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Koh Chang Updates & Stuff page
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August 2007 onwards
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29 October
- Tripadvisor.com listed it's Top Ten World
Destinations for 2008 recently. Two were in Thailand,
neither of those was Koh Chang. The couple of places that
will be ruined by the sudden influx of tourists over the next 12
months are at the Phang Nga area, between Krabi & Phuket and Koh
Pha-Ngan, near Samui, which come in at 3rd & 7th places
respectively in the Top Ten. Koh Chang is slowly gaining
in popularity and not just with Russians who are heading here in
ever increasing numbers both on package tours and travelling
independently. I only mention this as I've just finished a
bottle of Dagestan's finest brandy, no idea of the brand as the
writing is all in Cyrillic but it was extremely drinkable and if
anyone from any of the 'Stans' or Russia is visiting - stick a
bottle in your suitcase for me. Thanks.
Last update I mentioned that the
Miss Thailand contestants were heading to Koh Chang for a couple
of days. It wasn't as though their time on Koh Chang was
wasted, they took time out from their intensive skin bleaching
sessions to do their bit for the environment. In
case you ever wondered how many beauty pageant contestants it
takes to plant a tree the answer is here, as five of them are
pictured below getting up close and personal with a sapling on
Koh Chang. Next time you see these girls they'll probably
be wearing a shiny silver miniskirt and draped over a new model
Camry at the 2008 Bangkok Motor Show.
More and more people are emailing
about finding good quality long stay accommodation on Koh Chang,
if you know of any nice, furnished small houses / bungalows in
quiet areas but within easy reach of the beach, let me know.
If you want a quiet, laid back
place on a river estuary about 100 metres from a good beach,
try Blue Lagoon Bungalows, Klong Prao - friendly local owners,
been going for over 10 years and they have just repaired &
renovated all the bungalows - fan rooms from 500 baht/night, AC
for 1000 baht/night, walking distance to shops / ATM and easy to
get to Kai Bae or White Sand beach if you want to party. Some
bungalows are built right next over water. Their website:
www.kohchangcookery.com.
But a Google search will also find more details and photos.
This week's riveting addition to
the ever growing list of tourism related websites covering Trat
and Koh Chang is
www.trattourism.com. Three
factors which may count against it becoming a 'must click' site
for millions of tourists are 1) it's only in Thai and 2) it only
contains information relating to various meetings held by the
Trat Tourism Authority and 3) it's only in Thai and only
contains information about tourism meetings. But if you like
seeing photos of local officials standing in lines and engaged
in discussion then this is the site for you.
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We're always on the look out for
new places to eat and this week found a couple, both good value
- as they aren't on the beach and so you don't pay the sand in
your food premium.
Khun Mee's Restaurant, Klong
Prao
Forget the silk clad waitresses, celadon tableware,
carved fruit centrepieces on the table and Royal Thai cuisine.
Real Thai food comes from places built of wood and corrugated
iron where there's no menu, no decor other than a dozen cases of
empty beer bottles and a few fading posters of Thai monarchs
past & present, the drinks list comprises consists of Water,
Coke, Red Bull and Small or Large Chang Beer and the staff are
the owners children or an aging relative who moves at glacial
speed. Also at busy times customers have the choice of
wandering into the kitchen area and cooking their own food if
they want it quickly, or waiting for the owner to get round the
their order in due course. Suck a place is Khun Mee's
small restaurant just south of Chang Chutiman Elephant Camp.
No sign of any kind but there's usually some kind of meat being
BBQ'd outside. Really good food, large portions and very
cheap.
Baan Captain, Klong Prao
But for those of you who aren't
willing to risk an increased chance of catching any one of a number of communicable
diseases in an effort to be as one with the Thai people, have
a look at another new restaurant 'Baan Captain' 100 metres south
of the turning for the Amari Emerald Cove. Good
value Western & Thai food served up in a spotlessly clean, if
not very exciting, restaurant by the roadside. How do you
know you'll get good food? Simple - until recently the
owner, Khum Prem, was a chef at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide, so
she can make Thai food as good as you'll find in any local Thai
restaurant and western food as good as you'll get in a 5 star
hotel. Well worth a meal or two if you're staying at the
far south of Klong Prao beach and value English speaking owners,
good service, and food you can recognise.
Someone wanted a photo of a ferry
- I think they were nervous about the crossing from the mainland
to Koh Chang. It's also interesting to note that there
isn't a word in the Thai language for 'unseaworthy'. Below
is the pride of Centrepoint Ferry Company that operates ferries
between the mainland and Koh Chang. These run on a need to know basis, problem is that their
customers aren't included in the list of those who need to know
when the next boat may come along. However, the sleepy
girl in the ticket office will be more than happy to let you
know that the next boat will be leaving in 15 minutes. An
hour and a half later you realise this may have been guesswork
on her part and that she too isn't on the 'need to know' list
either.
