Opinions On Koh Chang

[TheJalapenoKid]

Hey

My Brother-in-Law is coming over for a visit next week and he wants beaches and beer (nightlife)... is Koh Change the right place. We will be using my car so are limited to Hua Hin (which i like), Pattaya (which i do not like) and maybe Koh Chang... can you recommend? Does it have a nightlife? Where are the best areas to stay?

Many thanks

TJK

[Nio]

Very small nightlife scene at Koy Chang, excellent beaches and during the right time of the year it is quite peaceful.

It is very laid back and sure if you can find a local girl at one of the beers bars you can have quite a good time

The island itself is just great, lots of things to see and do, rent a honda wave for 200 baht a day and drive around the whole island

[sharecropper]

Ko Chang is now my Number 1 beach location in Thailand. I love it there - and I have lived here for 8 years and only got round to visiting a year ago. Been back three times since then!

[Slaps]

Maybe you should read this thread

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Koh-Chang-Pa...st-t163972.html

[TheJalapenoKid]

thanks everyone

[Changian]

If your mate wants beer and hookers he will find it here. It's just not as abundant and in your face as most other islands or tourist spots . . . yet.

[KunMatt]

I've spent the last year in Thailand, I came to Thailand for the first time in 2004. I'd been wanting to go to Koh Chang for years and finally made it out there a few weeks ago. I went there with the anticipation that this island could be my future residence in Thailand.

In summation it's overpriced, overhyped and very disappointing. I could have spent up to 5 weeks there but after 12 days me and my Thai gf decided we had had enough and moved on. I was ready to leave after a few days tbh but wanted to give it a chance.

We stayed in White Sand beach which is the most popular tourist beach but we visited the other beaches along the west coast; Klong Prao, Kai Bae, Lonely Beach etc, however White Sands has the best nightlife with bars and restaurants along the beach with a few live music bands, the best being a Filipino band at Sabay Bar who have the best fire show I've ever seen too.

Everyone always says that it's very cheap in Chang but the first bungalow resort we enquired at was 7000 Baht per night. Yes, seven thousand Baht for one night in a small bungalow on Chang - way more than a months local salary, and the place looked no where near worth it; they also had a room for twelve thousand a night! You can find cheap backpacker digs for 400 or 500 on a beach with no nightlife but that's not what we were looking for. We found a hotel room with A/C, TV, hot water for 1200 a night, which is more than we paid for better accomodation in Samui but Samui has MUCH more to do and see. I have no idea how they justified 7000 a night for a bungalow on Chang when we got a stunning huge brick bungalow in Phuket in a resort for 1300.

I didn't think White Sand beach was very beatiful, it's certainly not white and there's nothing on the horizon to see; no islands or boats (also no watersports here), it's just the sea for as far as you can see. The other beaches down the coast do a have a much better view and feeling though.

Apart from eating, drinking and hanging out, there's not too much to do - this is basically all we had planned to do anyways but beer is expensive in most places and the food was average, even the seafood which you imagine should be amazing on an island like this, wasn't.

There's a 4 Island snorkeling tour you can take from Bang Bao (basically a pier at the south of the Island) for 500 Baht which is brilliant and I highly recommend that. Diving is supposed to be good there but I saw enough with the all day snorkeling.

Chang is a National Park but you can't get into it so basically you are limited to the coast line. You can get into a small waterfall and there are some elephant treks that lead you along a limited path. It's a large Island but you are pretty much restricted whichever side of the Island you choose to stay as the terrain is so harsh at the north and the south that it's difficult to drive around by yourself, the Honda Phantom I hired broke down trying to get around to the South of the Island as the roads were too steep. Baht buses run around all day so you can jump on one of those to change beaches.

In general there is nothing on Chang that you can't find anywhere else in Thailand but better quality and cheaper. I've stayed in Samui, Phuket and Samet and they all beat Chang for me. I'm a young guy looking for somewhere to live in Thailand but I don't think I will ever go back to Chang again for all the time I will spend in Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

Koh Chang used to be good about 7-8 years ago when I first came to Thailand and pretty undeveloped, used to spend a every second weekend there and enjoyed it. Over the last years with all the development going IMHO it has gone downhill.

[Atmos]

we're currently in Sa Kaeo, looking to spend a week (2 adults, 2 kids) in Chantaburi/Trat area, maybe a day trip to Koh Chang - welcome any suggestions for 'family friendly' area to stay, not after any nightlife/bars, for he 4yr old it'll be the first time she's seen the sea that will be te highlight.

thanks

[Changian]

Koh Chang isn't for people who need someone else to provide entertainment for them or lay on things for them to do. If you can organise yourself and like relatively quiet islands then it's not bad. I've been here for 6+ years and have a quiet place to live where the only noise is that of the birds in the morning and insects at night. Not on the beach though but on the estuary. Not a lot of concrete around - most buildings are wooden fisherman's houses some of which have been renovated. The beach is 150 metres walk through the mangroves and coconut fields at the back of the house.

It is a bit pricey - that is true. I have to pay 30 baht for a plate of food at a local restaurant in the village. Could probably save 10 baht per meal by living in Isaan somewhere.

The neighbourhood.

The beach where I walk the dog every day. I guess it could be improved by the addition of umpteen bars and concrete boxes masquerading as beach bungalows but for now it suits me fine.

