The Beaches
On Ko Chang there is a multitude of beautiful beaches, most with
hotels and bungalow resorts, some of them still untouched and lonely.
The 6 main beaches of Ko Chang, White
Sand Beach, Pearl Beach, Klong Prao Beach, Kai Bae Beach, Lonely
Beach and Bai Lan Beach
are all on the west coast. In addition, the fishermen village Baan
Bang Bao and the beach behind, Klong
Kloi Beach and Wai Chek Beach
in the southwest of Ko Chang and also the whole, still almost "tourist
free" east coast of Ko Chang, are worth a visit. And its not
only the charming beaches but all the many still almost unspoiled
villages and the bays like the big beautiful Salak
Phet Bay with the Long Beach in the southeast and Salak
Khok Bay on the east coast with the best preserved mangrove
forest on Ko Chang are worth seeing.
After the monsoon in winter, the water level is considerably higher
than in summer. Click for a picture to see the difference:
Winter / Summer. The picture to the left was shot in December 2001 the
picture to the right in May 2004.
Ko Chang's Population
The majority of the almost 5000 island inhabitants live off the
cultivation of coconut, rubber production, fishing or off the yield
of shrimp farms. Meanwhile more and more island inhabitants find
work in the expanding tourism industry.
Travelling-Time
& Weather on Ko Chang
Ko Chang, like the rest of Thailand, has 2 seasons, the rainy season
here lasts from June until October and the dry season from November
until May. Most visitors are on the island between December and
March, this is also the best time for a stay, since the temperatures
rarely exceed over 30° Celsius. In November and December it
can become occasionally quite cool because of the wind in the evening
and at night. The month with the most rainfall is August with an
average 700 mm of rain per square metre.
Porn's Bungalows is open the
whole year! So those who are looking for peace and solitude will
not regret visiting in the months with heavier rainfall for it doesn't
rain every day and all day long.
Flora & Fauna
Ko Chang consists mainly of granite aged between 195 and 230 million
years. The highest mountains on the island, the Khao Salak Phet,
is 743 metres high.
Ko Chang fascinates not only because of the kilometre-long picture
book beaches, the spectacular sunsets, the enchanting waterfalls
and unique mangrove forests, but also because of the large impenetrable
tropical rain forest, which constitutes approximately 75 % of the
total area and is considered to be one of the best preserved in
the whole of South-east Asia. In the bays around the villages Baan
Khlong Prao, Baan Khlong Son, Baan Salak Khok and Baan
Salak Phet are large mangrove forests, which rank among the
best-preserved in Thailand.
The national park also offers a large variety of exotic animals.
Investigations found in 1992 that 29 different species of land animals,
61 types of bird and 42 reptile and amphibian species are resident
on the island, among them several Python types, Rat-Snakes, King
Cobras and other types of snakes, different lizards, monkeys, ant-eaters,
wild pigs and bats. An endemic amphibian, the Rana Kochang (Ko-Chang-frog),
lives exclusively on the island.
Infrastructure
There are two car ferries and several piers for regulated transportation
of passengers. A hospital close to Baan
Khlong Nonsi (east coast) was built, clinics were established
in many of the smaller villages and in 2006 a private hospital was
opened at White Sand Beach. The
beaches and villages are attached to electricity coming from the
mainland. Fixed telephone mains from the mainland are also on Ko
Chang and most of the localities are connected.
The road encircling the island, which reaches from behind Baan
Bang Bao (south west of Ko Chang) almost to Baan
Salak Phet (south east of the island) is nearing completion
and is already asphalted everywhere. But between these two villages
there are about 2 kilometres missing, so driving around the island
isn’t possible. Gas stations are to be found everywhere on
the road.
Post
office
There is one official post office at the west coast of Ko Chang.
You will find it at the road at Pearl
Beach, between the southern end of White Sand Beach and the
northern part Klong Prao Beach. But in all villages there are mailboxes
to post letters or postcards.
Money, Exchange
There are some banks on Ko Chang and in all villages on the island
you will find ATMs (automatic teller machines) and also either exchange
bureaus or minibuses from the banks located on Ko Chang. In many
hotels and bungalow resorts cash and travellers cheques can be exchanged,
but the exchange rates offered are lower than the banks. Also it
is possible to obtain money and to pay with credit cards (Visa,
American Express) at some resorts.
There are several banks located in Trat and also in Laem Ngop (for
changing travellers cheques don't forget your passport).
Communication: Telephone, Internet
You can find many Internet-cafés at all villages of the 6
beaches on Ko Chang's west coast (White
Sand Beach, Pearl Beach, Khlong Prao Beach, Kai Bae Beach, Lonely
Beach and Bai Lan Beach)
and at Baan Bang Bao. Also some hotels and bungalow resorts have
computers with internet connection. Meanwhile most of them have
fast DLS connections but still some are made by satellites.
In most of the Internet-cafés, the post office, in some shops
in the villages and in some hotels and bungalow resorts, overseas
and mainland telephone calls can be made.
At all beaches on the west coast, mobile reception is ensured, as
well as in many other locations around Ko Chang.
Here you'll find a detailed map of all beaches and more information:
Ko Chang Map
You'll find pictures of the Beaches
& Bays on Ko Chang in the Picture
Gallery (Category: "Ko Chang:
Beaches & Bays")
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These and more Pictures, Panorama Photographs, Virtual Reality
Panoramas, more Information and Hotel Bookings for
Ko Chang, Ko Mak and other surrounding Islands on the Website www.KoChangVR.com |
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