About Koh Chang, Thailand

Koh Chang is the second largest island of Thailand, located on the Thai east coast 310 km away from Bangkok near the border to Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand. The name means Elephant Island. It is a mountainous island with several waterfalls and rainforest. The island is part of the Mu Koh Chang Marine National Park. During World War II, Koh Chang was the scene of a naval battle between the Royal Thai Navy and a Vichy France squadron. The Thais were decisively beaten.

Until the mid-1980s the infrastructure on the island was undeveloped, but tourism has increased significantly since then. The island now receives 655,000 visitors annually, about two thirds of them Thai. There are also beautiful resorts now popping up all over the island.

Mainly because of its isolation, only now is the island being discovered by international travellers, and although accommodation options and other tourism facilities are increasing, a sense of discovery is still possible. If not precisely terra incognita, Ko Chang is sparsely populated and roughly 70 percent of the land is virgin rainforest. Rugged in its hills and cliffs, but strikingly beautiful in its long pristine stretches of white sandy beaches and profusion of lush greenery, the island beckons as a tropical paradise.

Koh Chang itself has a mountainous interior, which accounts for the name, 'Elephant Island', as from a distance the mountain ridges are said to look like the backs of several elephants. Contrasting with a rugged forested interior is a coastline characterised by small bays and exceptionally fine beaches, the best spots being on the western side of the island, notably, from north to south, at Ao Khlong Son, Hat Sai Khao, Hat Khlong Phrao and Hat Kai Bae. Close by each of these beaches are small villages where the inhabitants support themselves mainly by fishing, harvesting coconuts and cultivating fruit orchards.

Of other main islands, Koh Koot is the second largest in the group and, like Koh Chang, is mountainous and still half covered with forest. On its coast are some of the loveliest beaches in the archipelago. Koh Mak, lying between Koh Chang and Koh Kut, is covered mostly with coconut groves and exudes a rather more inhabited air than its neighbouring islands. Located off the north-west tip of Koh Mak, Kho Kradt is completely flat and lacks topographical interest, through its beaches and surrounding coral reefs and superb.

The waters around the islands have an abundance of colourful coral, and generally the conditions are good for scuba diving, perhaps best off Koh Kradat. Otherwise, snorkelling or hiring a boat to go fishing are sporting alternatives.

Away from the beaches, hiking in the hinterland offers marvellous views and a rare appreciation of tropical island scenery. Koh Chang's natural sights include several picturesque waterfalls, notably Tan Mayom, a multi-tiered cascade tumbling in stages through a rocky gorge into a series of deep pools.