The Koh Chang Experience

[DaffyDuck]

Can't repeat often enough the advice to just rent a car on KC. You get a decent 4WD for 800 THB a day, and having a trunk or lockable cab alone is worth the extra expense - especially when there are two or more of you, it's not much more expensive than a bike, and you avoid getting a KC tattoo...

[cutter]

 Agoda or booking.com are your best bets. should be plenty of decent priced rooms around then. alternatively just show up and have a look around. If you don't mind getting a bike then staying in pearl beach or chai chet will be cheaper and your only 5-10 minutes away from whitesands, which is where the hub of the lady action is. However there are a lot of inexperienced riders about so just need to be extra careful at the minute. I'm hearing the ambulance on average twice a day.

 

Koh Chang isn't overly busy at present and there are a lot of girls about. Not just in whitesands. There are some bars along the main strip in Chai Chet and a few towards the bottom of Klong Prao and walking street in Kai Bae has a handful of bars with some lookers dotted about. Theres a few on Badoo that work in bars, quite easy to spot. The freelance scene has changed slightly, many of the girls would finish at the bars and go to One club, now called the bar but seems to be permanently shut, so a few will go to Sabay Bar but the lights come on there at 2am so many dont make it far, your only saving 300-500 on a barfine of course. Generally I just give 1000 baht for longtime, only had one that tried to negotiate for more. 

 

Any other info just ask, I have many pictures from around the island but it will take me forever to resize etc and BM Piececorp has already added some lovely photos so don't want to hijack.

 

Happy to help

Great advice. A few questions:

I will be in koh chang with my TGF for 9 nights the first 2 weeks of February. I was planning on white sand the first 4 nights and then another beach the last 5.

 

I stayed at koh chang kacha on white sand 6 years ago but now it is too expensive. What accommodation do you recommend for rooms between 1500-2000b/night on the beach on white sand? I read about Sang Arun but it doesn't look like you can book online. Also I checked out Rock Sand Resort. Would you recommend Rock Sand?

 

Thanks, BTW a Koh Chang trip report while you are there for so long would be great!

[frankstain]

Great advice. A few questions:

I will be in koh chang with my TGF for 9 nights the first 2 weeks of February. I was planning on white sand the first 4 nights and then another beach the last 5.

 

I stayed at koh chang kacha on white sand 6 years ago but now it is too expensive. What accommodation do you recommend for rooms between 1500-2000b/night on the beach on white sand? I read about Sang Arun but it doesn't look like you can book online. Also I checked out Rock Sand Resort. Would you recommend Rock Sand?

 

Thanks, BTW a Koh Chang trip report while you are there for so long would be great!

 

I dont stay in hotels whilst here, so difficult to recommend. Rock sand resort is quite a walk from the main street and you have to go along the beach to get to it from memory, wouldnt really recommend. The bungalows I'm sure i saw on Agoda that's about middle of whitesands and right on the beach. they look ok, i just walk  through them though to get to the beach and sit at the restaurant at the front, Beach Tango. Play football with the Cambodians that work there, a good bunch. Theres so many to pick from in terms of accommodation. But aim for around the bungalows area as its not so loud there.

 

As for a trip report, I haven't really done much except hang around with my mates and going out for drinks, but maybe I should start something up with the bargains I've found, the places to eat and drink and what one can generally expect from Koh Chang currently. Going to be sad when I leave this place Friday.

[frankstain]

Can't repeat often enough the advice to just rent a car on KC. You get a decent 4WD for 800 THB a day, and having a trunk or lockable cab alone is worth the extra expense - especially when there are two or more of you, it's not much more expensive than a bike, and you avoid getting a KC tattoo...

Yep sure enough I got one of those tattoo's this trip. 

 

Please Please Please if your going to drive a bike here wear a helmet

[DaffyDuck]

Just rent a car. There is a near 100% correlation to renting bikes and wiping out. It's inevitable.

[tj916]

Very true on the bikes. If you do, helmet always,wear a pair of jeans over your shorts. You can stash them under your seat when you stop.

 

If it rains, find a bar and wait until it stops and the road dries.

 

TheTarmac has very little grip even when dry. Back brake first ( that's the one on the left on scoots)

 

My advice to anyone if you don't have motorbike experience don't on Koh Chang. And if you do expect the unexpected!!

 

Baht Bus fro Whitesands to Bang Bao 120bt in day, 500+ At night. No 10bt trips here.

 

Saying all that a beautiful place and well worth a visit.

 

Ps. Great pics.

[tj916]

Edited January 7, 2015 by tj916

[Gregorious]

thanks for all the advice

ill be going in mid march which hotel would you recommend close to nightlife that is of high quality

i see you stay at the amari which i have stayed in Phuket , is the amari close to white sands nightlife or is the kc grande better and do they allow ladies in for the night

thank for the info

[Piece Corp]

Neither the Amari or KC Grande are close to the main bar areas. I'm not sure if the Amari is girl friendly since I registered a girl as a guest but there's a service entrance at the north side of the parking lot that bypasses the front desk.

[Gregorious]

Neither the Amari or KC Grande are close to the main bar areas. I'm not sure if the Amari is girl friendly since I registered a girl as a guest but there's a service entrance at the north side of the parking lot that bypasses the front desk.

Mmm is there a hotel that you would recommend of high quality that will allow me easy access to the nightlife i like to have a gym close by if not in the hotel and still enjoy my comforts that an amari or kc would offer

[Piece Corp]

Mmm is there a hotel that you would recommend of high quality that will allow me easy access to the nightlife i like to have a gym close by if not in the hotel and still enjoy my comforts that an amari or kc would offer

Someone else will have to answer this as I recommend bringing a girl who's company you enjoy and stayimg somewhere other than White Sands.

