DKaYa Hostel

Accommodation at DKaYa Hostel is in dormitory rooms, most with bunk beds and one with a single bed. One room has a park view and air conditioning, and several rooms have a shower.

Rooms can have a desk, a locker, a fan, a refrigerator or a microwave, and the hostel has both shared and private bathrooms.

Guests can use a shared lounge with a TV area, a game room, a bar and a garden, and the hostel offers massage. Restaurants, a snack bar, BBQ facilities and a shared kitchen are on site, along with a vending machine.

For getting around, the hostel has an airport transfer, bicycle rental and car hire. There is also currency exchange, a laundry service and luggage storage, and a 24-hour front desk.

The hostel also offers diving, snorkelling, fishing and tours, and it has daily housekeeping. The garden and the shared lounge with its TV area offer places to sit and relax, and the bar and restaurants are both on site.

Bang Niang is a low-key part of the Khao Lak coast in Phangnga province, where the beach, a local afternoon market and small shops and guesthouses sit close together. Khao Lak is on the mainland, so the coast and the hills behind it are reached by road rather than by boat.

The International Tsunami Museum, which documents the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, is 100 m away, and Bang Niang Beach is 1 km away. The Ton Chong Fa Waterfall and the Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park, with its forest trails, lie in the hills nearby. Similan National Park, known for diving and snorkelling, lies off the coast. Many of these sights are beyond walking distance, so a vehicle is useful for the waterfalls and the park.

A good day here could start at the museum, continue with a swim at Bang Niang Beach and end at the afternoon market. For a different beach, Khuk Khak Beach lies along the same coast, close enough to combine with a visit to Bang Niang Beach on the same day. Boat trips to the Similan islands run from the Khao Lak coast, and boat trips can be affected by rough sea conditions in the rainy months.