[KunMatt]

Koh Chang isn't for people who need someone else to provide entertainment for them or lay on things for them to do. If you can organise yourself and like relatively quiet islands then it's not bad. I've been here for 6+ years and have a quiet place to live where the only noise is that of the birds in the morning and insects at night. Not on the beach though but on the estuary. Not a lot of concrete around - most buildings are wooden fisherman's houses some of which have been renovated. The beach is 150 metres walk through the mangroves and coconut fields at the back of the house.

It is a bit pricey - that is true. I have to pay 30 baht for a plate of food at a local restaurant in the village. Could probably save 10 baht per meal by living in Isaan somewhere.

The neighbourhood.

The beach where I walk the dog every day. I guess it could be improved by the addition of umpteen bars and concrete boxes masquerading as beach bungalows but for now it suits me fine.

Like I said in my post Chang is cheap in some places. If you wanted to scrape by and SURVIVE only then you could do it cheaply in Chang, in fact you can do that anywhere in Thailand and there are much better places to do just that, in my opinion. You could even survive on 400 Baht a day in Bangkok living in a crappy hotel, not going out much and eating one 30 Baht plate of food a couple of times, but I didn't move to Thailand for that kind of existence. If it suits you then well done, it seems to have made you quite sarcastic and cynical about accepting any critisism about the place you chose to do it though.

Unfortunately Chang was not for me and was a huge disappointment considering I was hoping this would be the place I could move to. It's worth a look if you are close by (otherwise it is a bit of a chore to get to) but I found it did not deliver on any of the build up, hype and advertising about the place I have been hearing about for years and is set to only get worse as it continues to develop in the way that it is.

[davethailand]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do but for beaches that are just as nice its great.

IMO Chang is nicer than Samui also.

its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

Edited April 17, 2010 by davethailand

[KunMatt]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do and IMO Chang is nicer than Samui but for beaches that are just as nice its great. its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

I think the beaches at Samet are much more beautiful than Chang, and it quicker and easier to get to from Bangkok or Pattaya.

[davethailand]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do and IMO Chang is nicer than Samui but for beaches that are just as nice its great. its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

I think the beaches at Samet are much more beautiful than Chang, and it quicker and easier to get to from Bangkok or Pattaya.

Samets good if you want to totally relax, Koh Chang its nice to hire a bike and drive round to Bang Bao etc, I also like a mixture of quiet bars and more livelier places which Koh Chang has.

Samet also is more back packy if you know what I mean, not massively keen on that.

[KunMatt]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do and IMO Chang is nicer than Samui but for beaches that are just as nice its great. its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

I think the beaches at Samet are much more beautiful than Chang, and it quicker and easier to get to from Bangkok or Pattaya.

Samets good if you want to totally relax, Koh Chang its nice to hire a bike and drive round to Bang Bao etc, I also like a mixture of quiet bars and more livelier places which Koh Chang has.

Samet also is more back packy if you know what I mean, not massively keen on that.

I thought it was the other way round, Chang is more setup for backpackers and gained popularity with all the cheap beach huts, right? I certainly saw lots more backpackers there than in Samet.

Samet is more underdeveloped for sure though, and has more dogs on the beach! Chang has way more to do than Samet too.

[davethailand]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do and IMO Chang is nicer than Samui but for beaches that are just as nice its great. its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

I think the beaches at Samet are much more beautiful than Chang, and it quicker and easier to get to from Bangkok or Pattaya.

Samets good if you want to totally relax, Koh Chang its nice to hire a bike and drive round to Bang Bao etc, I also like a mixture of quiet bars and more livelier places which Koh Chang has.

Samet also is more back packy if you know what I mean, not massively keen on that.

I thought it was the other way round, Chang is more setup for backpackers and gained popularity with all the cheap beach huts, right? I certainly saw lots more backpackers there than in Samet.

Samet is more underdeveloped for sure though, and has more dogs on the beach! Chang has way more to do than Samet too.

Too be honest i haven't been to Samet for about 6 years, last time i went there were loads of back packers, it was quite funny in Silver Sands disco as it was myself and a friend, my (now) wife and 6 girls from Pattaya, the Husbands and boyfriends in the disco were in their element dancing with the girls, the wives and girlfriends were as happy for some reason.

Been to Koh Chang a couple of times in the past year.

[Soutpeel]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do and IMO Chang is nicer than Samui but for beaches that are just as nice its great. its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

I think the beaches at Samet are much more beautiful than Chang, and it quicker and easier to get to from Bangkok or Pattaya.

Samet is a f*kcing dump...

[Siam Simon]

Hua Hin should be fine at this time of the year. Weather hot & dry. beach ok, plenty of bars of all types and some late night stuff available down the road from the Hilton. Koh Chang was a real first time pleasure for us back end of last year. We'd talked about going for years, but the minor accessibility and mozzie issues had put us off. To be honest, the skeets are still something of an issue there, and it's still an awkward place to get to whichever way you travel. But my wife, daughter and I (baby son's not allowed opinions yet ) all agreed that it has a very nice balance of quaint, unspoiled charms and touristy comforts. White Sand Beach may suit you best. Iamkohchang's website gives plenty of honest, practical info.

[maccaroni man]

Koh Chang is one of my favorite places, on the whole i like Phuket better as its bigger with more to do but for beaches that are just as nice its great.

IMO Chang is nicer than Samui also.its also convenient to get to (I live in Pattaya) its 3 and a bit hours from the house.

Price wise I think its ok.

other than both being islands how can chang and samui even be compared? samui is like bkk compared to chang.