Koh Chang Island is one of my favorite places in Thailand. It is not overrun by tourists like Phuket and Samui, and is perfectly balanced between being a nice relaxing get-away and still containing some of the craziness and debauchery we all love. Although rather close to Bangkok, it has nice beaches with clean water, jungles, hills, and a nice laid-back atmosphere.
Getting to Koh Chang
Koh Chang is located close to the mainland in eastern Thailand, not far from the border to Cambodia. There is several ways to get there from Bangkok. From the cheapest to the most expensive;
- Big bus filled with sweaty backpackers. About 8 hours and 500thb (ferry included). Not recommended unless you yourself are a sweaty backpacker, in which case you should take the big bus for the sake of everyone else.
- Minibus filled with sweaty tourists. About 6-7 hours and 700thb (ferry included). Alright if you’re on a budget or rolling solo. The usual mini-bus bullshit should be expected.
- Taxi. The only way to go if you’re rolling with your posse. Can be done in about 5 hours, or shorter, depending on how high your driver value his and your lives (usually not much). About 2 500thb after some haggling + about 100thb per person for the ferry.
- Airplane. Bangkok Airways has 2 or 3 flights a day, depending on season. Tickets are between 2000-3000thb for a 1 hour flight to Trat airport (if you consider 5 000ft of asphalt and a shed an airport). Transfer from the air-shed to your hotel on Koh Chang is then another 500thb (ferry included).
So now you are on Koh Chang thinking, “What the fuck am I doing here?” Well, I’ll tell you! First, you have to consider which area of Koh Chang you want to stay at. The two main areas are called White sand beach and Lonely beach. Everything on Koh Chang is located along the main road, with Lonely being about 20-30min south of White Sand. I recommend trying both places out for a few days.
Lonely Beach
Lonely beach is mostly a backpacker place, however it’s a nice place to chill for a few days. The beach here is very nice and not very crowded. The whole area is not much more than a couple of streets with a few bars, restaurants and hotels.
Staying in Lonely beach is quite cheap. A nice bungalow is about 700thb per night, and usually each day there’s a nice promotion going on at one of the restaurants/bars, which will get you cheap or free food, drinks, buckets etc. The restaurant at the end of the main road has a nice deck on the water and good food. Perfect place to enjoy the sunset. Next to it you will find Seaflower resort, which has nice newly-built bungalows at reasonable prices.
When going out in Lonely beach just follow the flow and go to the place with the promotion/party for the night (flyers are usually passed on the beach). Walking past Himmel bar is always nice because they will practically give you free drinks/buckets just to enter the place (Lonely beach is probably not a good place to own a bar). Girls will be mostly Scandinavian backpackers (slutty, but lots of competition), and a few Thai girls more so on weekends as many girls from Trat seems to go here to party.
White Sand Beach
White Sand beach is quite different from Lonely beach, as the crowd is mostly Scandinavian and Russian couples and families. Sounds boring right? However, with some of the hacks below you can have a great time there. The beach is more crowded than Lonely (duh!), but still nice.
Prices in White Sand are generally higher than Lonely for food and drinks, however, decent bungalows can be found for around 500thb about 5min up the road away from the beach, (Look for the sign that says “Island Lodge” next to the big empty field in the middle of town). I wouldn’t recommend Island Lodge though, but the other places along that road are fine.
When going out in White Sand beach, there’s several options to start off the night. You could go to the beach and chill at one of the beach bars and lolz at the tourists who still get impressed by fire shows. The main place on the beach is called Sabay Bar, which also has a dance floor. Drinks along the beach is quite expensive though.
Another option is to walk south along the main road until you hit a big complex with around 20 small bars, usually empty and filled with bored bar-girls. Here the usual fun can be had when visiting such kind of bars, such as playing pool, spotting the ladyboy, and watching the creepy old f*ck’s and Asian businessmen having the time of their life. If you hit these bars in low-season, expect a lot of attention as business is slow. Me and my mates got treated with thai-whisky, blowjobs and cake for free. Good times.
Your best option, however, is to hit the Rock bar, which is just up a side road before you reach the “hooker complex”. There’s a sign for a Korean BBQ place (alright place btw.), and the bar is just before the restaurant. Usually slow, but has a very good cover-band from the Philippines playing on some nights. The place has a nice atmosphere and many of the people who hang here are expats or local Thai’s. Cheapest option for drinks.
When the night reaches 1-2am, and you will know because everything will close, head to the “One NightClub” (aptly named as it is the only club on Koh Chang), which is the building behind the Rock bar. In high season it’s open daily and usually has a decent amount of Thai girls from the various shops and bars on the island looking to have some fun after work. On weekends you will likely also meet Thai girls on vacation from Bangkok or Trat. Usually very few farangs find their way here, which means pretty much zero effort is needed.
Some Russian and Ukrainian girls also find their way to Koh Chang. As there is not much competition and these girls are usually drunk as only Russians can be, good times can be had.
Bonus info: Every Thai girl I’ve met on Koh Chang has expected me to drive her scooter. Whizzing about on a scooter, drunk as f*ck with a bad bitch on the back, is usually one of the highlights of the night.
Other stuff to do
Get a scooter and zip about the Island. Check out the waterfalls and elephants. Also, check out Bang Bao. If heading south of Lonely, you’re almost guaranteed to see monkeys. Remember to honk your horn when passing the naughty bars to make the girls go “wooo!”.
This was a guest post written by my friend Dan, who often travels around SEA.
