36.14 sq km, about 4,478 people in the SAO’s area as at April 2565, reached by boat from three named mainland piers — and no official body publishes a crossing time, a fare or a last boat. One community hospital, which also serves the larger island next door. Two banks, both state-owned. Hotels, apartment buildings and condominiums are prohibited by the Royal Gazette except at 79 rooms, 12 metres and under 4,000 sq m — a tighter ceiling than Koh Yao Yai’s. Mains water is the SAO’s own, and it runs short in the dry season.
Where it sits, and what it is
Koh Yao Noi is the smaller of the two long islands lying down the middle of Phang Nga Bay, in Amphoe Koh Yao, Phang Nga province — a district made entirely of islands, sitting in the water between Phuket and Krabi and belonging administratively to neither. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources puts the island at 36.140 sq km in the national island register, against 87.241 sq km for Koh Yao Yai to its south. Phang Nga has 155 islands in all; Koh Yao Yai is the province’s second largest, after Koh Phra Thong.
The district became a full amphoe on 1 January 2531 (1988), after eighty-five years as a minor district created in 2446. It holds three tambon — Koh Yao Noi, Koh Yao Yai and Phru Nai — but four local authorities, because Tambon Koh Yao Noi is divided between the Koh Yao town municipality and the Koh Yao Noi SAO. One point most writing about these islands gets wrong: Koh Yao Yai contains two of the three tambon, so the tambon names are not island names.
Two area figures that are not the same thing. The SAO gives its own area as 46.46 sq km, or 28,021.03 rai. DMCR gives the island as 36.140 sq km. The first is an administrative jurisdiction including water; the second is a land survey of the island. They are not interchangeable and should never be quoted as though one corrects the other.
Getting there, and the number nobody publishes
This is the section where we have to be straight with you. Koh Yao Noi is well connected in the sense that three separate mainland provinces have a pier pointing at it. It is badly documented in the sense that not one Thai government body, and not one ferry operator’s own website, publishes a sailing time, a fare or a last departure for it.
What the Koh Yao Noi SAO does publish, in its own development plan, is the geography of the journey: you board at Tha Dan on the Phang Nga mainland, at Bang Rong in Phuket, or at Tha Len in Krabi; and if you fly in, you land at Phuket International and take a road transfer to Bang Rong. On the island itself, transport is motorbikes, cars, pickup trucks and sidecar motorbikes adapted to carry produce, on roads that are mostly reinforced concrete with some laterite.
| What you need to know | What is officially published |
|---|---|
| Mainland piers named for Koh Yao Noi | Tha Dan (Phang Nga mainland), Bang Rong (Phuket), Tha Len (Krabi) - all three named by the SAO |
| Island pier | Not named in any official document we found. Operators and ticket sites use Manoh pier |
| Crossing time | Not published by any official body or by any operator's own site |
| Frequency | Not published for Koh Yao Noi. Phru Nai municipality publishes 'roughly hourly' for the Bang Rong service, but that service berths on Koh Yao Yai |
| First and last boat | Not published. See the honest gap below - this is the figure that governs daily life here |
| Fare | Not published by any acceptable source |
| To Koh Yao Yai | The Chong Lat channel, 2.3 km, about ten minutes by hired boat (Phru Nai municipality). There is no bridge |
Why we have not simply printed a timetable. Plenty of websites publish one. None of them is a government body or an operator. We checked the largest Andaman operator serving this coast: its own booking system carries Koh Yao Noi’s pier as a destination and returns no sailings for it on any date we tried, while the same system returns real times and fares for its Phi Phi routes. The nearest thing to an official figure belongs to the other island — Phru Nai municipality publishes a 07.30 first boat and 17.40 last boat from Bang Rong, roughly hourly, arriving at Khlong Hia on Koh Yao Yai. Use it to picture the day. Do not use it to plan a connection.
