Various

Navy Seaplane on Koh Chang

Seaplane

When I set off from the house yesterday my plan was to go to Wai Chek beach – in the far south of Koh Chang.   A rarely visited beach but one that is possible to get to by scooter. I hadn’t been there for a while and so fancied an adventure.  I ended up on a Thai navy boat off Salakphet bay watching a ‘Made in Thailand’ seaplane arrive for the benefit of a few assorted VIPs.

On the way to Wai Check, I decided to do  a detour to Long beach to see if the new Treehouse bungalows was open ( it will be soon ).  I then continued further to Hat Yuthanavy beach where I found my friend ‘Mo’ from Koh Chang Sailing Club sitting in his pick up.  He was waiting for a plane.  So, I decided to wait too.  A couple of local dignitaries then rolled up , one was the Governor of the island.   Offshore a speedboat from Koh Mak had arrived & was carrying a couple of guys from Koh Mak Resort & Cinnamon Art Resort who’d come along to see the plane.

The Thai Navy were offshore as they were filming some kind of documentary about the wreck of the WW2 vessel that was sank in the bay.  They kindly sent a dinghy to pick us up so we could go and watch the seaplane from the boat.  It was clear the navy weren’t expecting visitors as lunch consisted of a bowl of instant noodles each.  ( Someone really should teach them how to fish – could come in handy.)

Eventually the plane did arrive, flown here from Sattahip Naval Base near Pattaya.  It did a couple of low level fly bys and then stopped at Hat Yuthanavy beach.  So we were then back in the boat and back to shore.  More photos, shaking of hands etc & going on about how Koh Chang can be the ‘Maldives of Thailand’ – if only there were real seaplane services . . . .  and less garbage on the beaches.

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Koh Chang Island Guide For Independent Travellers