Travel Blog: Ko Chang in Thailand

Anna Kainberger is taking a year-out from her career to travel in south-east Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific, along with Hawaii and the USA. This month she is reporting from Thailand. Here is her ninth blog entry:

As I had been travelling for ten weeks nearly non stop with only a few short breaks here and there I was in desperate need to see the ocean and feel some sand between my toes before going on yet another bus or even thinking about my next destination.

From the boarder crossing at Poipet it was not far down to Trat and from there a mere hop skip and a week to reach the lovely island of Ko Chang.

After Ko Samui, Ko Chang is Thailand's biggest island off the Gulf of Thailand coast and some say that it is a bit like how Ko Pha Ngan was ten years ago. In other words, before Full Moon parties and young clubbers ruined the place for everyone else.

As soon as we touched Thai soil the roads immediately became much better and we had the pleasure of riding a mini bus carrying only three people: my Dutch travel companion, a very sleepy Italian, and I.

Our driver did step on it as we were somehow running late and to reach Ko Chang we had to make the last ferry by 18.30 local time.

Needless to say, we all survived the ride but I had my hands over my eyes on several occasions.

Thais simply have a very specific way of driving fast ... they are Buddhists and after all, if they die on the road, they have probably led a good life and reincarnation is almost guaranteed.

We did make the last ferry and arrived at Ko Chang at around 19.30, which meant that it was dark and we could not see the beautiful rainforest-covered hills of this wonderful island.

But once we got into a shared taxi we could feel the roads going up and down quite steeply. This was an experience in itself, especially seeing the driver perform a quick wai (head bow with folded hands) before an especially sharp turn.

Ko Chang has only been developed on the west coast for tourists and has several nice beaches.

White Sand Beach is the main tourist area and offers everything from the 7-11 through to a dentist, chiropodist, luxury hotels, hostels and beach bungalows, restaurants of all nationalities, tailors and and and … but it was not the right area for me, this is more of a family holiday resort place.

My final destination was to be Lonely Beach, which is a small, sleepy hippie-like village with a wonderful long beach and the famous Tree House Guesthouse, which is built on stilts right by the ocean.

Bungalows in and around Lonely Beach cost around 500 Baht for the more luxurious kind. At the Tree House you can get a sea view bamboo bungalow for 280 Baht.

However, this includes a shared bath room with a typical Thai Mandi shower. There is no running water but a bucket of clean fresh water.

The bathrooms also have the typical Thai squat toilets. But the amenities were clean and I saw someone scrub out both toilets and bathrooms meticulously every single day. It was worth saving the extra bit of money.

The other thing about Lonely Beach is that while you can get a traditional bamboo tattoo, massages, haircuts or thai herbal steam sauna treatments, there is also a party on every single day of the week.

It may be in a different location every night but none the less, a party every single day of the week. So bring ear plugs and either get partying yourself or move to a different village.

Ko Chang is more than a little hilly and renting a motorcycle there is a fun way to explore the island. However, several people, tourists and locals alike, die each year due to irresponsible driving and even worse: drink driving.

If you are careful and know how to ride an automatic motorcycle there is no harm in going round the island to see the various ports or even to visit Tree House 2, which is located right at the other end of the island, at Long Beach.

This is one of the last completely remote paradise spots on Ko Chang, as apart from the accommodation at Tree House 2, there are no other hotels, hostels or restaurants.

Just a long white sand beach and a very chilled out atmosphere. You may see a fishing boat bobbing up and down in the bay but there are no parties and not even a connecting road to be found Long Beach.

On my second day on Ko Chang I booked a snorkel trip which took us to four other small islands nearby. This cost 590 Baht and we were provided with food, water and fruit throughout the day as well as the equipment.

It was a great way to meet new people and explore the vast array of marine life in and around Ko Chang and the neighbouring islands.

You can also go diving here with various operators who offer the full range of PADI diving experiences from beginners courses through to Dive Master exams.

From Ko Chang it is also not far to Ko Maak and Ko Koot, but I was enjoying my ocean view bungalow at Tree House very much and relaxed on the beach for a couple of days, taking in the wonderfully colourful sunsets and partying into the wee hours.

The mixture of rainforest-covered hills, ocean views, bays and white sand beaches at Ko Chang make the island more than special and I have to say I loved staying there.

In the end the parties were a bit too much for me but you could simply move to a different beach or island hop your way around.

As I want to explore more of the south of Thailand, I headed back towards Bangkok for some retail therapy before making my way down into climber's paradise: Krabi.

Anna Kainberger