What the Royal Gazette says you may build
This is the single most consequential fact about property on Koh Yao, and it is not a planning guideline or a local preference. It is a ministerial notification published in the Royal Gazette on 27 March 2568, in force from the following day for five years, to 27 March 2030. Clause 7 lists building types that may not be constructed, altered or converted to at all within the protected area, and clause 7(3) names hotels under the hotel law, apartment buildings under the building control law, and condominiums under the condominium law throughout Koh Yao district — then admits them back only inside these limits.
| Limit | Tambon Koh Yao Noi | Tambon Koh Yao Yai & Phru Nai |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum rooms | 79 | 79 |
| Maximum height | 12 metres | 16 metres |
| Combined floor area, all buildings | Under 4,000 sq m | Under 4,000 sq m |
Height is measured from the construction ground level to the highest part of the building, which is the strict reading — roof structures count. Exceed any one of the three and the building type is not merely conditioned, it is prohibited. Separately, clause 11 requires anything of 11 to 49 rooms to comply with the requirements annexed to the notification. We have now read that annex: it runs to two gazette pages of construction-phase conditions — drainage, waste and debris handling, dust screening, a solid fence at least 2 metres high, and noisy work confined to 08.00 to 17.00 — followed by an annual monitoring report to the Phang Nga provincial natural resources and environment office on the form annexed to it. It sets no setback distance, so do not look for one there.
Two related restrictions in the same instrument are worth knowing. All three Koh Yao tambon fall inside the notification’s mangrove conservation zone, where altering the natural condition of mangrove land is prohibited with narrow exceptions. And where private land sits inside mangrove, national park or national reserved forest areas and still carries forest, at least 10 per cent of the forest condition must be kept. DMCR’s island register separately records Ao Phang Nga National Park as the responsible unit for both Koh Yao islands.
Read this as a floor, not a ceiling, on your due diligence. Twelve metres, 79 rooms and 4,000 square metres are the outer bounds of what the environmental notification permits. A specific plot can be constrained further by title type, by the mangrove zone, by park boundaries and by the building-control law. BAANLYY is a listing portal, not a law firm, and this is not legal advice.
Who lives here, and how
The Koh Yao Noi SAO counted 4,478 people in its area — 2,280 men and 2,198 women, across 2,174 households — citing the Koh Yao district registration office as at 27 April 2565. That is the SAO’s jurisdiction rather than the whole tambon, since the town municipality holds the rest, and we could not obtain a current figure for the municipality. So there is no single reliable district population number in this guide, and we would rather say that than add two figures from different years and present the total as fact.
The SAO describes the community as living a Muslim way of life and publishes its own estimate that about 95 per cent of residents are Muslim, the remainder Buddhist. That is the council’s own figure for its own area, and it is worth knowing before you arrive: Friday prayers shape the week, alcohol is not sold as freely as on Phuket, and dress and conduct in the villages follow local norms. It is not a tourist island that happens to have residents. It is a village island that receives some visitors.
Practically: two banks, the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, and 74 shops. A Thai Post branch open 08.00 to 16.00 Monday to Saturday, Saturdays a half day, with private couriers including Kerry alongside it. Schooling runs to M.6 at Koh Yao Wittaya — one of only two schools in the district that do — with three primary schools, a childcare centre and one private school beneath it. And no industrial factories in the SAO’s area at all.
The monsoon, the water and the things we could not confirm
The SAO is unusually candid about its own weather. Its general information page states that during the monsoon travel and contact with the outside world become difficult, and its development plan lists monsoon transport as a threat in the council’s formal SWOT analysis. No official source we found says that any service stops; what Phru Nai municipality documents from the neighbouring island is diversion — in heavy seas the Phuket ferry berths at Ban Laem Yai instead of Loh Jaak. The Thai Meteorological Department puts the southwest monsoon over Thailand from about mid-May to mid-October.
Water is the constraint a long-stay resident will actually meet. The SAO runs its own waterworks rather than being served by the Provincial Waterworks Authority, and it states in its own words that the system runs short in the dry season. Mobile service looks sound: the SAO records all three national networks — AIS, Dtac and True — plus National Telecom fixed line, though it publishes no speeds and we found no NBTC coverage statement for these villages.
- Any crossing time, fare, frequency or last boat for Koh Yao Noi, from a government body or an operator’s own site. Also the island pier’s official name — Manoh appears on ticket sites but in no official document we read.
- Whether Ao Po in Phuket or Ao Nang in Krabi has a service. Both appear as dead entries in one operator’s booking system. Neither council names them; both name Bang Rong and Tha Len.
- The hospital’s bed count and service level, and which mainland hospital receives a referral or how a patient is moved. No government document we could reach states it.