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19 October
- It's official - the sun is shining, the
sea is calm and the hotels are empty here on Koh Chang . . So
what are you waiting for?, other than a cheap flight and
permission from the boss to take time off work, as apparently
some people work in small cubicles in concrete office blocks in
city centres which can't be much fun.
Koh Chang is awash with
restaurants, for example, here's a recommendation from a visitor
to this site for a place most people wont ever find:
" ...there's a place I'd like
to recommend, for food or just "falling in love with"... 'Blues
and blues arts and food'...the guy who runs the place is
amazingly friendly, so sweet, and the food is simply great. The
best tom yum I've had till now...its not only the food but also
the environment of the place. Since he's an artist, he
decorated the place himself. To me its really a work of art. If
you're on Koh Chang, do go check it out..."
No idea if it's any good or not,
but she seems to like it - it's located on the road to Baan Kwan
Chang elephant camp in the north of Koh Chang.
Other restaurants make a point of
advertising just how good they (think they) are. e.g The
Spa Resort in Salakkok that likes to mention that a magazine
chose the restaurant at their parent resort in Samui as one of
the 'Top 50 Restaurants in the World'. Obviously,
this means absolutely nothing when it comes to the food at The
Spa Koh Chang. The good news is that if you stick to the
salads & western food then it's pretty good, but don't go near
the Thai food and don't expect service to be any different than
in any restaurant anywhere i.e. pretty bad. But it's well
worth stopping there for lunch if you're in the area and want
something healthy, otherwise go a few kilometres further
to Salakphet Seafood. But you can at least console yourself with
the great views from The Spa restaurant as you're waiting for
the kitchen staff to ease themselves into life . . .
If, like me, you're old enough to
remember when ONE MILLION DOLLARS!! was an unfathomably large
amount of money, then you might be surprised to learn that it
won't be enough to buy you a posh house at Tranquillity Bay on
Koh Chang. You'll need to stump up a minimum of 44,000,000
Baht to be able to afford a villa there. But if you
have got a little bag of blood diamonds sitting in a Swiss bank
vault; elderly parents with equity in their mini-mansion that
was bought for 27 new pounds and a bag of coal in 1971; or are
simply a poor person who likes to watch 'Lifestyles of the
Rich & Famous' on TV and can only dream of having George
Hamilton's tan, take a look at
these amazing homes. This is a single, Type C
villa with almost 600sqm of living space which means you can
live in the same home as your in-laws but never actually see
them:
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The bright lights of Koh Chang. Or at
least our little bit of it. Below is Aana Resort, taken from the deck in
front of our house.
Aana Resort's 'Cinnamon' restaurant,
pictured above. is usually empty as all guests with common sense will
eat outside the resort in one of the nearby restaurants, the best being
Phu-Talay which is 100 metres away and pictured below. We give
them a call and they send a guy in a boat over to pick up
customers from our place.
And when you're in Phu-Talay, you see this
rather nice little guesthouse - Baan Rim Nam.
On the deck of Baan Rim Nam
(All the above photos taken by
Mike, if you need any bronze - he's the man to contact, see
www.bronze-sculpture.net)
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10 October
- Woohoo . . . more houses being built on
Koh Chang.
Logans Thailand, a
Scandinavian owned company have just launched their 'Sunshine
Villas' development on Koh Chang in Salakphet Bay. This follows
on from their previous developments in Bang Saen & Rayong on the
eastern seaboard which have attracted a lot of interest from
Scandinavian home buyers in particular as they combine
functional but aesthetically pleasing design ina quiet
location, with a high standard of construction and place a
high priority on preserving the environment in which the
developments are located. Prices from 4.9 Million Baht
(105,000 Euros).
More details, prices and plot plans etc.
The above banner was recently
erected at the Koh Chang 'Entertainment' Complex. At first
glance a 'Miss Thonglor Centre Bare 2007' competition
looks rather interesting and I'm sure quite a few people will
have made enquiries about attending the event. However,
the Thai language makes it clear that this is some kind of event
for ladyboys only. Hopefully, in light of the news that it
will be shemales and not females on display, the 'Bare' is a
misspelling of Bars, Beer or even Bear.
New page of photos of
the interior of a completed condo unit at Tranquility Bay
Residence, Bangbao . . .and very nice it is too, and will be
even better when they figure out an aesthetically pleasing and
yet ergonomically friendly location in which to place the where to put the towel rail and
tissue holder in the bathroom.