[cutter]

Someone else will have to answer this as I recommend bringing a girl who's company you enjoy and stayimg somewhere other than White Sands.

 

I plan on starting on whitesands for 4 nights and then moving to another beach for the next 5 nights. For another beach, I am looking for something not too quiet, where I can walk to a few restaurants for food and a few beach bars during the day.

 

What beach do you recommend other than white sands?

[Piece Corp]

The second largest concentration of bars is at the northern end of Kae Bae beach.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Piece Corp

[cutter]

The second largest concentration of bars is at the northern end of Kae Bae beach.

thanks for responding. I will check out Kae Bae for a part of my stay

[tj916]

Try Kae Bae resort, nice bungalows on the beach, couple of Islands you can kayak to, and you can go swimming in the sea with elephants

[Laid Back Larry]

Great report - Txs for sharing

[Laid Back Larry]

In january I would think it would be difficult to find what your looking for for under 1000thb a night. Elephant and castle bungalows are in a quiet location between whitesands and chai chet, this area is called pearl beach. There is also saffron on sea and pennys bungalows nearby. In the middle of 2 spots for having a drink and meeting people/girls. http://www.kohchang2.com/ is a good site with probably 95% of the islands accommadation listed. Klong Prao is quiet with out the night life near by. Im there January if you wanna have a drink 

We are seriously considering going to Koh Chang - I used the link above for accommodation, There are 60+ hotels at white sands, anyone can shorten the list a bit if I want to stay in a nice resort up to 5k Bahnt, with eady access to bars and beach

Edited January 24, 2015 by Laid Back Larry

[frankstain]

We are seriously considering going to Koh Chang - I used the link above for accommodation, There are 60+ hotels at white sands, anyone can shorten the list a bit if I want to stay in a nice resort up to 5k Bahnt, with eady access to bars and beach

If you want to stay in whitesands and don't want to ride bikes I would look at staying south of Kacha resort. This gives you a 5-10 min walk to the group of bars. the beach is across the road so access is easy. Just stroll on through resorts. iamkohchang.com has little maps of each town. under the map section, ignore the google earth one and scroll down a bit more, its on the right hand side. If you stay beach side of the road anything south of Sabai G'House is no beach/rocky. I stayed at Keereelee one night and thought it was a nice hotel. A good cheap bar over the road called Finleys, gin and tonic 60 baht, red label and soda 80 Baht, san mig 80 baht. good prices for whitesands indeed. and a 5 min walk max to the bars.

 

Hope this helps

[Piece Corp]

The biggest problem I have visiting Koh Chang is getting there.  It's a 3.5 hour journey from Pattaya to the ferry pier, longer from Bangkok.  There's an airport in Trat but it's owned by Bangkok Air so there are no competitive airfares.  Minibus is most convenient but they drive like a bat out of hell. The public bus is cheap but slow.

 

Last year I chartered a Taxi, careful to specify it was for door2door and mentioned the ferry crossing would take an hour, but when we got to the pier he did a runner and refused to drive his taxi onto the ferry.  Instead, he dropped me at the Malibu Travel Agency near the pier, where I was told I could purchase A/C transportation to my resort for 300 baht.  I was not happy but purchased the additional travel service. Alternately, I could have taken a songthew for 80 baht but thought I should go 1st class since my driver would be paying for it.  So I gave him 2700, deducting 300 for the extra expense.  Another Taxi driver that had just dropped off some tourists and he was laughing and talking to my driver but my driver wasn't laughing.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Piece Corp

[DaffyDuck]

Take Bangkok Airways - short flight, and you book a van transport at the airport (cheaper if you pre-pay for return fare) that takes you right to your destination. I always fly.

 

Ground might be cheaper, but what are those 4-5 hours worth to you?

[frankstain]

Take Bangkok Airways - short flight, and you book a van transport at the airport (cheaper if you pre-pay for return fare) that takes you right to your destination. I always fly.

 

Ground might be cheaper, but what are those 4-5 hours worth to you?

Thats ok if your in Bangkok, not so good if your already in Pattaya. 

 

Most minivan drivers do drive like they are auditioning for the Indy 500, but I used 35 group from Koh Chang to Pattaya last time round and the driver was the best one yet. At no time did I feel worried or fearing for my life. They will also stop twice on the journey one for gas and another for a toilet break. The journey does become long winded with these stops and the ferry crossing.

[Piece Corp]

I've also had positive experience from the 35 Group and would trust them before trying another company where some of the drivers act like they're hooked on yaaba.  I'd also consider flying from Bangkok but I find a few days of intense partying in Pattaya before hand will enhance the Koh Chang experience!

Edited January 27, 2015 by Piece Corp

[midge]

Take Bangkok Airways - short flight, and you book a van transport at the airport (cheaper if you pre-pay for return fare) that takes you right to your destination. I always fly.

 

Ground might be cheaper, but what are those 4-5 hours worth to you?

Is it also able to fly from U-Tapao to trath ???

[frankstain]

I was going to go with my gut feeling of saying no instantly, but thought I would use Google. It turns out its a yes!! you go from Utapao to Phuket have a 7 hour lay over then fly to Bangkok (9hour lay over) then down to Trat. Takes about 20 hours costs a shit load and a complete and utter waste of time. Stick with those nutcase minivan drivers lol

[LeyesHombre]

Just rent a car. There is a near 100% correlation to renting bikes and wiping out. It's inevitable.

 

I rented a bike on KC and almost hit a telephone pole. I just glanced over to my left for a second and then had to swerve to miss. And I wasn't drunk so I can't blame the alcohol.

 

Another night, some poor British guy came stumbling up to the beer bars near White Beach with cuts and scrapes all over his legs. Poor guy had wrecked his bike and his friends had left him behind.

 

BHP