Commercial Real Estate · Medical · Koh Chang

Koh Chang medical real estate: Bangkok Hospital, government hospital & village clinics

Koh Chang's medical real estate is a small, ferry-dependent market anchored by two hospitals — the private Koh Chang International Hospital at White Sand Beach, run by the Bangkok Hospital Group, and the public Koh Chang Hospital at Dan Mai — plus a handful of village clinics and a single dental practice. There is no on-island medical-tourism sector and essentially no purpose-built medical real estate stock. Builds on our national medical real estate overview. General information only, never paid placement.

Share
By Kirby Scofield
Founder of BAANLYY · International real estate broker, investor & relocation specialist
Last updated 10 July 2026 · Last reviewed 10 July 2026

← Medical & Healthcare Real Estate in Thailand

The one-line version

Koh Chang's medical real estate centers on two facilities: the private Koh Chang International Hospital at the southern end of White Sand Beach — run by the Bangkok Hospital Group (BDMS) under Bangkok Hospital Trat, open 24/7 since its 2015 upgrade from a 2005-era clinic — and the public Koh Chang Hospital in Dan Mai on the east coast. Around them sit a scatter of nurse-staffed village clinics in Klong Son, Klong Prao, Bang Bao and Salak Phet, and a single established dental practice in Klong Prao. The island has no airport and no full tertiary hospital, so it doesn't participate in organized medical tourism, and there is essentially no purpose-built medical real estate stock — the Ao Thammachat car ferry, the island's only active ferry route, keeps construction costs high enough that nobody has built a second hospital or dedicated medical building here. Foreign ownership and clinic-licensing rules are the same nationwide, but every treating facility still needs Ministry of Public Health sign-off before opening.

01

Koh Chang's medical real estate landscape

Koh Chang's medical real estate market is small and shaped entirely by the island's geography: no airport, one car-ferry route, and a resident and tourist population spread thin across a national-park-dominated island in Trat province. That mix supports exactly one private hospital, one public hospital, a handful of village clinics and one dental practice — not the hospital-anchored medical-tourism ecosystem found on Phuket or Koh Samui, and not enough demand to have produced any purpose-built medical office or clinic-block development. Builds on the building-type and licensing detail in our national medical real estate overview — this page focuses on how that plays out specifically on Koh Chang.

02

Koh Chang's hospitals and clinics

See the full resident-facing detail — costs, insurance and transfer pathways — in our Koh Chang healthcare guide.

03

Facility real estate and the ferry constraint

There is essentially no purpose-built medical real estate stock on Koh Chang. Koh Chang International Hospital occupies a building that grew out of a small 2005-era clinic rather than a hospital built from the ground up; Koh Chang Hospital is a standard public Ministry of Public Health facility; and the village clinics and the island's one dental practice run out of small, low-rise storefront units attached to the beach-road commercial strip. The Ao Thammachat car ferry — the island's only active ferry route, running roughly 06:00 to 19:30 daily to Ao Sapparot pier, since Koh Chang has no airport of its own — keeps construction and fit-out costs high for any new facility, the same structural constraint that limits new commercial office and retail development elsewhere on the island. That's one reason no second private hospital or dedicated medical building has been built here, and why any published rent or construction-cost figure for Koh Chang medical space should be treated as a rough estimate pending confirmation with a local agent covering the Trat area.

04

Referral pathway to Trat and Bangkok

Anything beyond routine care on Koh Chang escalates off-island in stages. Koh Chang International Hospital runs its own emergency transfer system — ambulance and medical boat services — to move patients to Bangkok Hospital Trat on the mainland, the branch that manages the Koh Chang facility, with onward referral to Bangkok's leading private hospitals for complex or specialist cases. Patients at the government Koh Chang Hospital generally follow the same mainland-then-Bangkok escalation path. That transfer depends on the Ao Thammachat car ferry's daily schedule, which is one reason comprehensive health insurance with medical-evacuation cover is worth having on Koh Chang regardless of what a given visa strictly requires.

05

Long-stay, retiree and tourist demand across Koh Chang

Koh Chang's foreign and long-stay population is spread across several beach clusters rather than concentrated in one place. White Sand Beach carries the densest tourist and short-stay footprint and sits closest to the private hospital; Klong Prao and Kai Bae hold a mix of longer-stay residents, villa-management activity and the island's dental practice; and Lonely Beach and Bang Bao draw a quieter, more budget-conscious crowd further from both hospitals. Proximity to Koh Chang International Hospital, or reasonable access to the ferry piers for a mainland transfer, is a factor some long-stayers and retirees weigh when choosing housing, alongside beach access and cost of living. Public data isolating healthcare access as a standalone, quantified driver of Koh Chang housing demand is limited — treat this as a directional pattern rather than a modeled statistic. See our Koh Chang expat community guide and Koh Chang healthcare guide for more on this population.

