Kai Bae was one of the original areas where locals first opened their homes to travellers. I’ve met people who stayed on this beach with local families in the mid-80s at a time when there were no restaurants, bungalow resorts, roads or even electricity – other than old generators. The locals have moved on from renting out their spare room and many now own their own resorts. In fact, one extended family owns virtually all the land in the southern half of the beach and inland. They wisely refused to sell to outsiders and are now reaping the rewards.

The story of the original village of Kai Bae goes that although a few Thai fishermen lived around the island, most of the current population of the island are descended from immigrants who came to Koh Chang by boat from southern China. They stopped off, looked around, saw plenty of edible wildlife and thought that the island would suit them nicely. A few generations later and the patriarch of the family that owned most of the land in the Kai Bae area decided to split his land between his children. The favoured kids, the males, got the valuable, inland farmland where they could grow rubber, and fruit. The four unfortunate kids, all female, who must have upset Dad at some point in their lives, got the virtually useless, unfertile land by the sea. How could you ever make money out of a few coconut palms and a beach.

And then, in the mid 80s, a few adventurous backpackers began to appear and started asking around for places to stay, there weren’t any so the families near the beach let people stay for free or a token 20 baht a night. Those backpackers told their friends and soon the first guesthouses on the island opened up in Kai Bae.

The rest as they say is history, the beachside resorts in Kai Bae are all still owned by members of the same family and they seem to be making a pretty good living off what was until twenty years ago considered worthless land. The oldest inhabitant of Koh Chang also lives here, the matriarch of families that own most of the land and many of the bungalow resorts in the area. She thinks she’s 108, family members aren’t sure of her age exactly but are sure she’s over 100. You’ll see her pottering around KB Hut.

There has been a lot of development here in the past few years, mainly in the number of roadside shops and the beachfront resorts upgrading old huts to make more expensive, but not luxury, accommodation. Whilst there are a couple of upmarket resorts, Kai Bae isn’t really a destination for many package tourists, it’s more for families and flashpackers who appreciate some home comforts but still like to stay in a modest bungalow by the sea.

The amount of development is quite surprising given that the beach at Kai Bae is nothing special when compared to the northern half of White Sand Beach, most of Klong Prao beach or Lonely Beach. Yet the overall ambiance is a good compromise between the touristy yet convenient White Sand Beach and the independent, thatched hut dwelling traveller vibe of Lonely Beach all rolled in with a small community of local villagers.

The vast majority of the accommodation is pricier than Lonely Beach, Porn’s Bungalows next to Sea View Resort & the newer Siam Cottage being the 300 – 800 baht/night exceptions. But rooms are also a step or two up in quality i.e. you can get water 24 hours a day, your hut has glass in the windows, a non-leak roof and is clean and comfortable.

My favourite places to stay here are KB Resort ( formerly KB Bungalows) and Kai Bae Beach Bungalows (which has a very nice beachfront restaurant) both have a choice of fan and AC rooms but prices seem to increase by 20% a year, so whilst they are good bets for families and anyone on a 2 week holiday, they aren’t for people travelling the world on a finite budget. KB Resort also boasts a new pool and family sized teak wood bungalows which can easily sleep 4-5 people.

At the far southern end of the beach, a 15 minute walk along the sand, are Sea View Resort and Siam Bay Resort.  Sea View Resort is popular with families.  Go for the newer hotel rooms rather than the old, musty bungalows which cost virtually the same.  The resort’s new hillside restaurant has amazing views, great for a sunset cocktail, but is over-priced and not on a par with the roadside restaurants in the village. Closeby, Siam Bay Resort has a range of bungalows and is currently being overhauled with new, more upmarket bungalows and pool villas available for the 2009-10 high season.

Coral Resort is another decent mid range choice, mainly because of the large pool & excellent views. The range of new bungalows have satellite TV and a daily maid service – a good choice, if pink paintwork doesn’t upset you too much.

Two large resorts at the northern end of the beach occupy the prime beachfront real estate in that area. But Cliff Beach and Chang Park are both showing their age and emit a tired, lethargic vibe that seems to announce acceptance of their fate as a first choice for Russian visitors but for no-one else. .Cliff Beach is the better bet for couples, head up to the clifftop pool to escape the brats d you’ll be rewarded with amazing views. Chang Park is better for families, plenty of open garden area near the pool for kids to play in.

Roadside offers the usual hotch-potch of restaurants, bars, tailors, internet cafes, minimarts etc. At the very north of the beach, opposite Cliff Beach Resort, a rather horrible looking little shopping side street has been built, hardly any of the mini-shop units have been occupied – which isn’t surprising. Close by ‘Sir Henry Morgan Pirates Pub’ serves up food cooked by a chef from St Petersburg to minivan loads of Eastern European visitors. It’s a lovely teakwood building with a tacky lighthouse outside and rates highly on the ‘Tourist-trap-o-meter’

On the opposite side of the street more mini-shop units of not more than 8 or 9 sqm in area, line one side of the road. Very good gelato, a Dream Cones’ franchise, is available from one . Opposite is the English run Joy Bar, you can tell it’s English as there are huge flags of St George flying in order to warn off any continentals who doesn’t appreciate warm flat beer and piue and chips. Tucked away behind the bar is Koh Chang’s only crazy golf course. Nine holes of fun for all the family.

