The best seafood in Thai: only on Islands

Most tourist come to Chang mainly because of its virgin pure reserve nature. But for those who prefer night raving or clubbing or going to restaurant and bars there is something left. To enjoy this it is better to stay at the White Sand Beach (Had Sai Khao). You can find many night places here. It does not look like Walking Street but there is some civilization there. It is interesting that only the shore is inhabited on the island. In the heart of Chang the mountains rise, deep tropical rainforests grow and there are rare fruit tree plantations. Mostly in every village located along a road you can find several Thai shops, so called by tourists 7-11, ATMs and restaurants with fresh sea food. You won’t eat such shrimps anywhere else. Here you will smile at the price and the size of the dish will smile killing you. During the rain season shrimps are caught very close to the beaches and they don’t get upset before they are served to your table. It is not rational to buy a full board. Someone does not want breakfast here. They finish it fast and run for roast fish. The hotel staff can tell you which restaurant is better, but do not ask the bored chef or a waiter. Our massage girls helped us but we had to use signs communicate with them. You can buy fruit everywhere. However the big number of the palm trees and the famous guitarist’s example forced our company to get some coconuts ourselves.
If you are a nature fan you should take a bungalow not a room. There are plenty of them on Chang. The simplest are small huts with plastic walls, straw roofs and a mattress and the most comfortable and expensive have a conditioner, a shower and a toilet. KP Bungalows are the best on the Khlong Phrao Beach, which are two-story houses on the shore very close to the tide. The prices start from a couple of batt for “plastic+straw” and get up to a couple thousand. Each house complex has got a restaurant with the sea food mentioned.

Koh Chang: the Island of the grate Waterfalls, lagoons and beaches

Searching for a place to swim you should be very careful. Almost all the shores are rather shallow. So you have to walk for long to get your legs under water. But hardly every shore is purged of the rocks. It is especially hard to bathe in the rain season when the water is troubled and you cannot see the sharp rocks. Instead my family had a great swim in the lagoon of Klong Prao. The sea was the purest and cool, the view was fantastic. We could sail about the lagoon and have a good meal in one of the water restaurants. There are many amusing boats in the lagoon. You can have a good lagoon trip by this river Tuk-tuk.
The deepest pleasure came after a visit to the waterfall. There are several beautiful waterfalls on Koh Chang. They are Khlong Phlu 2.5 miles from Ban Clong Nonsi and Khlong Nung, which approximately 2 miles from Ban Salakphet. We chose Khlong Phlu, Which nearest to our hotel and were not mistaken. There was a mysterious beauty. I was not sure if the royal family of Thailand had visited it but its grandeur impressed us much. We visited the place in the rain season and took great pleasure of the walk and watch of the fullest waterfall. Even if you would prefer to take a taxi you will have to go on foot the last mile along a narrow path to the fall. It costs THB 200 to enter the park reserve. But it is worthy more. It is forbidden to smoke, drink and even eat anything so the territory is absolutely clean and pure. Two guards keep the order very eagerly. You can bathe in the river at the waterfall but it is very fast. There are special ropes tied for your safety but in addition these two people watch thoroughly. As for snakes and other dangerous creatures none of my family or friends saw one. Apart from a spider, this got so scared by my camera. Once I was nearly lucky to see a snake but it crawled away so fast that I was not able to shoot it with my Canon.

Koh Chang Island. The long walk to Kai Bae Beach

I am not particular in many things but as for me the 8-hour bus trip seemed very tiring for me. In spite of all the wonderful picturesque views and frequent monuments to Fruit we could see through the window, I got exhausted. Trat is the fruit capital of Thailand. You can often see a Durian monument in the province which is luckily without smell. You should not forget that there will be a trip by taxi to get to the pier. And then you will travel by the ferry and car to the hotel. Instead of the taxi you can take a bus which has recently appeared to carry tourists to Laem Ngop. The boats to Koh Chang leave from three piers which cost about THB50 and THB80 including a car.
Here is the timetable.
Ao Thammachat Pier tel.039 528288-9
Mainland to Koh Chang (Ao Sapparos) 07.00, 08.30, 10.00, 11.30, 13.00, 14.30, 16.00, 17.30, 19.00
Koh Chang (Ao Sapparos) to Mainland 07.00, 08.30, 10.00, 11.30, 13.00, 14.30, 16.00, 17.30, 19.00
Centre Point Pier tel.039 538196
Mainland to Koh Chang (Cabana Pier) 7.00, 9.00, 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00
Koh Chang (Dan Kao) to Mainland 8.00, 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00, 18.00
Laem Ngop Pier
Mainland to Koh Chang (Dan Kao) 7.00, 9.00, 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00
Koh Chang (Dan Kao) to Mainland 8.00, 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00, 18.00
I consider the best way to Chang that is through Pattaya with two or three-day stay there. Here, on the familiar Jomtien Beach, there are so many tour agencies that you will easily buy a bus trip further and reserve a room in a hotel or a bungalow. I took me 2.5 hours to the pier, 15 min to wait for a ferry, 40 min for the sea voyage and 20 min to the V.J. Hotel Health Spa. It can’t have seemed to be the best place on Chang, but the location between the huge Klong Prao Beach and very clean and cosy Kai Bae Beach was quite good. Kai Bae Beach has its values for swimmers such as a pure sandy bottom with no rocks and the Amari Beach, which is extremely expensive and often deserted. V.J. Hotel also has its merits. The massage is great and quite cheap: Thai massage THB 250 and Oil message THB 300.