Guys in search of a better class
of real, and not man made, Thai totty will have more luck if
they loiter as inconspicuously as possible around Aiyapura
Resort & Spa on 23-24 October when the 18 finalists of the Miss
Thailand World pageant will be strutting their stuff; banally
answering banal questions and generally spending 2 days
sheltering out of the sun in order to preserve their lillywhite
skin, in an effort not to derail their chances of a Top 10
finish and therefore achieving their goal of landing a dream job
as a Thai Airways trolley dolly once their 5 minutes of fame is
complete.
'Upper Crust' is now open in
Klong Prao - opposite the temple. This is the deli /
gourmet shop / epicurean training centre follows on from the
success of Crust bakery. All manner of bakery items,
cheeses, cold cuts, dry goods, spirits, hard to find beers and
wines are in stock. Well worth a visit if you are in the
area and have a love of good food and it's fast becoming the
meeting point for the expat community on Koh Chang.
 Today's
Bangkok Post, and the Thai papers, carry a story on the
perils that can be faced when trying to sell your small resort
on Koh Chang ' who
were (allegedly) beaten up last weekend by the would-be buyer
and his gang of hired hands when they refused to lower the
selling price, matters weren't helped when they were then
refused help by the police on Koh Chang, according to the story.
BUT . . it's worth bearing in
mind that the article doesn't include any comment from the Koh
Chang police, unlike the articles in the Thai language papers,
which present a slightly different view of events. Get your Thai
to English translator out from in front of the TV and ask her to
read the article in today's
Matichon newspaper.
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This week we had several guests who wanted
to do a bit of kayaking. The sea was a bit rough so paddling
out to the islands offshore was off. So we headed round to Salakkok for a
spot of mangrove kayaking and very nice it was too.
Salakkok Kayak Station was
founded by K. Pittaya who also set up the excellent Ban Kwan Chang elephant camp in the
north of Koh Chang. The kayak station & restaurant are run in
partnership with local families and the enterprise has been designed to
be as eco-friendly as possible. Canals through the
mangroves and are easy to follow, there are a couple of routes marked
both on a map on the wall of the restaurant and also denoted by numbered markers once
you are out on the water. But a guide can also be hired if you are
geographically challenged.
It was a bit overcast and late in the
afternoon when we arrived so the photos aren't as good as they could be.
But they should give you an idea of what to expect . . .
Paddling through one of the narrower
channels
Preston & Helen on the water.
Bring your own food here and stop for a
picnic in the bay.
One of the large canals which allows
fishing boats to pass through the mangroves and out to sea.
It's easy to spend a couple of hours
paddling around and it's better to visit at high tide if possible. The
only downside is that as the kayak rental is only 100 baht/hour there
isn't any pick-up service provided for people staying on the west of Koh
Chang which is 30-40 kilometres away as this wouldn't be cost effective. So
to get there you'll need to rent a car or scooter or join an organised
tour. Make the effort, you'll be happy you did.
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3 October
- Been on holiday for a few days as I needed
some sunshine and there wasn't much on Koh Chang.
This time it was south to Hua Hin, Ban Krut & Chumpon.
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In the news . . . a biogas plant
is supposedly due to open at the end of the year on Koh Chang.
Full Bangkok Post story.
As with most stories concerning the development of Koh Chang
minor details such as where the 100 tons of waste that are
required daily will come from and how it will be delivered to
the plant aren't addressed. "Details, Schmetails"
as Koh Chang's Yiddish community would say - if there were one.
But it's a nice idea, the biogas
plant that is, not the Yiddish community, and ties in will with
the multi-coloured garbage bins that now adorn the roadside in
numerous spots on the island complementing the island's natural
beauty. The Black bin is for recyclable garbage; Yellow
for organic matter and Red for Hazardous materials - obviously
not intended for the disposal of anything too hazardous as the
red bins are only emptied once a week. And there I
was thinking that the bins were just pretty colours and
wondering where to buy red & yellow plastic garbage bags to
match.
Anyone planning a holiday in
Rayong? No, I didn't think so, but for anyone who gets
stuck there, Soren is in the process of putting together a new
site with all the info you need about the town, beaches and
places to eat. See
www.rayonginfo.com. Laem Charoen Seafood & Society
House are two places that are definitely worth a meal if you're
in the town.
If the novelty of having to
endure Filipino house bands and acoustic Thai folk music during
your evening meal is beginning to wane and you're heading back
to Bangkok and feel the need to see a real band play a real gig
before you leave Thailand then take a look at
Worathep.com
and in particular 'The
Bkk Bus'
for details of bands you have
heard of playing in Bangkok in the coming month - Black
Eyed Peas, Beyonce and Linkin Park and Megadeath will all be
here.
