Southern Thailand · Trang

Trang travel guide: dim sum breakfasts, dugongs and the Emerald Cave

Trang is a laid-back southern town that TAT calls a five-star destination for food lovers, where Chinese, Muslim and Thai traditions meet at the breakfast table. Offshore, the islands of Hat Chao Mai National Park hold the Emerald Cave of Koh Mook and seagrass beds that are Thailand's largest habitat for dugongs.

AsiaVela editorial teamUpdated 1 October 20263 min read

White sand and turquoise water at Ko Kradan with limestone islands on the horizon — Ko Kradan, Hat Chao Mai National Park.

Suggested time: 2–3 days
Where to stay: Trang town; the islands for a beach night
Season and timing: November to April for calm seas to the islands.

The short answer

Spend two or three days. Start early with roast pork (mu yang) and dim sum, try Trang cake and kopi coffee, and visit the weekend walking street in front of the station. Take a boat trip to Koh Mook to swim through the Emerald Cave at low tide (light is best between 10:00 and 14:00). Trang has an airport and a railway station.

Breakfast in Trang

TAT recommends getting up early: breakfast in Trang means mu yang — whole pigs marinated with Chinese herbs, spices and honey and roasted overnight — with dim sum and Chinese tea, at one of more than 70 such shops in town.

Also try khanom chin rice noodles with fish curry and, for coffee, ask for kopi, black and sweet, with deep-fried bread.

Trang cake and the walking street

Trang cake, a soft ring-shaped sponge, dates back about a century to a Chinese baker, TAT explains; orange and coffee are the best sellers.

The Trang Walking Street night market sets up in front of the railway station on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports' directory.

A limestone island rising from clear turquoise sea off Ko Kradan — Islands of the Trang coast.

Make time for the local food

What to eat and where to look

Baskets of steamed dim sum on a table at a Trang breakfast restaurant — A Trang dim sum breakfast.

Mu yang (Trang roast pork)

Whole pig marinated and roasted overnight, served at breakfast with dim sum, as TAT describes.

Where to look: Breakfast shops in Trang town.
Fit it into your day: Breakfast.

Pork; shops sell out by mid-morning.

Trang cake

A ring-shaped sponge cake baked without baking soda, TAT notes.

Where to look: Bakeries in town.
Fit it into your day: A gift or afternoon snack.

Contains egg and wheat.

Kopi and khanom chin

Strong sweet coffee, and rice noodles with fish curry.

Where to look: Coffee shops and noodle shops in town.
Fit it into your day: Breakfast.

Fish curry is spicy.

The Emerald Cave

On Koh Mook in Hat Chao Mai National Park, Tham Morakot (the Emerald Cave) can be entered only at low tide: you swim with your head above water through a dark, curving tunnel to a hidden lagoon and beach, as the directory describes. Light enters between about 10:00 and 14:00.

Go with a guide, wear a life jacket and follow the boat crew's timing.

The dugong fountain at a roundabout in Trang town — The Dugong Roundabout in Trang town.

Dugongs and the seagrass

TAT reports that Trang is Thailand's largest habitat for dugongs; 185 were recorded offshore in 2019, around seagrass beds between Yong Lam beach and Koh Mook.

If you see one, keep your distance and ask boatmen to slow down.