06

Foreign investment and licensing on Koh Chang

Foreigners generally cannot own Thai land directly, so medical real estate deals on Koh Chang typically separate land ownership (a Thai entity, long-term leasehold, or majority-Thai-owned company under the Foreign Business Act) from any foreign leasehold interest or minority shareholding — condominium ownership is capped at a 49% foreign quota per project, and BOI promotion can apply to qualifying healthcare investment. Separately, every facility that diagnoses, treats or houses patients needs sign-off from the Ministry of Public Health, on top of standard building approval — full detail on hospital versus outpatient-clinic licensing tracks is on the national medical real estate overview. No permanent law firm is confirmed on Koh Chang itself or in Trat town on the mainland, so most buyers and operators use a Pattaya-based firm covering the Trat area, or a Bangkok or Koh Samui firm serving Gulf-coast islands remotely — get Koh Chang-specific confirmation before committing capital.

07

Frequently asked

What are the main hospitals and clinics on Koh Chang?Koh Chang International Hospital at White Sand Beach (14/16 Moo 4) is the island's only private hospital, run by the Bangkok Hospital Group (BDMS) under Bangkok Hospital Trat — open 24/7 with emergency care, inpatient rooms, lab, X-ray and CT scan. Koh Chang Hospital, the island's only government facility, sits in Dan Mai on the east coast, roughly a 15-minute drive south of the ferry piers, treating both Thai nationals and tourists at Thailand public-hospital rates. Beyond those two, a scatter of nurse-staffed village health clinics serve Klong Son, Klong Prao, Bang Bao and Salak Phet, pharmacies are well stocked along every main beach strip, and Koh Chang Dental Clinic in Klong Prao (opposite The Splash resort) is the island's only established dental practice.
Is there a medical tourism industry on Koh Chang like Phuket or Bangkok?No. Koh Chang has no airport of its own — the nearest is Trat, about a 20-minute drive from the ferry piers — and no full tertiary or specialist hospital, so it does not participate in organized medical tourism the way Phuket, Bangkok or Chiang Mai do. Healthcare real estate demand here is driven almost entirely by the island's resident, long-stay and holiday-tourist population's everyday needs, not by patients travelling to Koh Chang specifically for treatment.
What does the actual medical-facility real estate look like on Koh Chang?There is essentially no purpose-built medical real estate stock on the island. Koh Chang International Hospital grew out of a small clinic building opened in 2005 and was upgraded to full hospital status in 2015 rather than built as a hospital from the ground up; Koh Chang Hospital is a standard public Ministry of Public Health facility; and the village clinics and the single dental practice operate out of small, low-rise storefront units. The Ao Thammachat car ferry — the island's only active ferry route, running roughly 06:00 to 19:30 daily to Ao Sapparot pier — keeps construction and fit-out costs high for any new facility, which is one reason no second private hospital or purpose-built medical building has been built on the island.
Where does a serious medical case on Koh Chang actually go?Koh Chang International Hospital runs its own emergency transfer system — ambulance and medical boat services — moving patients to Bangkok Hospital Trat on the mainland, the branch that manages the Koh Chang hospital, a trip that depends on the Ao Thammachat car ferry schedule. From Trat, complex or specialist cases are referred onward to Bangkok's leading private hospitals. Patients at the government Koh Chang Hospital follow the same general mainland-then-Bangkok escalation path for anything beyond routine care.
Does Koh Chang's expat and tourist population drive real estate demand tied to healthcare?Koh Chang's foreign and long-stay population is spread across several beach clusters rather than concentrated in one place — White Sand Beach carries the densest tourist and short-stay footprint and sits closest to the private hospital; Klong Prao and Kai Bae hold a mix of longer-stay residents and villa development; and Lonely Beach and Bang Bao draw a quieter, more budget-conscious crowd further from both hospitals. Proximity to Koh Chang International Hospital at White Sand Beach, or reasonable access to the ferry piers for a mainland transfer, is a factor some long-stayers weigh when choosing housing. Public data isolating healthcare access as a standalone price driver for Koh Chang housing is limited — treat this as a directional pattern rather than a modeled statistic.
What foreign-ownership and licensing rules apply to medical real estate on Koh Chang?The same national rules apply here as anywhere else in Thailand: foreigners generally cannot own land outright, condominium ownership is capped at a 49% foreign quota per project, and land or building leasehold plus Foreign Business Act structuring or BOI promotion are the usual routes into commercial healthcare real estate. Separately, any facility that diagnoses, treats or houses patients — from a single clinic room to a full hospital — needs sign-off from the Ministry of Public Health before opening, on top of standard building approval. No permanent law firm is confirmed on Koh Chang itself or in Trat town on the mainland, so most buyers and operators use a Pattaya-based firm covering the Trat area, or a Bangkok or Koh Samui firm serving Gulf-coast islands remotely — get Koh Chang-specific confirmation before acquiring or leasing medical-use property here.
Keep going
Medical Real Estate in Thailand (national)Koh Lanta Medical Real EstateKoh Tao Medical Real EstateCommercial Real Estate HubMedical Tourism GuideKoh Chang City GuideKoh Chang Healthcare GuideKoh Chang International HospitalProperty Lawyers

Sourcing or leasing medical space on Koh Chang?

BAANLYY can connect you with vetted commercial agents and property lawyers for Koh Chang healthcare-facility real estate.

Expat services directoryMedical real estate hub

General information only — not investment, legal, tax or medical advice. Healthcare facility licensing, foreign ownership rules and medical real estate market conditions on Koh Chang change over time and are property-specific; verify current requirements with the Ministry of Public Health, the Board of Investment, the Department of Business Development, or a licensed Thai lawyer before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement.

Sources & References

Sources & References

Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.