- The general shoreline setback for ordinary buildings. It would sit in the annex to the 2568 notification, which we have not transcribed.
- A current population for the town municipality, and therefore for the district as a whole.
- Whether there is a 7-Eleven, and how many ATMs there are. No official source addresses it, so we say nothing.
- A minor conflict we did not resolve: the provincial health office lists Moo 1 of the tambon as Ban Tha Khai; the SAO’s own plan lists Moo 1 as Ban Thung. Both are government sources.
Frequently asked questions
You go by boat from one of three mainland piers, and nobody official will tell you when the last one leaves. That second half is not us being coy - it is the finding. The Koh Yao Noi SAO's own development plan names the three departure points: Tha Dan on the Phang Nga mainland, Bang Rong in Phuket, and Tha Len in Krabi, with Phuket International Airport and a road transfer to Bang Rong given as the route for arriving passengers. It publishes no times, no frequency and no fares. We checked the district office pages, the Marine Department, and the booking system of the largest Andaman operator serving the area - that operator lists a Koh Yao Noi pier in its own system but returns no sailings for it at all. The one official departure window that exists anywhere in this district belongs to a different island: Phru Nai municipality publishes a first boat at 07.30 and a last boat at 17.40 from Bang Rong, roughly hourly, berthing at Khlong Hia on Koh Yao Yai. Treat that as the shape of the day rather than as your timetable, and confirm the last boat locally before you rely on it. On an island with no evening service, that is the number that decides whether a missed appointment in Phuket costs you a hotel room.
Only a small one, and the limit is national law rather than local policy. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's notification of 27 March 2568, published in the Royal Gazette, prohibits the construction, alteration or change of use of any building into a hotel, an apartment building or a condominium anywhere in Koh Yao district - and then allows them back only within stated limits. On Tambon Koh Yao Noi those limits are no more than 79 rooms, no more than 12 metres in height, and a combined floor area across all the buildings of under 4,000 square metres. Height is measured from the construction ground level to the highest part of the building. Twelve metres is roughly three storeys once you allow for a roof. Note that Koh Yao Noi is held to a tighter ceiling than Koh Yao Yai, which gets 16 metres. Buildings of 11 to 49 rooms must also comply with the technical requirements annexed to the notification, which we have not transcribed. The notification took effect on 28 March 2025 and runs for five years, to 27 March 2030. BAANLYY is a listing portal and not a law firm; none of this is legal advice, and a specific plot needs a Thai lawyer and the district office.
One hospital, and it serves the whole district. Koh Yao Chaipat Hospital sits on Koh Yao Noi and is listed by the Phang Nga Provincial Public Health Office as the district's community hospital, covering all seven villages of Tambon Koh Yao Noi. The SAO confirms the count plainly in its own plan: one hospital in the area. That makes Koh Yao Noi the better-served of the two islands - Koh Yao Yai has no hospital at all, only health-promoting stations, and its residents cross a channel to reach this one. What we could not establish is the hospital's bed count, its service level, or which mainland hospital receives a patient it cannot treat. We looked; no government document we could reach states it. We are not going to name Phang Nga or Vachira Phuket from general knowledge, because on an island the referral destination and the boat that gets you there are exactly the details worth being right about.
It is made difficult, and the difficulty is officially acknowledged, but no source we could find says any service stops. The SAO writes in its own general information that during the monsoon travel and contact with the outside world become difficult, and its development plan lists monsoon-season transport as a formal threat in the council's own SWOT analysis. That is a local authority describing its own island, which is about as direct as this gets. Phru Nai municipality supplies the mechanism from the other island: when wind and waves are strong, the Phuket ferry does not berth at Loh Jaak but at Ban Laem Yai instead. So the honest picture is diversion and disruption, not cancellation. The Thai Meteorological Department puts the southwest monsoon over Thailand from about mid-May to mid-October, and the northeast monsoon from mid-October to about mid-February. One caution on sources: the SAO's own page describes the May to September monsoon as the southeast monsoon, which does not match the national definition. We quote it as written rather than correct it silently, but we would not cite that page on monsoon direction.
