Thai island Koh Chang is situated in the north-east part of the Gulf of Siam, not far from the Thai border with Cambodia. Its name can be translated as Elephant Island and I am told that it is because of the island’s size. After Phuket, Koh Chang is the second biggest island in Thailand.

The island
Most of Koh Chang is covered with a typical south-east Asian jungle on very hilly landscape. There is number of beautiful waterfalls which can be closely observed by joining one of the tours on offer at local travel agents. This island makes for an ideal holiday destination for its peaceful white sand beaches, clean and warm see with number of opportunities for swimming, snorkeling or scuba diving. Add to this traditionally fresh seafood cuisine thai style and surprisingly non-tourist like quiet atmosphere and the satisfaction is very much guaranteed.

How to get there
For most arriving tourists, the route to Koh Chang leads through the provincional capital, thai city of Trat. Trat can be reached from all major thai destinations by various means of travel. One of the most convenient ways is taking about 30 minutes flight directly from Bangkok or catching a bus at Bangkok’s Eastern Bus Terminal in which case the travel takes about 5 hours.
From Trat you will need to travel to the nearby ferry port for your last part of the journey to Koh Chang. There are three ports (Laem Ngop, Center Port and Ao Tammachart) from which the Koh Chang ferries depart in about 30 to 60 minute intervals

At the destination
Once on the island you will notice that all the navigation is based according to local hotels and beaches. Most of the times you should not have any problems with finding accommodation inviting hotel sings are posted practically everywhere however to avoid unnecessary stress you are advised to book it beforehand.
During our visit we stayed in a bungalow in the complex named Chang Park Resort. The accommodation here was of a very clean and modest standard located, same as most of the hotels here, right on the Kai Bae white sand beach.

Shopping
In the near proximity to this hotel there is a number of local and western restaurants as well as wide variety of shopping opportunities. You can easily stock up here on all the necessities including clothing, thai souvenirs, groceries or rent a scooter for your joyrides around the island. What more - all the prices here (except perhaps the restaurants and wester style grocery shops Seven-Eleven) are of course negotiable making most of your purchases an absolute „must have“ bargain.

However, before you try hard for further fifty cents discount, it is good to remember that Thailand is a developing country and lot of people here lives in conditions unimaginable to a regular wester visitor.

Tours and experiences
One of the strangest experiences were the evening noises of local locusts. With an approaching sunset you can hear them everywhere and strangely enough they don’t sound anything like we were used to from their European counterparts. The mild whirling sound we knew here became a noisy whistling siren.
If you want to experience some additional adventure than you will be satisfied with the number of various island tours on offer at local operators. You can choose such exotic adventures as elephant jungle tour, overnight jungle trekking, snorkeling tour on surrounding islands or even swimming with dolphins. Needless to say that the prices for each are very modest however the gained experiences are priceless.

So if you are considering visit to Thailand, you may want to consider seeing the real country beyond the chaotic and, at times, overwhelming Bangkok or Chiang Mai. For us, the holidays on Koh Chang were like experiencing different Thailand altogether and now we can not wait to get back there again at first possible opportunity.

Hotels: Koh Chang | Cambodia | Bangkok | Thailand | Chiang Mai

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