DARA Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Koh Chang (Thailand) Reviews, Best Costs in 2025

There are far better rehabs in Thailand, (at least research The Cabin, Hope, or Serenity). Dara is poorly run, with interns taking process ! The groups are ridiculous, the less send about the counsellors the better (for vegan / veggie's) the food was awful. Only fit for the monkeys which are constantly around at meal times. The facilities are outdated, (the most filthy yoga matts) After being at The Cabin, (then speaking with admission who is really sales) i felt i could save a bit of my limited personal budget and stay longer if i went to Dara, I realised my mistake after the first night. they convinced me to stay 6 nights, It was as if they were pretending to help. Please, if you or a loved one needs help, don't be fooled by the marketing or website. Choose somewhere else. Namaste

I spent a long time looking for a suitable rehabilitation center and chose DARA. And I didn’t regret it! Here I received comprehensive treatment, which included not only drug therapy, but also psychological help. Thanks to this, I was able to cope with the craving and return to normal life. I recommend this center to everyone who has encountered the problem of addiction.

DARA is not just a rehabilitation center, it is my second home, which I will never forget. Here I found support, understanding and gained self-confidence. The treatment program helped me not only to recover physically, but also to understand the reasons for my addiction. I am very grateful for everything that was done for me and for the new friends.

I never believed that I could completely get rid of my addiction. But thanks to DARA, my life has changed completely. The professional approach of the staff to breakdowns, an individual program and an incredible heavenly vacation helped me completely cope with my problem. Finally, I gained self-confidence and learned to live a full life.

I am from the United States and my son Chris was suffering from Opiate abuse. He had previously attempted to receive help at various rehabs in the United States but unfortunately was unsuccessful. When he felt as though he was ready to try again, he and his girlfriend looked into different options outside of the United States for various reasons. First and foremost the cost for any rehab comparable to Dara in the US is astronomical, and second, most of the programs that were affordable did not fit his needs or had a long waiting list. After much research they decided that Dara Rebab in Thailand appealed to him. The different approaches as well as the diverse programs seemed interesting and challenging. When the idea was presented to me (his mom) I was totally apprehensive. The thought of sending my 25 year old my son to Thailand was terrifying to me on so many different levels! The fear of the unknown always is. I called and addressed these concerns and questions with the Senior Intake Coordinator. She was so totally understanding of my apprehension and took the time to answer all my questions and then some. The fact that she herself is from the US was also reassuring and supportive. I believe I called her many times following that initial phone call, and never once did I feel like I was a bother or asking questions that were "silly". I cant say enough about the administration personnel, they never made me feel pressured and they were exceptionally helpful. I was ALWAYS able to reach either one of them at any time day or night (which was very challenging being the time difference was 13 hours). Everything ran smooth from the time Chris was picked up at the airport and transferred to his destination for his stay at Dara, to his exit. Their ability to counsel and change with the situation at hand was done without making anyone feel uncomfortable or troublesome. The counseling he received was equally remarkable, Since Chris has been home, his counselor has reached out to him (and me) with concerns for him and offered Skype sessions if needed. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that I would highly recommend Dara. As anyone who has an issue of substance abuse knows, the decision of going to rehab is a very delicate and freighting one. I feel that Dara rehab was able to make these issues run smooth with the clients best interest in mind. The words genuine and caring come to mind when I think of the Dara Rehab experience my son was given. I am pleased to say that since Chris completed Dara's program for substance abuse approximately two months ago, he is still substance free. My hopes and prayers are he will remain substance fee as we all know this is a day to day struggle that will be with him forever. I will always be thankful to Dara for all of their help and support they gave to not only Chris, but also to my family. God Bless Them!