Also on the list
of sites I've been asked to mention
Koh Chang Booking and Information another site with some
good info and where you can book your hotels, trips and tours
online. Although why you'd want to book your snorkelling
trip or elephant trek months in advance is beyond me but I'm
sure some people must.
One of the
highlights of my life is having the opportunity to re-write
hotel brochures occasionally. This provides me with some
light hearted moments as I look to escape from the stress and
strain of having to think of faintly amusing things to say on
this page. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to edit a few
paragraphs, or to be more accurate a collection of words
from the English language thrown together with no regard for
grammar or meaning, for one resort. An example: 'The
resort’s distinctive setting is enhanced intimate principal
living in a graciousness of the nature spirit'.
If you're still
looking for mid-range rooms over New Year try Chang Park Resort,
Kai Bae (bungalows available, Grand Cabana Resort and VJ
Hotel & Spa, Klong Prao - all by the beach. Also Thai
Garden Hill Resort, Klong Prao by the roadside. All
bookable through numerous websites.
For a couple of
smaller places you wont find listed see Island Lodge, White Sand
beach
www.islandlodge-kochang.com 200 - 800 baht/night. Coral
Resort, Kai Bae,
www.kohchangcoralresort.com AC bungalows from 1,500 baht
upwards
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Back to the
interesting stuff . . . holiday photos . . .
View from the new temple overlooking Ban
Krut Beach, Prachuap Kiri Khan. Ban Krut should be on the tourist
map in the coming years. Several resorts are under construction
now and there are already a couple of very nice places to stay.
What the beach lacks in sunset views it
more than makes up for with lots of powdery white sand even at high
tide. Photo taken at
Rachavadee Resort
- a very good deal at 1,800 baht/night. (Beachfront land for sale
nearby for only 3.5 million/rai Chanote title.)
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Forget the star rating for
hotels, a quick look at the in room reading material tells you all you
need to know about a hotel. Below are two examples, one from Chumpon
Cabana Hotel and the other from the Evason Hua Hin. Try to figure
out which is from which resort. At one resort you have well over 200
pages of blurb detailing every aspect of the resort, bound in numerous
coconut wood folders. In the other you'll find a copy of a Dutch
gardening magazine, what appears to be the May 2005 edition of
'Squat Toilet' monthly and a trade magazine for anyone with an interest
in industrial circuit breaker innovations circa 2004. (I later
also found a June 2000 edition of Kinnaree, the Thai airline inflight
magazine.)
This is not only a TV with a blinking eye
in a large clay jar but also art, in case your didn't realise it. You
know it's art because it makes you think, in my case about how pointless
it is. You'll find the jar at the Evason Hua Hin.
The Evason is a cracking hotel, not only
due the volume of reading material, an eye in a jar, the beautiful room,
the excellent service or because we got a room dirt cheap; but also for
the 80 baht cocktails they sell in order to dissuade guests from
visiting nearby beach bars which sell them for 90 or 100 baht.
Happy hour is from 6-7pm, buy 2 get 1 free. We arrived at 6.30pm and
managed to spend 320 baht on six cocktails.
No holiday would be complete without a
visit to an old wooden palace. This is part of Mrigadayavan Palace, Hua
Hin which in addition to being built by Rama V is also worth around 79
points in a game of Scrabble.
The perfect way to end your trip, a stop
off at Premium Outlet Mall, Cha-am. Shopping, eating and more shopping.
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19 September - Koh Mak related stuff in this
update as that's where I just spent a couple of days. The
speedboat service is currently running three times a week from
Laem Ngop - Dan Mai (Koh Chang) - Koh Mak. Within a month
or so the service will revert to it's daily high season
schedule.
The island leaves Koh Chang well
behind when it comes to getting things done. The most
recent example are the new mountain bike trails that cover Koh
Mak. Also coming soon are public tennis courts, a high
speed passenger catamaran service and a western standard
kindergarten for local kids where holidaying parents will also
be able to take their children to play and leave them safely if they want
to escape the clutches of their little darlings for a couple of
hours
The Kindergarten renovation is part of a
project that has just been launched to provide kids on the
island with the best standard of education that is possible.
This starts with the kindergarten and then will progress
to improving the classrooms and facilities for school age
children. The developer of GoodTime Resort provided the initial
funds to start renovation of the 25 year old kindergarten
building and now other local resort owners and expat home-buyers
on Koh Mak are also chipping in and offering to provide funds to
buy uniforms, desks, chairs, classroom equipment, books, toys
etc for the kids as well as providing them all with a healthy
meal at lunchtime. At present this consists of
chicken & rice plus a carbonated soft drink five days a week, no
milk, fresh fruit or vegetables.
