Thread: Koh Chang/Lonely Beach

Damn that looks just great Durian. Really really nice, I dont want to be around crowds.

Nice pics, but it won't be that quiet once the rainy season is over.

Lonely beach isnt very lonely most of the year, although of course if you compare it to White Sand beach which has been infested with the fat, fretting and the furious, it is heaven.

Lonely beach was (and still is, as there is nowhere left on the island for small developments now, except for the filthy rich who can get their hands on more national park land) the main beach for the young backpacker crowd, but there are one or two large resorts there now, and the backpacker oriented places will probably be completely replaced by more upscale accommodation in the next 5-10 years.

Yes, i remember paying 100 baht for a basic room at lonely beach about 4 years ago.
At that time there were only a few cheap guest houses around.

I think it's a pity that not only backpackers but ex pats on lowish salaries are being priced out of the market.

^In other words, not unlike Phuket, Koh Samui....

Correct... it's going in that direction, although it will take some more time before it is as bad as Samui.

You can now get 60,000 baht per night accommodation on Koh Chang (resort located at the very end of the road on the south side of the island).

Koh Samui, 1977, Ao Thong Tai Khian, 5 baht per night, including breakfast and a little Thai stick each evening....

Durian fan if you are still there and you read this.

Please can you find Maggi? She used to have a bungalo setup called Maggies place near Lonely Beach however last time she spoke to me she had sold it up and moved in land a bit possibly to the cliffs around there for another bungalo setup.

I have lost her bloody phone number and she wants me to change my bike out of her name into my missus's

On another note that looks like my mate from Chacheongsaos resort.

Not sure of the name of it but he advertises it at his restaraunts, hotels and gym

Lovely.
Haven't been for ages.

We went there for my GF's 40th, stayed onn the pebble-beach just behind from where Buadhai's pic was taken. One of the last very basic resorts left - 100bt/night straw huts, but a great crowd of backpackers and excellent restaurant, as close to "The Beach" as one can get.
Known for wild full-moon parties, too.

I wonder if "Treehouse" is still there?

Treehouse was planned on being closed a few years back since the rent was suddenly whacked up

however two years back when I was there it was still going 9 months after it's offical closing party.

NOt sure now.

It is indeed sad to see a place like Ko Chang given over to the developers whose only care is to make money. Thankfully the terrain will stop it from becoming quite as bad as Phuket or Samui, but in the one year between 2002 and 2003 Ko Chang saw the arrival of heaps of girlie bars, two hideous Thai style discos and price rices in the region of 300% with no improvement in infrastructure. And that was just in White Sand Beach.

As far as I can see the only result is that places are empty most of the time except for the 'big weekends' or major Thai holidays. If Thailand is determined to rid itself of the backpacker contingent, then it's an incredibly short-sighted and ultimately self-destructive policy. The backpackers of today make up the bulk of those who will return in years to come with their families or friends. I am one of those, but as a resident here have been pretty appalled at how badly the Thais have treated their own natural resources.

I did read that quite a few locals in Ko Chang were getting together to stop the bulk purchase of their land by unscrupulous businessmen and politicians, so with luck the story of Ko Chang won't always be a depressing read.

Sorry I was there a month ago -- don't know Maggie. Treehouse is still there, as far as I know.

As far as comparing Ko Chang to Phuket or Samui, well, I still prefer Phuket and Samui over Ko Chang. The beaches are much nicer down south, especially if you stay away from the tourist beaches. The accommodation is also cheaper - I stayed on Samui for 2 months for only 300 baht a night in a bungalow on Lamai. On Ko Chang that's at least 500, see my post on the White Sands Beach thread for pics.
But yeah - the backpacker culture is ruining everything. That movie "The Beach" should take a lot of the blame for this. Ironic that Alex Garland (who wrote the novel) writes about this in his novel and condemns the backpacker culture, and yet the book and the movie probably strengthened it. You can't really go to many beaches in Thailand without running into this problem, luckily there are still a few left, but you really have to look, especially places like Phuket and Samui.
That said, there were tourists on Lonely Beach, but mostly families and couples - but no more than 100-150 people.

just keep looking for new places, then move on when they get popular

I'm trying to find and scan my photos of Lonely Beach from 15 or so years ago. We used to stay at Sea View Resort in Haad Kae Bae - a bamboo hut on the beach, a mouldy mattress, a parafin lamp, a bong, open air toilet - 60 baht.

