Spis Treści
Intro
Few abandoned places in Southeast Asia are as fascinating as the Ghost Ship Resort on Koh Chang, Thailand. Hidden deep in the island’s tropical jungle, this unfinished luxury development has become one of the country’s most famous urbex destinations.
At the heart of the resort once stood The Galaxy—a gigantic seven-story ship-shaped hotel designed to become the centerpiece of an exclusive beachfront paradise. Instead, it became a symbol of abandoned ambition, mystery, and urban decay.
Today, only ruins remain.
Click to enlrage.
What Happened to the Ghost Ship Resort?
The resort was envisioned as a high-end luxury destination on Thailand’s second-largest island. However, like many overly ambitious developments, the project never reached its full potential.
Financial problems, disappointing visitor numbers, and rising maintenance costs forced construction to stop. The unfinished buildings were abandoned, leaving the tropical jungle to slowly reclaim roads, villas, swimming pools, and hotels.
As the years passed, the abandoned resort attracted photographers, explorers, and YouTubers from around the world. It also became surrounded by local legends. Some visitors claim the property feels unsettling after sunset, while others describe hearing strange noises or sensing an unexplained presence. Whether these stories are true or simply part of the site’s growing mythology is impossible to say—but they have certainly added to its reputation.
The Fire That Destroyed The Galaxy
In December 2024, the Ghost Ship’s story took a tragic turn.
The iconic ship-shaped hotel caught fire, and the blaze destroyed almost the entire structure. Despite considerable attention from the urbex community, the exact cause of the fire has never been officially confirmed. The damage was so extensive that The Galaxy, as explorers knew it, effectively disappeared forever. Although much of the surrounding resort still exists, one of Thailand’s most recognizable abandoned landmarks has now been lost.
Sources
- https://theo-courant.com/en/koh-chang-ghost-ship-exploration/
- https://theo-courant.com/en/koh-chang-ghost-ship-fire-destroy/
Our visit to Koh Chang
I came across this place completely by chance. I spent the last two weeks of my stay in Asia on Koh Chang. The plan was simple: no schedule, no pressure-just relax.
While talking to people I met on the island, one topic kept coming up. They all mentioned a place at the very southern tip of Koh Chang, about a 30-minute scooter ride from where I was staying. An abandoned luxury resort. Supposedly, it was more than just another set of ruins. Naturally, I had to see it for myself.
Click to enlrage.
From the very first steps, I knew this wasn’t an ordinary abandoned place. The silence felt heavy-almost overwhelming. Buildings slowly being reclaimed by nature, empty spaces, and an eerie atmosphere… as if time had suddenly stopped there and never moved forward again. For years, this place has been surrounded online by an aura of mystery, nostalgia, and something that’s hard to put into words. And honestly? Once you’re there, you begin to understand why. That’s why I decided to put together a detailed report about this location—a story that’s impossible to tell in just a few sentences.
Things to do in Koh Chang
Koh Chang is a very big island, so there’s plenty of things you can do here, I’ll list in here, the places I’ve been going to regularly and doing while on the island, these places are also listed down below within the map I created, to give one a better idea on where to find them.
Go for a trip to the Abandoned Resort
The main topic of this article, nothing to add – 30 minutes by bike from Blue Sky Resort.
Take a snorkelling trip with BB Divers
You can find the BB Divers office to the south of Koh Chang island, the the pier. They offer a was range of services and the trip that I had with them was to put it simply – amazing – ~8 hours trips, they pick you up, take you to their office, explain the details of the trip and then while on a boat they take you to the best snorkelling / diving places found on the Island. 3 different places to dive in, great food – amazing journey!
Click to enlrage.
Ride a Scooter and explore the area
Given how vast the area is it’s impossible to walk around the island, with so many points on it – it’s likely you’ll need a ride or a scooter at least. My recommendation is to go ahead and explore the area yourself. Koh Chang has plenty to offer – from hikking trips, kayaking trips through, elephant shows direclty on the beach.
Click to enlrage.
Meet the locals
Koh Chang is full of amazing people and it’d be a pity not to get to know them a little bit better. I’ve been regularly visiting Tip & Wit – a great couple who run a small shop / restaurant close to the Blue Sky Resort, and I’ve been regularly going to the Crazy Toads pool & bar run by a wonderful Thai lady. You can see the locations of both of these places on the map.
Click to enlrage.
Recommended Places to Stay on Koh Chang
Blue Sky Resort
During my stay on Koh Chang, I stayed in two different accommodations that, much like the island itself, I discovered almost by accident.
One of them was Blue Sky Resort, run by an incredibly kind and welcoming Italian named Umberto, with whom I stayed for nearly two weeks. It was here that I met many great people who eventually joined me on the urbex adventure described above.
Blue Sky Resort offers two types of accommodation:
- Bungalows without air conditioning
- Seafront cottages with air conditioning
I definitely recommend the second option-the island is extremely hot throughout the day, and air conditioning makes a huge difference.
Click to enlrage.
Jungle Fever Hostel
After spending some time at Blue Sky Resort, I decided to cut my accommodation costs and moved to a hostel recommended by a friend called Jungle Fever. I was genuinely surprised to discover that this jungle hostel featured a large swimming pool, a billiards table, and a fantastic community of interesting travelers from all over the world. I rate this place just as highly as Blue Sky Resort. On top of that, the friendly and helpful owners made the experience even better.
Click to enlrage.
My Docummentary of the area
Note: The documentary was filmed over the period of 5 days with a GoPro and DJI Neo 2. I gathered all of the available information found on the Internet and made the video using Eleven Labs AI voiceover. So, to some extent, the video is AI-generated.
Interactive Map of places in Koh Chang
Filter the map via places I visited myself, that I recommend and I think that are worth visiting in Koh Chang.
Filter
Click a pin for a preview, then read the full article.