Thinly, and the banking is the sharpest constraint. The SAO lists exactly two banks in its area - the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives - alongside 74 shops. Both are state banks; no commercial bank branch appears in the list. For schooling the island is better placed than most: three primary schools with rolls of about 67, 52 and 76 pupils, one secondary school, Koh Yao Wittaya, at about 270, a childcare centre at about 180 and one private school, Sattham, at about 146. Koh Yao Wittaya is one of only two schools in the whole district that run to M.6, the final year - the other is on Koh Yao Yai. There is a Thai Post branch open 08.00 to 16.00 Monday to Saturday, Saturday mornings only, plus private couriers. The SAO also records that there are no industrial factories in its area, which tells you something about what the island is and intends to remain.
Mobile coverage looks genuinely fine; water is the one to ask about. The SAO records all three national mobile networks operating in its area - AIS, Dtac and True - plus fixed service from National Telecom. It publishes no speeds and no coverage map, and we found no NBTC statement naming these villages, so treat 'all three networks are present' as the ceiling of what is documented. Water is a different matter, and the SAO says so itself: it runs its own waterworks rather than being served by the Provincial Waterworks Authority, and it states plainly that the system runs short in the dry season. If you are weighing a long stay, ask the specific house how it gets through March and April, and whether it has its own storage.
Related guides
- Koh Yao Yai — the bigger island ten minutes across the channel, with two tambon, no hospital and a 16-metre ceiling.
- Phang Nga — the province this district belongs to, and the bay it sits in the middle of.
- Phuket — the airport, the hospitals and the property market an hour’s boat away.
- Foreign condominium ownership — the framework, on an island where the law caps the building at 79 rooms.
- Leasehold versus freehold — what a foreign buyer can actually hold.
- National parks in Thailand — Ao Phang Nga is the responsible unit for both Koh Yao islands.
- Retiring in Thailand — the route that most often brings people to a quiet island.
- Island living in Thailand — how the islands differ on the things that decide a move.
An hour from an international airport, and nothing like it
Koh Yao Noi is the trade between quiet and convenience, made concrete. If that is the trade you are weighing, look at what is listed around the bay it sits in.
Sources & References
- Royal Gazette, Vol. 142, Special Part 152 Ngo, 27 March 2568 - the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment notification setting environmental protection areas and measures for Khura Buri, Takua Pa, Thai Mueang, Thap Put, Mueang Phang Nga, Takua Thung and Koh Yao districts, B.E. 2568. Clause 7(3) prohibits hotels, apartment buildings and condominiums throughout Koh Yao district except within the limits at (a) and (b) on page 8; clause 11 applies the annexed requirements to buildings of 11 to 49 rooms; clause 20 gives a five-year term from the day after publication. We read the room, height and floor-area figures off the page images because the PDF's Thai numerals do not extract reliably. The room, height and floor-area figures at clause 7(3)(a) and (b), the 11-to-49-room scope of clause 11 and the five-year term at clause 20 were re-read directly off the gazette page images and confirmed on 18 September 2026
- Koh Yao Noi Subdistrict Administrative Organisation - its own reviewed local development plan (2nd edition, 2566-2570), which gives the three mainland piers, an administrative area of 46.46 sq km, a population of 4,478 as at 27 April 2565, the single hospital, the two banks, the school rolls and the three mobile networks
- Koh Yao Noi Subdistrict Administrative Organisation - the SAO's own general information page, which states that in the monsoon travel and contact with the outside world become difficult, and that the SAO runs its own water supply which falls short in the dry season
- Department of Marine and Coastal Resources - the national island register for Phang Nga province, which gives Koh Yao Noi at 36.140 sq km and Koh Yao Yai at 87.241 sq km, and records Ao Phang Nga National Park as the responsible unit for both
- Phang Nga Provincial Public Health Office - the provincial list of facilities in its own service, which names Koh Yao Chaipat Hospital as the district's community hospital and lists the seven villages of Tambon Koh Yao Noi that it serves
- Community Development Department, Koh Yao district office - the district's own history: a minor district from 2446 and a full district from 1 January 2531, with four local authorities across three tambon
- Phru Nai Subdistrict Municipality - its own local development plan (2566-2570, first revision 2566), which publishes the only official departure window we could find for any Koh Yao crossing, and the 2.3 km Chong Lat channel between the two islands at about ten minutes by hired boat
- Thai Meteorological Department - the national monsoon calendar: the southwest monsoon over Thailand from about mid-May to mid-October, the northeast monsoon from about mid-October to mid-February
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.