The plan is for the kindergarten to
re-open in late October. Work has already begun, but as the two photos
below of
the dining area and toilet show, there's still a lot of work required.
The local government can only provide one
teacher to look after all the kids, so money raised will also be used to
pay for assistants to help take care of the children.
A play area will also be set up.
Every afternoon this will be where families visiting Koh Mak will be
encouraged to bring their children to play with the local kids.
In return the families of local children
will provide Thai language lessons, cookery classes, Thai dance displays
etc for visitors and to those who donate to the project.
If you plan on visiting Koh Mak and would
like to make a donation, or would like to offer any help whilst on the
island, please contact Kerstin <
kclausenius@web.de >.
She will be back in Thailand from October
4th onwards. |
There's not much in the
way of original work produced by local artists on the
outlying islands . . . and for good reason. The photo below illustrates what
can happen when you ask someone who has been living
alone on a small island for the past couple of months to
paint a picture to hang in your Spa.
As the resort owner said
when he saw the painting "I told him, not too many
tits." (If anyone wants to buy this painting,
offers are being accepted and the money will go direct
to the struggling artist.)
Informative signs have
widely been regarded as one of the best types of sign to
have and that's just the type of sign that has been
erected around Koh Mak. These signs mark three
mountain bike routes of varying distances which cover the
length and breadth of the island. They also
provide riders with details of the various historical,
local and natural sights they see en route. A
printed pocket guide to the bicycle route is also
available. For more info contact 'Ball' at Ball
Internet Cafe, Ao Nid Pier, Koh Mak, he's a nice guy who
put a lot of time & effort into getting the bike
trail up and running.
Cute animal photo . . . 'DTAC'
the dog, from Rayang Island Resort having fun with his
coconut.
The main reason for
visiting Koh Mak was to take a couple of people over to
check out how construction on several villas was going.
This is the bathroom of one villa. More photos of what
around 150,000 Euros can buy you on Koh Mak will be
added in the next couple fo days.
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11 September - Been a while since my last
update as I've been on holiday again and then had my laptop die
roughly 5 minutes after the warranty period expired. So
whilst that's being fixed here's a travelogue and a few holiday
snaps.
Finding a place quieter than Koh
Chang in the (not very) rainy season isn't easy to do. But
for anyone wanting to really get away from it all you'll be
pleased to learn that there is an area of Thailand that can be
easily reached from Bangkok by car, or bus if you have a thing
for public transport, and where you are over 200 km from the
nearest 7-eleven mini-mart.
Sangkhlaburi - near the
Thai-Burma border was our destination. Just over 220km
east of Kanchanburi which was the starting point for our trip.
Kanchanaburi is famous for having a bridge which people walk
over with contemplative expressions on their faces.
But at the end of the day it's just an iron and concrete bridge
that happens to be built near the site of another bridge that
was destroyed in WW2 and so is historical only in a round about
way. So we moved swiftly on.
Not too far away is Muang Singh
(Lion City), which is a far more interesting and far less
visited tourist attraction. It's a very well maintained
Khmer ruin, a mini Siem Reap, and one of the 27 ancient cities
of the old Khmer empire. 10 Baht entry for Thais, 40 Baht
for fat-walleted foreigners for whom money is no object. Not a great deal to see but
well worth a stop if you're in the area.
After the obligatory clambering
over temple walls it was back in the car and on to Saiyoke Noi
waterfall. (There is another much larger waterfall Saiyoke
Yai - but you have to pay 400 baht to get into that and it falls
into the category of 'waterfalls that aren't worth paying 100
baht, let alone 400 baht, to see'.) Saiyoke Noi is a
small, free, roadside waterfall which is a popular spot
for picnickers and where you can swim in a couple of pools.
Not far from here is Hindad Hot Springs which despite being
well-away from civilization has now been discovered by Russian
tour groups. There are a couple of large public pools
where you can swap communicable water-born diseases with
strangers and several private cabins where you can get your kit
off and bathe away from the monks' prying eyes. Can't remember the entrance fee
but it was around 20 baht for Thais and more than that for me.
Another couple of hours drive
through scenery of farmland and limestone hills, very
reminiscent of the Ao Nang area of Krabi and and we got to
Sangkhlaburi. A town made significantly more interesting
following the building of a dam which causes the valley to flood
and therefore look picturesque. The town's only attraction
of any kind, aside from a couple of temples and the fact it's
quiet and full of nature, is the 800 metre long wooden bridge
that stretches from one side of the valley to the other.
This was built by the 'Mon' people who inhabit the western bank
of the river to allow them to reach the Thai, eastern side.
Interesting to note that the inhabitants of the eastern side
were seemingly in no hurry to find away to reach the wooden
shanty town on the opposite bank.
