Driving To Ko Chang

[EVO]

Im gonna be driving down to Ko Chang from Bangkok for the Songkran holiday.

A few questions.

1) Can you drive onto the island, and if so, does it cost anythiung to do so?

2) If you can drive onto the island, where and how much for the ferry?

3) Does the ferry service above have a website so that i can pre-book??

I know nothing of Ko Chang, so it would be great for some help.

Regards

[Insight]

1) You can. If I remember rightly, it was 150 baht for the car, 70 baht per person. That was 2 years ago though - it could of gone up by now.

2) It's well signposted from the main road towards Ko Chang. There's also a number of ferry terminals, not just the one. Drive towards Trat on the #2 (?) expressway, and you'll see it signposted from there.

3) Not necessary. Go to a ferry terminal and queue up.

The main road around the island is in a horse-shoe shape - the two bits don't meet at the end. And watch out for those hills when you get off the ferry terminal and head to the beaches on the west-hand side of the island - extreemly steep, but the roads are in good condition.

[GoodHeart]

As Insight's post implies- it is a very informal process. The car ferries transport everyone- regardless of your having a car. I flew Bangkok air down 2 years ago and the bus from the aiport passed several terminals before we pulled into this one.

Enjoy your holiday there!

Be advised though- some of the hills there are incredibly steep. Read very limited visibility. The slopes might have the errant orphan rock. Construction trucks are fond of leaving behind the emergency parking brakes.

Edited March 30, 2006 by GoodHeart

[GoodHeart]

As Insight's post implies- it is a very informal process. The car ferries transport everyone- regardless of you having a car. I flew Bangkok air down 2 years ago and the bus from the aiport passed several terminals before we pulled into this one.

Enjoy your holiday there!

Be advised though- some of the hills there are incredibly steep. Read very limited visibility. The slopes might have the errant orphan rock. Construction trucks are fond of leaving behind the emergency parking brakes.

[think_too_mut]

2) If you can drive onto the island, where and how much for the ferry?

3) Does the ferry service above have a website so that i can pre-book??

Regards

No need to book. The ferries are frequent, you should be able to get aboard the first one, at least that's how it was when I went there (3 times). The ride takes about 25-30 minutes.

Tickets: I think what's in my hand is all we paid. For a car and 5 people.

[LaoPo]

Im gonna be driving down to Ko Chang from Bangkok for the Songkran holiday.

I know nothing of Ko Chang, so it would be great for some help.

Regards

The rest of the questions are answered for I suppose.

Did you prebook accommodation?

I went there 2 years ago with Songkran..... it was EXTREMELY busy, mostly Thai families with cars and it took a while before we got on the ferry with our taxi....

The taxi staid on the other side (he told us to board...) and we waited for another 1 1/2 hour but luckily he showed up.

It was a nightmare to try to find accommodation and took us hours....and found a real sh_tty place

So: advise? pre-book!

LaoPo

[terdsak_12]

Be prepared for some steep hill climbs and decsents, good fun though!!! If you've got a 4x4 try to find Long Beach on the east side of the Island.

Prebooking for Songkran is good advice.

[jdinasia]

If you don't have a place booked ... don't go

Took me a week to find a place that was decent and still has rooms available ...

(Same would go for Samet etc)

Re Park fees ..... Koh Chang is a Nat'l Park ... Thai's pay 20 baht and foriegners pay 200 right?

[EVO]

Thanks for your help guys.

We have indeed pre booked our place. Weve had it booked for months after learning our lesson in previous years.

First time to Ko Chang though, its usually Samet at Songkran.

Maybe ill be able to get the escape into 4wd for the first time in its life?!? Sounds fun!

Cheers

[wilko]

Im gonna be driving down to Ko Chang from Bangkok for the Songkran holiday.

A few questions.

1) Can you drive onto the island, and if so, does it cost anythiung to do so?

2) If you can drive onto the island, where and how much for the ferry?

3) Does the ferry service above have a website so that i can pre-book??

I know nothing of Ko Chang, so it would be great for some help.

Regards

OK most of your Qs have been answered...but there are in fact several ferry services (at least 3) to the island and their prices vary quite a lot - from cheap to very cheap...some charge by the car others by passengers.

They are dotted along the coast and don't all go to the same pier on Koh Chang.

I never bothered to book, but at this time of year it could result in having to wait or go to another ferry pier.

the last ferries go around 7.00pm. They will stop in rough weather too.

I think because of the way the island is (mis)-laid out it is almost essential to have transport over there.

Koh Chang is very hilly and the road - there is in effect only one - is too small to cope with the ever increasing traffic. make sure your brakes and clutch are in good order!?!?!

Furthermore the road does not circumvent the island (yet?)...there was a narrow track that connected both ends but not for the faint hearted... (has that changed since Dec/Jan??

