Chong Samaesan Village

Chong Samaesan is the mainland fishing village and pier at Sattahip, about 30 km south of central Pattaya, and the departure point for boats to Koh Samae San island offshore. It’s a working harbour village first — more than a hundred fishing boats moor here — and a jumping-off point for the island second, and the two shouldn’t be confused: the village itself has open, unrestricted access, while the island is a Royal Thai Navy-managed conservation area with capped, ticketed entry.

Boats return to the pier through the morning with the day’s catch, and a small harbour market sorts and sells fish and squid as it comes in. Walking the village takes you past working boat repair yards, drying nets, and modest wooden houses that make up the fishing community’s daily rhythm — this isn’t a curated cultural site, just a functioning harbour that visitors are free to walk through. If you’re headed to Koh Samae San, this is also where you’ll pick up your boat: the navy runs crossings from the nearby Khao Ma Jor pier several times a day between roughly 9am and 2pm, with tickets sold in person at the Thai Island and Sea Natural History Museum building rather than booked online.

Because the two places sit so close together, most visitors treat Chong Samaesan as a stopover rather than a full destination in its own right — a look at the harbour before or after the island crossing, rather than a half-day trip on its own.

Insider Tip: If you’re combining the village with the Koh Samae San boat, arrive early — queue numbers for the island crossing are handed out from around 7am and tickets are sold on a first-come basis at the museum building, not reserved in advance.

Watch out: Don’t assume the village and the island have the same access rules. The harbour is open to anyone, but the island crossing is a separate, navy-controlled booking with its own fee and daily visitor cap — check current details before planning your day around it.

Koh Samae San is the island itself, reached from this pier, and the Thai Island and Sea Natural History Museum at Khao Ma Jor is where island boat tickets are sold — both make natural pairings with a stop in Pattaya’s wider Sattahip coastline.