The locals around here comprise
Mon & Karen tribes. The Karen tend to live in the jungle
and are the type of folks you want to run into if your plane
crash lands in a remote mountain area as they know more about
living off the land than any TV survival expert. The Mon
make very cheap teak wood souvenirs and sell them along with
imported Burmese items such soap, quarter size guitars and
semi-precious glass beads and so have integrated well into Thai
society.
We had a couple of nights in
Sangklaburi, one in the finest hotel by the lake, the 2 star
Pornpailin Resort, where an AC room complete with TV, fridge, 2
double beds, ABF and about a metre away from the water goes for
1,300 baht/night. The second night we headed to P.Guesthouse
which is probably the best known of all the places to stay.
here we splashed out 600 baht on the best room in the place,
(Room 17) which has an uninterrupted view across the lake.
Another 800 baht/head went on a day of elephant trekking,
rafting and travelling around by longtail boat. At this
time of year the boat can head up the Runtee river to the
elephant camp which is an amazingly scenic trip.
Heading back towards Kanchanaburi
we did a quick detour up to Burma border at Three Pagodas Pass
to see if the three pagodas were really as insignificant as they
are made out to be, they are. Absolutely no reason to go
here at all unless you are in the market for teak furniture. Way
cheaper than in Bangkok and all the shops will send large items
on a truck to Bangkok for a few hundred baht.
More photos in the aptly named
Sangkhlaburi Photo Gallery
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Handless statue at Muang
Singh, illustrating the punishment meted out to
six-armed shoplifters in bygone days.
Forget the Bridge over
the River Kwai, Sangkhlaburi is the place to go for a
real bridge.
Elephants can breathe
underwater - hopefully.
Nice bit of mountain
scenery with no other people, houses, boats or vehicles in sight.
Lunch - if it looks like
an assortment of foliage with a garnish of fish sauce
with a chopped-up chili floating in it . . . . that's
because it is and this is what passes for a picnic lunch in these
parts.
Just after sunset,
looking over Sangkhlaburi lake from P.Guesthouse.
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30
August -
For a certain landowner who asked
that a recent mention of his small plots of land for sale to be
removed. It has been taken off now.
For anyone wishing to buy any
small plots of land anywhere on Koh Chang you could do
well to familiarize yourself with the problems faced by buyers
on Samui in the past where land had been split up and sold
on but not in accordance with the Land Allocation Laws which
govern the subdivision of land for residential purposes in
Thailand. Especially as Koh Chang now seems to be following with
the same 'get rich quick' schemes as far as land sales
go, which is sad to see. Also read the sales contract carefully
and see if it is fair to both parties . . . or not.
"All that glitters . . . " as they say.
+++
The scene was one of of back
slapping, Johnny Walker Red Label being poured, cigars being
passed out and cries of "Yo, Stud" in Plai Buaban's home
in the north of Thailand this month after he learned of
fathering three kids by three different mommas.
Two years after enjoying a three
month long, all expenses paid shagtastic vacation on the fertile
island of Koh Chang, two-ton love machine, Plai Buaban's
humpathon on behalf of the owners of Baan Chang Thai elephant
camp has resulted in the birth of three calves - a male and two
females.
Malai gave birth to the first baby on 6th
August, the second was born on 12th August to Sai and then, in the early
hours of 23rd August, Pimpa gave birth. Each of the newborn calves
weighed in at over 70 kilos at birth and all are in good health.
Although Malai's baby was clinically dead when it was born, after she
was in labour for 36 hours and it took 5 minutes of massaging and CPR by
mahouts to bring it to life again. The birth and almost biblical resurrection
were filmed and a VCD is available to buy.
The mothers and their offspring now live
in a purpose built shelter where they are under the constant supervision
of their mahouts 24 hours a day. The Mums are dieting and working hard
to get their svelte XXXXXXXXXXXXXL figures back, but are slowly coming
to terms with that fact that that last 200 kilos is the hardest to shed
after giving birth, and those stretch marks won't be disappearing any
time soon. None of the calves have been named yet. The owner
and mahouts are still trying to come up with suitable names. Wayne,
Jade, Osama and Shakira are just a handful of names that have been
mulled but discarded.
Visitors to Koh Chang are welcome to come
and see the new arrivals as having three elephants born in a single camp
within such a short period of time is pretty rare. However, whilst the
births have been celebrated at the camp they do mean that the mothers
are unable to work for the remainder of the year.
Please visit the camp and meet the
elephants not simply to take photos of the calves, but to learn more
about them and watch the interaction between a new mother and her
offspring. If you enjoy this unique experience, remember to make a
contribution to their upkeep so that the breeding program can continue
to be successful.
