Lonely Beach, Koh Chang: 2011-12 Update

For Western visitors, Lonely Beach has long been regarded as the best beach to stay  on Koh Chang if you’re a true backpacker. For Thais, Lonely Beach has long been regarded as the best beach to visit on Koh Chang if you want to see western girls topless.

Over a decade ago the attraction for foreigners was that this small bay had a beautiful sandy beach, a couple of laid back places to stay and could only be reached by foot via a trail over the hill from Kai Bae. One budget bungalow complex, at the far southern end of the beach – The Tree House, became well-known amongst the backpacker fraternity and the success of this ramshackle resort led to a whole host of imitators being set up nearby. And the beginning of the end for ‘Lonely’ beach.

Lonely Beach is still cheap – in certain parts, it’s also cheerful, but the one thing it isn’t nowadays is lonely. But there again if it was deserted who could you loudly tell your backpacking tales to? How could you enjoy a different party every day of the week? Where could check your email whilst enjoying a cappuccino and banana pancake? And who would you get to reconfirm your bus ticket to Koh Pa-Ngan or help you to make an International phone call?

It’s also a little known fact that Lonely Beach actually has a Thai name ‘Hat Tha Nam’ . . . .but it’s unlikely that anyone staying there really cares or is interested, just so long as a resort on Hat Tha Nam can do a good muesli and yoghurt breakfast and has free wi-fi in the restaurant area.

The gentrification of Lonely Beach is now well underway with a swish 3* package tourist hotel – the Bhumiyama Resort now occupying a prime location at the southern end of the beach. At the northern end, the quiet end, is Siam Beach Resort which has successfully transformed from a backpacker place to semi-luxury resort within the space of a few short years. It now boasts luxury good value hotel rooms and luxury pool villas for around 6,000 baht / night, a far cry from the 500 baht /night huts that stood in the same spot until 2006.  There are however, still some older aircon bungalows on the hillside for around 1,000 baht/night.  A good deal when you can also use the same facilities as the resort guests.

The actual beach is only home to four resorts – the aforementioned Bhumiyama & Siam Beach for anyone wanting hotel comforts, Nature Beach for flashpacker huts – a new roadside section with pretty nice but tightly packed, aircon bungalows opened in 2010 and Siam Hut for those looking for the most basic of basic accommodation. There’s a fair bit of rivalry between the staff at these two places – each of whih has their own popular beach bar & restaurant,  in the past this has spilled over into beach warfare bar staff battle it out for supremacy.

If you’re planning on staying any further south than Siam Hut then remember that the beach runs out here and bungalows to the south will either be roadside, amongst coconut trees or be a stone’s throw from a stony shoreline devoid of sand. If you must stay near the cheap beer, traditional tattoo  & banana pancake enclave, you will find that the old Treehouse is now long gone. The only traces that remain are of the restaurant where concrete pilings sticking out of the seabed are the only indication a structure was once there.  The sie of the bungalows is now ‘Seaflower Resort’.  Pink, concrete AC bungalows in a garden setting, as of Sept ’11, some were already open and construction on the second row bungalows was 70% complete.  So the whole place should be ready for High Season.

‘Paradise Cottages’ also offer rather nice, quieter mid-range bungalows, by the shore a few hundred metres south. But  ‘Warapura’ located midway between Treehouse & Paradise on the shore offers the best accommodation in the area. Bungalows aren’t aimed at gap year students but more at older travellers who still like to party but who appreciate a clean, comfortable place to sleep with some comfort. Warapura’s individually furnished and decorated bungalows, with luxuries such as AC, LCD TV, wi-fi, hot water and priced from around 1,800 baht/night up in High season. They also have a pool and laid back restaurant right by the water.

It’s the roadside areas to the south of the sandy beach, where all of the commercial growth has been – simply because this is the only area where land is available to rent. All manner of small bars, tattooists, small restaurants, dive schools etc abound.  Tattooing seems to be a prime business to be involved in, as Lonely beach has it’s own ‘tattoists row’ a small area with half a dozen or so tattoo artists side by side. Most do bamboo tattoos if you want  a more traditional & painful experience. Alongside all the small businesses are budget accommodation options of varying standards, from ‘Kachapura’ if you like to party but need your airconditioning, to ‘Magic Garden’ for ensuite wooden huts, to ‘Oasis’ and ‘Little Eden’ for good value bungalows a short walk away from the madness on a hillside overlooking the beach. A word of warning though, if you choose to stay in this area of Lonely Beach amidst all the bars and clubs, don’t plan on having any early nights.

As many bars often have free buffets, you could feasibly eat for free pretty much every evening during high season.  But you will be expected to keep your drinks topped up and not nurse a Diet Coke for 4 solid hours.  For food you recognise, try Ploy Talay Inn which often has cheapo deals on evening buffets and is a good place to hang out roadside and people watch.

As the area moves upmarket some business owners are ahead of the curve, for example ‘We Bar’ – a Swedish owned bar and restaurant with one of the best sound systems on the island and which makes cocktails as they should be made – top shelf alcohol rather than cheap spirits.  The aim is to provide Western quality in Lonely Beach – of course it is a bit more expensive than the cheap bars but you are paying for quality. ‘Barrio Bonito’ is another recommended place to eat and drink if your budget is over 100 Baht per head for a meal. Nice laid back ambiance plus great, homemade Mexican food and cocktails

Other local landmarks for backpackers are Ting Tong Bar, Lemon Bar and Vitamine Club which regularly have ear splitting music playing late into the night for your ‘enjoyment’. If you want a place to kick back, drink cheap vodka/redbull by the bucket and listen to the latest top tunes, plus the ubiquitous ‘Best of Bob Marley’ CD, then these places are for you.

If you’re female and want a holiday romance with a Thai bar-boy then there are all manner of dreadlocked fire juggling, rastaboys loitering in this area who all think you are the most beautiful, perfect, large breasted and easily impressed creation since Eve.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the success of a resort on Lonely Beach is often directly proportional to how tolerant, or at least allowing, of drug use & sale, the resort owners are. Let’s be honest, a large number of backpackers don’t want to stay somewhere where they might get busted the moment they light up a joint, regardless of the fact that lighting up is illegal or not. You may notice Thai guys rolling their spliffs quietly, but you’ll notice they aren’t doing it in broad daylight in extremely public locations. You’ll also notice they don’t go around shouting if anyone wants to buy a joint. Therefore, if you’re a wannabe weed supplier beach dude – be discreet about it. People who upset the status quo and who try to take a piece of the action for themselves usually find themselves in trouble with the authorities and leaving the island much quicker than planned, minus the contents of their bank account.  Also, obvious newbies are an easy target for a set up.  Once in a  while the police will need to arrest someone on a drugs charge. Situations such as someone being sold a joint by bar staff and then 5 minutes later, just after they light up, the police appear out of nowhere, do occur.  When they do, the bewildered backpacker is in a shit load of trouble.

Google Map of the Lonely Beach area

Details and Reviews of hotels and resorts in the  Lonely Beach area

Next: South to Bailan Bay