Just south, ’339 Avenue’ offers a more upmarket shopping experience, at least that was the plan. The roadside shops, an Italian & Indian Restaurants, dive shop, bookshop, beachwear shop etc tend to receive a few customers but the units at the rear of the plaza are deathly quiet and many have never been occupied.

Moving south you pass the first of the two 7-eleven minimarts, clusters of shops selling identical beachwear, small restaurants and a section of road where you’ll see half a dozen tailors shops in the space of 100 metres. Friend Seafood, just before the bank and 7-eleven is one of the better roadside seafood restaurants in the area. Decent prices and good food too. Also in this area ‘Kai Bae Wine Gallery’ is a good place to stock up on hard to find imported beers & wines. But bear in mind that wine in Thailand is very expensive due to high taxes, far better to stick a couple of bottle of your favourite tipple in your suitcase.

Kai Bae’s largest nitespot, Blues Cha Cha is located just past the 7-eleven. They have regular live bands and guest DJs plus an open air dining area.

The central section of the beach is only now being developed with the newly built 5,000 baht/night boutique Gajapuri Resort sitting next to the cheap & cheerful 500 baht/night Siam Cottage. Nearby construction of The Chill, which aims to be Koh Chang’s most exclusive resort was completed in November 2008. The resort is very nice, obviously designed by a straight guy as the rooms are all whitewashed, full of gadgets and there are no soft furnishings to be seen. Lovely pool though that runs the length of the resort, from reception to the beach. Adjacent to The Chill is a campsite where you can pitch a tent for next to nothing or rent an extremely poky, but brightly painted hut by the beach.

Heading on you come to Kai Bae’s main bar area, a roadside cluster of half a dozen beer bars catering to the needs of single guys in need of a wallet lightening, ego massage in the privacy of their hotel room. (You always knew you were a ‘hansum man’ with a ‘good heart’. But be wary of any stories which relate to ‘Mama cannot pay bill for sick buffalo’ Sob, sniff, tears etc)

Moving swiftly on you’ll pass longstanding French restaurant ‘Fredo’s', which you’ll visit if you are French but will otherwise probably skip, plus several other small eateries including the new ‘Rock Sugar’ that seems to have got a mix of Thai & Western food plus live music that tourists like.  But prices are higher here than if you ate on the beach. Live music can also be found on the opposite side of the road in Garden Resort, hidden away behind the 7-eleven,  where you’ll find these nice spacious bungalows, a small pool & restaurant all hidden from the main road.

Opposite the 7-eleven is the access road for KB Hut, if you need to rent a speedboat – book it here.

As you near the southern end of the beach you’ll pass ‘Kai Bae Marina’ – not a yacht in sight but they do passable pizza and European food, plus have a small home cinema with a huge choice of movies.

Next door, in another small roadside shopping plaza is ‘Moccachino’ – a good internet / coffee shop that makes a nice spot to people watch in the morning, but a bit on the pricey side.

The saving graces for anyone who wants a decent meal being a couple of Thai food shacks (midway between Ploy Scuba bar & Ziva restaurant) which offer most excellent Thai food; O2 restaurant which is a typical ‘one stop shop’ you can get a decent Thai or farang meal, book a tour, learn Thai cookery, use the internet etc; and Papa’s Deli where you can get a good approximation to a real French baguette or croissant in air-conditioned comfort. A couple of hundred metres further, you’ll reach the edge of the village and a Herbal Sauna and Fair Trade Coffee Tea Shop, where paying over the odds for a Cappuchino will make you feel good.

For cheap, 30 baht, food there are three sure fire bets in Kai Bae. Noodles – try, what in English is called ‘Pao Pak Noodles’, but the large roadside sign is mostly in Thai. This is in a stand alone building with car park just south of the tailors row and LaLuna guesthouse, opposite the turning for Gajapuri Resort. The owner speaks very good English and runs a franchise of a famous Thai brand of extremely spicy noodle soup – from the north of Thailand. (The place gets packed with Thais at the weekends). Further south, take the turn for Kai Bae Hut Resort and 30 metres down the road you’ll see a restaurant on the left, Kai Bae Hut Noodle Shop. Again, excellent noodles, but also very good Thai dishes at prices that everyone can afford, which means you get the whole range of diners from the local security guards, to hotel owners and local businesspeople, to expats and tourists.

Finally, for what I consider to be the best Tom Yam Gung in the area, look for the ‘no name’ restaurant across from the entrance to the now defunct Blues Cha Cha Nightclub. The restaurant has a phone booth outside it and part of the restaurant is now a print shop run by the owner’s son & daughter. A sign on the shop just says ‘Thai Foods’ – no restaurant name. We’ve been going here for around 6 years & never had a bad meal. Consistently good, cheap food. There’s a menu in a kind of English too.

Anyone looking for longstay accommodation in the area should check out the two tracks that lead inland. One opposite Coral Resort and the other just past the southernmost 7-eleven. There roads both head into the valley and it is here that you’ll find some longstay bungalows and small houses for rent. Several expats have also built houses in the valley and it is a nice, quiet but convenient location in which to live.

Details and Reviews of hotels and resorts in the  Kai Bae Beach area