Baan Chang Thai Elephant Camp is
located roadside about 400 metres south of Klong Plu waterfall junction,
Klong Prao.
More cute baby elephant photos in
this
cute
baby elephant photo gallery.
In other animal related news -
Khun Tongdaeng, the King of Thailand's favourite dog, isn't
dead, so a group of senior bankers and representatives of
business associations were informed during a private audience.
Full story of the royal dog not being dead here.
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Shower time for the baby
born on 6 August
Stills from the VCD of
the above baby's birth are below. It took 5 minutes
before it started breathing on its own after being born.
The young lady below with
a nice head of hair was born on 12 August.
And it's all still a bit
new and confusing for this calf who was 3 days old when
I took the photo.
Coming soon . . . This is
a photo of a classroom in a local school, you may notice
that it's in need of some renovation. Find out what you
can do to help in the next update.
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24
August -
Related to Koh Chang only in that
the owners have visited the island and met me. . . . Tom & Jiap
have opened a small homestay with a twist in Bangkok. A
condominium homestay, like like a Bangkokian in a city centre
condo, near the sytrain for 1500 baht/night. A nice
alternative for anyone who doesn't want to stay in a tourist
ghetto whilst visiting the 'Big Mango' as authors of
travel related articles like to refer to the city.
Details
here.
Koh Chang's mini-drought is over
- we just had a week with no rain which whilst not in the same
league as the high plains of Chile in terms of records for lack
of rainfall is nevertheless a bit odd for this time of year.
Last update I mentioned that a
sign I wanted to mention had been removed before I had the
chance to take a photo of it. Fortunately an eagle eyed
visitor, also with an penchant for crap signs sent a photo of
the sign, which he found at Klong Prao Resort, to me.
In the original update, there was a bit of
info here about small plots of land for sale on Koh Chang.
However, after the seller complained this has been removed.
Anyone wishing to buy any small plots of
land anywhere on Koh Chang - especially Klong Son area might do well to familiarize
themselves with the Land Allocation laws which govern the
sub-division of plots of land in Thailand; the laws which state
which types of land can legally be sold (or not); read up on the
problems faced by land owners on Samui where similar things
occurred a decade ago with the usual regulations being bypassed.
And also remember not to sign anything unless a good lawyer
checks it first. There might not be any problems
initially, but I'm betting that a few years down the line there
are going to be a lot of people with serious headaches when they
discover that their title deeds weren't obtained properly and so
can be declared invalid at any time.
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Time
for a role playing game. Pretend you are in charge
of providing facilities for tourists at this viewpoint.
You have two options when it comes to the placement of a
couple of rather nice new benches. Do you a) place
them so visitors can enjoy a panoramic ocean & island view or b)
place them so visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the
car park. Anyone choosing a) has no
chance of getting a job with the National Park on Koh
Chang.
A
couple of photos,
taken last week of the nightly fire show at Sabay Bar, White Sand
Beach for the Finns who requested them.
The new uniquely styled
Dewa Resort (below) will finally open on 1 September.
The owners kindly invited me to have a look around, so
some photos and info can be found in the
Photo
Gallery.
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12
August -
Birthday greetings to HM The
Queen of Thailand, unlikely that she's reading this but you
never know.
Whilst Koh Chang maybe deader
than the Yangtzee Dolphin at this time of year, the reward for
people who do make it here at this time of year is having the
beach to yourself when the sun comes out. In addition,
when the clouds clear the visibility is much better than in the
high season. A good time for anyone into photography to
visit.
4 Rai (6,400sqm) of sea front
land for sale, stony beach, midway between White Sand Beach and
Klong Prao Beach is for sale. The owner has also had plans
drawn up for a small housing development of villas and low rise
condos on this site.
More
details & info.
Stars on Koh Chang . . . I just
found out that one of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's best mates
spent two nights on the island a few months ago. And if KC
is good enough for friends of quite well known TV cooks, it's
got to be on your 'must visit' list of islands, hasn't it?
Stay out of the water if there
are strong winds & white capped waves. The story of a young
child who came very close to drowning on White Sand beach last
week reminded me of the parable of the distracted parent and the
cocaine stash in the sugar bowl. Or was it just a reminder that some
people have no common sense, I forget which. But
contrary to popular belief the red flags that are flying outside
resorts aren't just for decoration, unlike the blue, green,
yellow and multi-coloured ones that you may see flying which are
obviously for decoration.
Info on Tranquillity Bay
Residence updated,
Is this the nicest luxury villa for sale Koh Chang?
My main regret this past week was
the removal of an official looking roadside sign that simply
said 'Do Not Ocean' before I got round to taking a photo of it.
It's no fun, if the powers that be remove signs before I can
take the piss out of them.
