information about the town.

Understand
Ban Phe exists as a port for ferries to Ko Samet and for limited fishing. Ferries between Ban Phe and Ko Samet usually take 20-45 minutes, depending on the speed of the boat and which beach/pier they use.

By speed boat or speed ferry it will take approximately 15 minutes to Koh Samet.

By bus
There are direct 1st class air-con buses between Ekamai (Eastern) Bus Terminal in Bangkok and Ban Phe, departing hourly.

Ban Phe can also be reached by minivan service from the hotels.

By car
Turn right off Hwy 3, Sukhumvit Rd, at km231 and keep going for 5 km or turn right at km238 and keep going for 3 km.

Airport Public Transportation Service, Bangkok Airport Limousines, or public transport will drive you to the pier in 2.5 or fewer hours.

Get around
Ban Phe is a small town and not difficult to traverse. The entire town is about 4 km making it easy to get around on foot. There are also plenty of motorcycle taxis.

To get to Ko Samet from Ban Phe port you can take a private speed boat (around 2,000 baht), a shared speed boat (around 200 baht), a speed boat ferry (around 150 baht) or take the normal ferry for 50 baht which departs approximately every hour depending on how close to capacity each ferry is. A number of tour companies operate from the port, they are mostly fair and reliable.

There is secured car parking available at every pier.

Do
While the beaches in the immediate area of Ban Phe are not very nice due to the pier, go a few kilometres in either direction and the beaches are quite nice and practically devoid of Western tourists.

Heading east out of town 2 km leads you to Suan Son National Pine Forest. The road runs right along the beach and the farther away from town you get the nicer the water is. Once you get 3 km from town the beaches are almost as nice as those on Samet. With only one short incursion inland, the road basically runs along the sea all the way to Lam Mei Pim, 24 km away. There are several luxury resorts and condos along this stretch of beach.

Heading west will eventually lead you to the beach Hat Maerampung. The road is not direct, but if you make the trip you will find 7 km of very nice beach with a number of restaurants, resorts, and cheap hotels.

Buy
In the fish market, many shops offer local seafood products such as fish sauce, sun-dried cuttlefish, dried shrimp, etc. Just half a mile from the fish market are the local tourist trinket markets: key chains made from seashells and grotesque blowfish lamps. Most of these tchotchkes are meant for the local Thai tourists who stream down from Bangkok on weekends. But if you are a serious seashell collector you can find some bargains tucked away at the stalls in the back.

Go next
Most visitors take the ferry to Ko Samet. You can also take the shared minibus to Ko Chang, which depart regularly to the Laem Ngop piers, where you can get onto the car ferries to the island. Private minibuses will carry passengers the entire way to their resort on Ko Chang, not just the ferry, and include ferry tickets with their rates.