Pa Ting (Don Sak)
Bib Gourmand 2026

🔄 Last checked 2 Jul 2026 · details and hours can change — check the venue before you go

If there's one restaurant that tells the story of Don Sak best, it's Pa Ting. This restaurant has been open since 1967, started by Pa Boontung Petchsri, before moving to its current spot by the water at Pak Khlong Don Sak in 1972. Do the math and it's been over fifty years that this family kitchen has been feeding the people of Don Sak and travelers crossing to the islands. Today the second generation, Khun Cheewan Promthong, Pa Ting's daughter, has taken over running the restaurant, with siblings helping out in the kitchen in a genuinely family-run way. Same recipes, same hands, same atmosphere. When MICHELIN expanded its guide to cover Surat Thani in 2024, Pa Ting earned a Bib Gourmand right from that first year, and has kept the status all the way through to the 2026 guide — which says a lot, since Bib Gourmand is the award for restaurants that are genuinely delicious at prices ordinary people can afford.

The heart of the restaurant is its all-local seafood: fresh blue swimmer crab, oysters from Kanchanadit, Surat Thani's famous oyster source, and the true signature ingredient — cha khram leaves from the coastal mangrove forest, a local vegetable with a salty-tangy edge that people from other regions have rarely encountered. It goes into crab and cha khram curry, which has become the restaurant's must-order dish. The dishes the MICHELIN inspectors singled out are salted grey mullet spicy salad and sour curry with fresh grey mullet. Grey mullet is a fish Southern locals consider a regional prize, and here it comes both salted for the spicy salad and fresh for a sour curry that goes full-throttle on bold Southern flavor. There's also boiled white clams with lemongrass, served piping hot, and stir-fried prawns with sataw beans and shrimp paste — a dish that packs the best of the South onto one plate.

What makes this restaurant stand out from an ordinary seafood spot is its location. Don Sak is the gateway to Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan, and anyone driving to catch the ferry has to pass through this district — Pa Ting sits only about ten minutes from the pier. Locals from Surat Thani and travelers in the know like to stop for a big meal before boarding, or on the way back from the islands, close out the trip with a hot sour curry right by the canal, eating while watching the water go by — the kind of Gulf-of-Thailand port-town feeling no island resort can give you. If your Samui trip has a gap for one more meal, this should be it.

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Seafood / local Southern food

Pa Ting (Don Sak)

📍 Pak Khlong Don Sak, Don Sak district 🧭 Pak Khlong Don Sak, Don Sak district ⭐ 4.4 · 124 reviews (Google)

🔖 เก็บลงแผนเก็บแผน

🖼️ รูป 🗺️ แผนที่

Photo: Pa Ting restaurant official Facebook page🔍 แตะเพื่อซูม

🖼️ แตะรูปเพื่อซูมในหน้า · แผนที่ / โซเชียลฝังจากต้นทาง (ถูกลิขสิทธิ์)

Approx. price250–500

🏨 Well-located hotels in Koh Samui📍 View map

👍 Best forStop for real Southern-style seafood before or after the ferry to Koh Samui-Pha Ngan — a light-budget family meal by the water

🍽️ Bib GourmandBib GourmandSeafoodSouthern food

🕐Mon 9:00–20:30, Tue–Sun 9:30–20:30

🥢Signature — Crab and cha khram curry

A very comfortable budget for a MICHELIN-listed restaurant, running around 250–500 THB per person, and it takes credit cards too. It's walk-in, no reservation needed, but if you want to check ahead or you're coming as a large group, you can call 063-982-6959 (the number listed in the MICHELIN Guide) or 077-371-126 and 092-956-5593. Hours are Monday 9:00–20:30 and Tuesday–Sunday 9:30–20:30, with the restaurant's Facebook page noting last order at 20:30. Dress is casual.

The restaurant sits by the water at Pak Khlong Don Sak, Don Sak district, Surat Thani, around 10 minutes by car from the ferry pier to Koh Samui/Koh Pha Ngan. That's exactly the planning tip — if you're heading to Samui by car and ferry, build in time to stop for lunch or dinner right before boarding. Or if you're on your way back from the islands, it's perfectly placed for a stop before the long drive into town. The busiest times are around ferry departure and arrival slots, so if you want to sit back and enjoy the water without fighting for a table, aim to come a bit before or after those times. Dishes that should be on your table: crab and cha khram curry, salted grey mullet spicy salad, and boiled white clams with lemongrass.

Must-tryCrab and cha khram currySalted grey mullet spicy saladSour curry with fresh grey mulletBoiled white clams with lemongrassStir-fried prawns with sataw beans and shrimp paste