If you haven't driven along the coast road to Koh Chang before, there's nothing too untoward about it really. I would beware of the slippery surface after rain. If you run late and need a stop over, there are many good resorts along the coast around Laem Sadet between Klaeng and Chantaburi...and some good scenery. There'll be a lot of Thais taking a holiday there at this time of year though.

Chantaburi is quite interesting.....gems and fruit

Trat is pretty and boring...there's no need to go that far to catch the ferry...look for the Laen Ngop sign just after the police road block! Yes there is one nearly all the time there.

Outside Rayong you may be pulled on the by-pass too so keep some notes aside for the "fine"....it's usually 200. Rayong has really long beaches...the north beach has a good seafood reataurant right at the far end...and the south beach has a nature reserve with wooden huts a little bay and beach opposite the up-market Rayong Resort - very nice!

Now...Here's my opinion of Koh Chang.........

Koh Chang…a paradise lost…

This is a quick overview of the state of Koh Chang, the second largest island in Thailand. Now with the sudden unpopularity of the west coast (i.e. Phuket) there is an ever increasing number of western tourists heading for this island...here is my polemic on why this is not so good....

I've been to Koh Chang many times over the past three years, largely because it's near to Sri Racha where I live, and every time a friend comes to stay this is the most convenient "paradise island to take them to". My brother even got married there in March.

So why can I not recommend this slice of bounty advert?

(Deep breath)

Koh Chang is a dull, badly developed, overpriced pit of a place and it's going down hill at a rate of knots......

Why? The land for development was all bought up by bigwig friends of the "great and powerful" and now anyone who wants to set up a business there has to pay through the nose for it. All the hotels are overpriced especially when you compare with Phuket and Samui.

Almost all the west coast is now covered with these awful self-contained resorts, which are for the most part badly designed and ill finished. Frequently you can find your room is on a building site. Health and safety is simply not addressed - some of the pool designs look positively lethal.

If you're coming from Europe or the States you'll find that the cost of living and rooms is cheap but not compared to elsewhere in Thailand. You'll love the sunsets and the white sand, you won't wonder where all the sewage is going and what happened to the mangroves or the fishing industry that gets smaller catches every year, or the fishing villages being turned into a souvenir arcade-cum-hotel.

The centre of Koh Chang is a national park , but unlike all of Thailand's other National Parks, apart from the odd waterfall, no-one is allowed inside, you can get a guide who will take you in but strictly speaking that's against the law. There is virtually no effort made to set up a good system of eco-tourism in the park as you might find in Australia.

There is only one road around KC and it doesn't go all the way round, it's a horse-shoe affair. There is a motorbike track that connects the two ends but it's not for the faint of heart! The road is barely more than single track (asphalted) but cannot cope with the ever increasing load of traffic pouring onto the island.

KC is the second biggest island in Thailand and walking around it in a day is not an option, KC is also very mountainous and the roads are very windy and hilly and as the resorts are all a long way from any shops etc its essential to hire a motorbike or car. These of course are about 50 to 100 % more than on the mainland. The baht taxi service is very patchy. Any where you want to go is further than you want to walk.

The main town, if you could call it that is White Sands a long strip of hotels ,resorts and motley bars about 3 km long. If you arrive on foot a baht taxi will take you from the ferry to Whitesands and drop you there. (So long as he has a full load or he'll want you to foot the extra money) You will then have to find somewhere to stay this is impossible on foot and with luggage So book in advance at least for the first night. Then get some wheels.

There is no airport on KC itself, if you go by plane you'll land at Trat airport which is on the mainland quite near to the ferries to KC. Get a taxi to the ferry - only a few baht. There are several ferries across, the crossing takes 45 to 90 min, depending on which ferry you take. On one ferry I paid 30 e/w for me and my car, on another I paid 360 baht for my car an five people return.

Now you may think I hate the place, well I don't, I just get very disappointed in the direction the powers-that-be have taken KC, it's lack of infrastructure and any forward planning will mean that sooner rather than later this place will become a collection of overprice resorts and nothing else.

Where to stay? - Klong Prao Beach is probably as good as it gets, there are about 4 resorts there actually with beach frontage, The Paradise is all nicely built new bungalows, Coconut and Royal Coconut are next to that and Klong Prao resort has a long beach front and good pool beside the sea.

However the last time I stayed at Klong Prao Resort in last August the place was a building site. They didn't tell me until the day I arrived even though I was a regular guest there. If you do book in advance you must ask about this sort of thing because you will very likely not be told by the staff. Building also precedes a hike in prices. I used to pay 1800 baht to stay there. That time I paid 1750, a discount of 50 baht (just over a dollar) because it was the wet season and there was building going on! I was told the new price is 3500 baht and that was what they would still charge whilst the building was continuing.