 The
Amari Emerald Cove have launched a new promotion for anyone
visiting Koh Chang i.e. YOU!
Many people who visit the island
want to splash out on a really good meal, the problem is that
finding any restaurant that offers excellent food, 5-star
service and an ambience to match isn't easy. Regardless of
where you are staying on Koh Chang, you're welcome to dine at
one of the Amari's F&B outlets. As an added incentive,
free transport between your resort and the Amari is provided as
is a free glass of wine for each diner.
More Info
The ex-boss of DASTA, the
organisation responsible for the development of Koh Chang,
has just been found guilty of being illegally involved in the
exporting over 100 tigers to a restaurant
zoo in China a couple of years ago following a second inquiry. Something that came as a bit of a
shock to him, but to no-one else who's followed his activities
over the years; especially as the first inquiry, conducted by
his friends an independent panel, found him not
guilty of any wrongdoing.
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A quick summary of the
current weather. All that's certain is that it'll
either be grey clouds or blue skies tomorrow; or maybe a
bit of both.
Recent strong winds
caused damage estimated at around 583 Baht to this
backpacker hut which was crushed by a falling tree.
And the only small
seafront plot on Koh Chang could be yours,
4 Rai for 40
million baht.
Sunday lunchtime on a
holiday weekend in August and Klong Prao beach is abuzz
with low season activity.
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2
August -
Billed as 'Redefining the
paradigm by which chic contemporary urban living has to date
been judged' the Klong Prao
Newtown project is squarely aimed at people who don't have a
clue what this means but like the way the words convey the
impression of something exclusive and therefore out of the reach
of mere mortals.
Modelled on some of the most
dynamic architecture currently on view in downtown Phnom Penh,
designed with an apparent
abandonment of all aesthetic considerations and equipped
with energy saving features such as small blacked out windows;
Klong Prao Newtown is a yet another addition to the sea of
mediocrity currently flooding Koh Chang.
Conveniently located around the
back of the village temple and near the entrance to the local
school, the builders really have thought of everything. All Phase 1 units
come with uninterrupted views of the
temple's crematorium, a mere stone's throw away on
the opposite side of the road. "Smells good, the monks
must be BBQing again." So, no expensive morgue
fees if you have terminally ill family members, just drag
Grandma's corpse across the street and pop 100 baht in the
donation box.
The added bonus of living under
100 metres from the school means that these units afford budding
entrepreneurs one of the best opportunities on Koh Chang to
exploit the spending power of local kids of all ages. Add
to this the
tempting E-Z payment terms of 150,000 baht down-payment plus
14,500 baht payable monthly until the purchase price is met or
the building collapses, whichever is sooner; and it's not
surprising some on-site labourers are calling this 'The
Investment Opportunity of Lifetime'.
+++
Any English teachers looking for
a good job at Koh Chang's best hotel - the 5 star Amari Emerald
Cove? On offer:
Applicants should:
-
Be Native English Speakers
-
Have a decent
knowledge of Thai language
-
Be flexible, patient, dedicated, reliable
and possess very good
people/motivational skills
Immediate start for
the right person. Some experience of the language
requirements of hotel staff is also useful. Interested? Please send
your resume to Martin Hohn <
as@emeraldcove.amari.com >
+++
 Peter & Babs from Scandinavian
Chang Dive Centre, offices opposite Klong Prao Resort & opposite
Chang Park Resort, would like you to know they are open for
business during the 'Green' season and that the conditions for
diving are pretty good right now, you'll have dive sites to
yourself and the visibility is around 15 metres now. Also, at their dive centre
you can be assured of quality, safety, the best service and
you will
be happy customers. Good to know they won't rip you off and then
abandon you to the sharks half way through your PADI course,
which is a common complaint here in Thailand.
+++
A while ago I mentioned I had
some t-shirts from KohMak.com and also GoodTime Resort, Koh Mak
to give away. I forgot about them until yesterday when I
found them gathering mildew in the bottom of my wardrobe.
Therefore, it's time to get rid of them. There are three 'KohMak.com'
and three 'GoodTime Resort' t-shirts to give away. They are all 'Freesize'
which is a Thai word meaning they won't fit anyone correctly but
look OK on a large dog. However, if you're 'big boned',
'well-built' or simply 'large', then you've got no chance of
fitting into one. They fit me OK - 175cm &
75kg and that's all I really care about.
So a t-shirt to anyone who can
complete this sentence in a grammatically correct fashion "I'd
like a t-shirt because . . . " and manage to
email it to me. If you're not visiting KC for a
few months, no problem I'll keep your valued prize for you.
(Signs of boredom No. 43: Using
your dog as tshirt model.) |
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