Pak Meng beach & Hat Chao Mai by scooter — the coast road from Sikao.
Ten kilometres of easy road from Sikao to a long, quiet, karst-framed beach, then a coast road south through the national park. Here is what it is really like, where to stop, and what to watch for on the road.
- ✓A half-day loop with times per leg
- ✓Riding conditions: sand, dogs, rain, the surface
- ✓What the monsoon changes · written September 2026
What Pak Meng is like
A long crescent of tan sand with a line of casuarina trees behind it and limestone islands standing out of the sea in front. It is not a swimming-pool beach: the water is shallow and the sand is firmer and browner than the island beaches. What it has instead is space, a row of seafood restaurants under the trees, and a crowd that is mostly Thai families on a Sunday afternoon and almost nobody on a Tuesday.
The pier for the island boats is at the north end. The national park starts at the south end, where the beach becomes Hat Chang Lang and the park headquarters sit among the trees. Trang town is about 40 km behind you; Sikao is about 10 km.
The ride from Sikao
Out of Sikao you follow Route 4046 west. It is a proper two-lane road, mostly good tarmac, with plantations on both sides and the limestone hills getting closer as you go. Around 10 km and 15 minutes at a scooter pace, then the road ends at the beach and you turn left or right along the front.
South from Pak Meng the coast road, Route 4162, runs behind Hat Chang Lang and on towards Hat Yong Ling and Hat Yao. This is the good bit: quieter, shaded in places, sea on your right. The surface is patchier than 4046, and to reach Yong Ling the road loops inland for a stretch on Route 4008, so do not expect sea views the whole way.
Hat Chao Mai National Park
Most of the park is sea. On the mainland it takes in the beaches south of Pak Meng — Chang Lang, Yong Ling, Yao and San — and offshore it holds Koh Mook, Koh Kradan, the Emerald Cave and the small islands around them. The park headquarters is at Hat Chang Lang, with a campsite and simple bungalows under the trees.
A foreign-visitor entrance fee has applied in past years (around ฿200 an adult, less for children; last checked September 2026) — confirm at the gate. Pak Meng beach itself is free. The park’s official page is in Thai but has the notices; the Travelfish mainland-beaches page is a fair English overview.
Where to stop, north to south
Seafood under the casuarinas. Best late afternoon, when the light goes gold behind the islands and the day-trippers head home.
Long, near-empty, with the park buildings and campsite at the back. The quietest walk you will find within 15 minutes of a restaurant.
Reached by the inland loop on Route 4008, so it takes more effort and gets fewer people. Slow down on the last stretch — sand on the road.
Long beach between limestone cliffs and a mangrove river mouth, with the pier for the Koh Libong boats. A natural turnaround point for a half-day.
The dugongs and the seagrass
The seagrass meadows off Koh Libong, south of Hat Yao, were for a long time the biggest in Thailand and home to most of the country’s Andaman dugongs. You will see the dugong on signs all over Trang. What the signs do not say is that it has been a rough few years.
Between about 2020 and 2024 the seagrass around Libong shrank by somewhere between half and two-thirds, and the dugongs starved or moved north. An estimate of nearly 200 animals at Libong in 2023 fell to perhaps ten by early 2025. Aerial surveys in early 2026 counted 33 again, including mothers with calves, and the island’s Dugong Guardians network is replanting seagrass with university partners. The numbers come from the surveys reported in Mongabay’s May 2026 report, the best plain account we have read. If a boatman promises you a guaranteed dugong sighting, keep your money.
A half-day loop
Roughly 60–70 km round trip from Sikao, about four to five hours with stops. Start early or start at 14:00 — the middle of the day is for shade.
Sikao to Pak Meng, 15 min
Fuel up in Sikao first — the village pumps along the coast are not reliable for the whole loop. Route 4046 west to the beach. Coffee at the front, look at the islands, note the pier for later.
Chang Lang and the park HQ, 10 min
Turn south on 4162. Pull in at the park entrance, walk the beach. Pay the fee if you are going into the park proper.
The inland loop to Yong Ling, 20–30 min
Follow 4162 south and take the turn onto 4008 for the inland loop. Slow down on the last approach: expect sand on the tarmac.
Hat Yao and the pier, 20–30 min
Back out and south to Hat Yao. Lunch at the pier, watch the Libong boats. This is your turnaround.
Home for the light, 1 h
Retrace, or take Route 4046 back if you have had enough coast. Aim to be at Pak Meng or back in Sikao an hour before sunset — the last light on the karsts is the whole point.
Riding conditions
- Sand on the roadAnywhere the road runs close to the beach, and on the approaches to the smaller beaches. It behaves like ice under a scooter tyre. Brake before the corner, not in it
- DogsVillage dogs sleep on warm tarmac and chase for sport. Do not swerve; slow down, keep straight, they lose interest at the edge of their patch
- RainComes in fast off the sea, especially May to October. The first five minutes are the slippery ones — oil and dust lift off the surface. Pull under a shop awning and wait it out
- The surface4046 is good. 4162 has patched sections and the odd pothole full of water after rain. 4008 is the quieter, smaller road of the three. None of it is rough, but none of it is a motorway either
- Pickups and minivansThey overtake on blind corners and expect you to make room. Ride to the left, use your mirrors, let them go
- Kit: helmet, sleeves, waterHelmet on, always — every bike comes with one, and police checkpoints on these roads will want your licence too. The stretch from Sikao to the coast has no shade; by 11:00 you are cooking
What the monsoon months change
Roughly May to October the wind comes from the south-west, the sea gets up, and the rain arrives most afternoons. The mainland does not close — Pak Meng, Chang Lang and the coast road are open all year, the restaurants are quieter and the light after a storm is better than anything in high season.
The islands are a different matter. In past years the park has closed Koh Mook, Koh Kradan and the small islands around them for part of the wet season; announcements have named June to September, and the dates have moved from year to year. Do not plan an island day in those months without checking the current year’s park notice. Boats to Koh Ngai and Koh Libong have generally kept going, but fewer of them and only when the sea allows.
Prices, all in
Per day, in Thai baht. Helmet included with every bike.
Delivery, per bike
Sikao, Pak Meng, Bo Hin, Pak Meng pier and Hat Yao pier. Trang town, Trang airport and the bus station on request. ฿2,000 deposit, passport copy only, bikes insured with the rider covering the excess, full tank out and full tank back.
Two things people ask
- Which bike for the coast road?Any of them. The Click 125 and NMax 155 are automatic and the easy choice; the NMax is bigger and more comfortable two-up. The Wave 125 is manual and cheapest, and handles the patchier 4162 fine if you are used to gears
- What if I drop the bike on the sand?The bikes are insured and you cover the excess; light damage we settle directly. A puncture is the rider’s to fix. A mechanical fault is ours — message us and we come out or swap the bike