The problem with Koh Chang is that it is changing and changing rapidly for the worse. Hotels are constantly building and encroaching on the environment. Prices are rising and beach access is getting more and more taken over by private resorts. The days of a hut on the beach for 200 baht are virtually gone. The scuba divers are going further and further a field in search of clear water and fish, and don’t be kidded that so long as the hotel claims to be by the sea that it has a beach!

Remember that it is now high season and what with the tsunami still driving many extra visitors over from thee west coast, you may find many places fully booked.

PS – I cannot recommend the Klong Prao, Ramayana and Boutique resorts!

If you want up to date local info on KC, try this site - IamKohChang.com -

Good site for info on Koh Chang and sounds like a good place to stay too!

Edited April 3, 2006 by wilko

[leisurely]

Previousl post was long but excellent. The only thing you left out were the backpackers boasting and bragging about saving 15 baht by sharing somtam. We were there just after xmas and the number of shaggy unshaven mucky people was phenomenal. Koh San Road transported........ Having said that and agreeing with the last poster I am off with the family after Songkran. Leaving the country totally for the water fest.

[Nickkbh]

Sorry to hijack....but i am considering going myself...

so,i am looking for recommendations as to where to stay.

Looking for something comfortable.

Phone or online booking.

Thanks

Nick

[joinme2leave]

came back frm KC today. Most said previously I have to agree (unfortunately). Eco-tourism seems to be a no-no. Another Samui is growing fast.

Definitely pre-book ur accomodations there in case u intend to stay over festival times or at weekends. Lotsa thais, real lotsa thais there. Farang - imho - the package ones at White Sand, the cheap charly (KaoSarn) ones at Lonely Beach and the rest, well if there is any....they are anywhere else.

I can recommend KaiBee and Klong Phrao. Silent (verrry silent the last 10 days) and some beach spots to be found too.

Did not have a pre-booking but got a swiss friend living at KC for 7 years now. He arranged reservations at Mam Bungalow, KaiBee. 500-600 baht fan beach front bungalow. Survived one day in there. Thais arriving in hordes, cooking and karaoke all day/all night long just behind my room. Incredible noisy (as u u maybe can imagine). Changed accomodation next day 7 in the morning (after having got a wake up call by thais starting their pickup engines to use the car a/c). Went 100 metres left of Mam Bungalow into yet-to-finish front service desk of "KaiBee GrandVill Resort". Rooms with a/c, fridge, satellite tv (though mostly russian???), nice, silent (!!!!) location normally sold for 2500 a night all of a sudden where available for a thousand. Could not resist to say yes. AND I LOVED IT.

Final comment regarding ferry: so far, nobody told you about the ferry time schedule, right? BE AWARE that last ferry to/from KC (LaemGnob is best) is something around 5 pm.

Anyway, try to relax there as long as it is possible. I do not want to know how KC looks like in a couple of years. Sigh.

[wilko]

Thanks for your help guys.

We have indeed pre booked our place. Weve had it booked for months after learning our lesson in previous years.

First time to Ko Chang though, its usually Samet at Songkran.

Maybe ill be able to get the escape into 4wd for the first time in its life?!? Sounds fun!

Cheers

just one more tihng...there is very limited scope to go off road on Koh Chang....the centre is a nature reserve and there is virtually no public access. I have to say that it irks me somewhat that on Koh samed the nature reserve was deimated for development and on Koh Chang they have gone to the other extreme by making it virtually unaccessible. Neither is a satisfactory solution. Perhaps the should take a leaf out of the Aussies' book and manage the reserves properly.

If you manage to circumnavigate the island, let me know!

[Artisan]

Re Park fees ..... Koh Chang is a Nat'l Park ... Thai's pay 20 baht and foriegners pay 200 right?

In a word....No.

[wilko]

Re Park fees ..... Koh Chang is a Nat'l Park ... Thai's pay 20 baht and foriegners pay 200 right?

In a word....No.

read this then.........

Taken at Waterfall on Koh Chang.....it would seem to suggest that that is indeed the case.....

[Artisan]

read this then.........

Taken at Waterfall on Koh Chang.....it would seem to suggest that that is indeed the case.....

Yes ideed Wilko, that's what it says.

Maybe I am completely wrong about this or I have been just lucky. I have been to Ko Chang six times and never paid any vistor entrance fee (I have on Ko Samet though).

Does anybody else have any experience about this?

[champagne charlie]

Does anybody else have any experience about this?

You don't have to pay to enter the island, but you will have to pay to visit most of the waterfalls. If you've got a Thai work permit, you need pay only 20baht.

[Artisan]

Does anybody else have any experience about this?

You don't have to pay to enter the island, but you will have to pay to visit most of the waterfalls. If you've got a Thai work permit, you need pay only 20baht.

Entering the island is what I was referring to. Thank you Charlie.