I relapsed twice over the past 7 months, having previously enjoyed 15 years of sobriety free of alcohol (my only dependency challenge), after bumping along between increasingly long sober patches and relapses during four decades. The first relapse I neither fully thought through nor took seriously enough, although I did take some remedial steps. The second advised me inconveniently that something more basic was at play undermining my sobriety. And I realized, with the help of friends, that I needed to delve into the state of mind and heart that was predisposing me again to drink. In that sense, my relapses may well have been a “cry for help”, including a greater effort at self-help. So I started investigating programs that might help me. I was looking for a refresher course rather than a full-duration (4-5 week) cycle of programming. I had experienced several rehab and equivalent programs, good, bad and ugly (the latter, a sboot camp approach, which surely did not inspire sobriety in any of its clients, appealing to fear and loathing rather than to reason and emotional exploration). After considerable research (I was by then several days sober) by friends and myself, I zeroed in on two programs in Thailand, both with excellent overall reputations. Either would probably have done a very good job, but my MD thought that the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approach of the Dara Rehab program might suit me best. My research zeroed in on Thailand for several reasons: in my case, proximity; the financial costs relative to those of programs elsewhere; availability of places for immediate admission; and the apparent seriousness of the program (from comments available on-line and from several professionals I consulted). My MD’s advice proved inspired. I spent ten days with Dara (one night of well-organized “intake” in Bangkok, and 9 days at the Koh Chang rehab center). There, the other “clients” proved a diverse lot hailing mainly from the Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with a few others thrown in. The staff was overwhelmingly quite young, highly motivated and disposed to treat clients as individuals rather than raw material for a cookie-cutter approach. Importantly they “shared” in the very frequent and well-managed group sessions along-side the clients. The schedule was a busy one, with at least three and sometimes four group sessions a days interspersed with sports, therapeutic sessions and some (but not very much) time for relaxation. Weekends are looser (including several well-chosen excursions) and a welcome break after agreeably intense schedules during the week. I had thought that one-on-one therapy would work best for me, as it had in the past, and, indeed, was assigned an excellent, highly intuitive counsellor who ably shifted gears to meet me half-way in what were very helpful bilateral sessions. The surprise for me was that the group meetings were at least as important to my ability and motivation to develop a fairly detailed program of change in my professional and personal life, not least adapting more willingly to the reality of advancing years, and reflecting this both in my work and private lives. This program of change I am already beginning to implement. I was highly satisfied by the outcome, and emerged admiring both the program itself and the team. Need I add that even though many of us clients had not so much in common with each other, I came to like the others very much, in the atmosphere conducive to comity fostered by the Dara team rather than to one of petty-minded calculations and feuds (a pit-fall in many group settings). A word about Dara and AA. In earlier treatment centers, I discovered that while aspects of AA were helpful to me, others were not. So a mix of AA-derived (or cultivated) principles and CBT worked best for me. The religious zeal brought to bear by some devotees on their practice of AA, the semi-coercive tone that creeps in at times (against the philosophy of the founders) and the difficulty at times of finding a group essentially sympathetic to one’s personality, has tended, over time, to undermine the reputation of AA, although the economy of means upon which it rests is admirable under any circumstances. Dara got the mix just right, with more emphasis on CBT but with key themes and lessons of AA overlapping helpfully. Thus, those moving on from Dara should be able to find comfort and help in a sympathetic AA group nearby. In brief, an excellent experience, and a very helpful one for me.

Luxurious, very well-designed program, great food, personal space and time. Lots of activities, as well as a personal fitness center. Individual training sessions tailored to your physical shape and desires. Weekend day trips, fishing, waterfalls, Thai cuisine, etc. A soothing quiet place. Massages. The ability to use the phone and computer in private time for work or socializing with friends and family. Private hut/room, which is cleaned daily, has a toilet, shower and refrigerator. TV in the room. Fun group classes, games. A safe place. Music, billiards, board games, ping pong, etc . Meditation lessons, yoga. You are pushed out of your comfort zone a little bit as part of rehabilitation, which is quite difficult at first if your addiction is long-standing. Good medical care on site. There is a large hospital nearby

My 24 year old son is about to complete his month at Dara. The changes in his perception and self awareness are astonishing. The treatment at Dara is second to non in my opinion, and has opened a door in his mind that I thought would be forever closed. The CBT, and group sessions have been really effective. I\'ve never heard my son speak so eloquently about his former addiction, understanding the processes behind it, and be so excited about living a clean life. His focal councillor has been amazing. and my son respects him and has learned so much about himself from him. This is miraculous as my son had trust issues, and we never thought he\'d open up, and absorb so much in a month of Sundays. The CBT has suited him perfectly. He\'s taken the bit in between his teeth and run with it to a point that he\'s showing interest in studying the process. This is amazing to us. The open aspect of Dara .. ie: phones when appropriate, and out side contact when not in sessions has been great, from our point of view, and for his too. It\'s enabled him to share in his development with family and friends. The excursions a lifeline to the outside that he\'s looked forward to, and has worked harder to make sure he gets on them! All the staff have been wonderful, from bottom to top. The schedule of work is intense - the down time nurturing and fun and safe - the food, accommodation and communication beyond good. My personal experience with admin has been that they are efficient, professional, amenable. I checked him in to Dara Koh Chang and was shown around and the place is lovely, clean, luxurious and a piece of peaceful heaven in which to aid recovery. We were collected from Trat Airport and taken to the Chanthaburi centre on the mainland, the day before arriving on Koh Chang, for him to be inducted into the programme, the staff were on point, helpful, not pushy when I had to make payment, and did all they could to make me feel relaxed. They fed me and transported me to my hotel, then came back the next day to take me and my son to the ferry and on to the Koh Chang facility. It\'s family and loved ones friendly - I didn\'t feel excluded in the short time I spent handing over my son into their care, in fact I felt that this effort by Dara made me even more positive that it was the right place for him to heal. And it has been - from start to finish. I have no complaints at all. I\'d recommend Dara in a heart beat.

I stayed at Dara Koh Chang for two months earlier this year to treat clinically pronounced depressive alcohol use as a "make me happy" remedy, as most people know what can make you happy for a few minutes, and then what?? My stay was fantastic - the accommodation - the surroundings - the fantastic food was all there, but the most amazing was the advisory staff - a great variety in education and education, but always there Not only for classes, but also for private consultations or just 10-15 chats on things it was on my mind (and I had a lot of things on my mind) And also the wonderful support staff - the girls working at the reception helped with almost everything, and went overboard, kind and responsive, and most importantly - I'm from a hospitality background, and I can assure you, it's amazing. But as long as it looks like a beautiful resort - and has all the amenities, please do not forget that there are rules to follow - classes to attend, etc. - everyone who follows this rule of common sense will remain at a world level at a very reasonable price. I'll be back briefly next week to "refresh my brain," and I'm going to go there to put the brain into a friendly but challenging vacation mode.