During the day we'd trek through the jungle to get to Lonely Beach - stocked up with loads of munchie food and fishing/snorkelling gear. We'd get wrecked catch some fish, crabs, and have a feed. Usually we'd never see a soul all day except one time this 50 yr old hippie bloke suddenly appeared - he would regularly walk around the island (or so he told us). He gave us some Nepalese putty - bugger it took us hours to get out the jungle that day!! The jungle is way spookie at dusk.

In about '94, apparently a german woman was raped and murdered, along with her boyfriend, on LB by some 'Cambodian' (wouldn't be Thai of course) fishermen.
Went there every year for 4 years in the early 90's - went back there 4 years ago - what a pisser. They'd built the road to LB and bungalows/resorts were there. Walked along the beach which was strewn in plastic shit and syringes lying around. Picked the kid up and fukt off - never to return.

awesome place to stay ,great post

Heard The Treehouse people were opening another more chilled out place on the South East corner of the island.

I tried to book a room for that Hotel in the OP, but their reservation desk is completly dysfunctional. If you call Kho Chang, there is nobody to take reservations and they ask you to call some mobile numbers or call a Bangkok office. In Bangkok office, the person answering doesn't know how to take reservations and she has has to wait for the owner himself to make the reservation. Of course the owner spends 80% of his time out of the office or on his golf course, so you can't really take reservation.

Hopeless. Another Thai run business that doesn't have a clue.

Try booking it through an agency. When we finally arrived on Koh Chang, they took us to an agency and we had a lot of hotels/bungalows to choose from. I had looked the place up on the internet the day before, so I just told the agency to book it for me. It was actually cheaper that way because sometimes you can get deals this way (this isn't always the case, though).

Originally Posted by Butterfly

I tried to book a room for that Hotel in the OP, but their reservation desk is completly dysfunctional. If you call Kho Chang, there is nobody to take reservations and they ask you to call some mobile numbers or call a Bangkok office.

This seems to be a growing trend. I had a similar experience trying to get book a room on Ko Chang...and, believe it or not, Pattaya.
I'm pessimistic...there appears to be a massive influx of tourists coming from Russia and China. That means the hotels here are up to their eyeballs in business and can't be bothered with walk-in trade. They'd rather keep the rooms available for large groups and they only want to deal with travel agents.
Time's are a changin'

Looking at the links to the resorts I see Ko ChangChaiChet Bungalows. Strange they show pics of the cheaper no aircon bungalows but not the lovely better ones. You can see the nice ones on the actual ChaiChet website though. Those ones in a row in the photos were 500 only 2yrs ago now it lists them at 1000 bht! The 1600 air con ones were 1000 baht. Really the surrounding islands are much nicer. see travelfish.org for reviews.

I remember stopping at a small place on the beach which had straw huts built onto the side of the cliff going up from the beach. 400BHT a night but the climb was sooooo steep after a session on the beer was fraught with danger...also in the morning negotiating the way down with a thick head was just as bad

I LOVE KC......we try and go twice a year if possible and normally stay in Kai Bae.......the sunsets are absolutley stunning

which is the best diving site in Koh Chang? which beaches? anyone recommend? thanks

My apologies for interupting here...I had a thread here asking about Koh Chang and I can't find it now. Has it been taken off or moved or am I too pissed to find it? (now that I've arrived in Pattaya)
Anyway, I got a map of Koh Chang in that new Tourist Office beside walking Street. I want to go to White sand Beach. On the map it looks like a very long area. I plan to arrive without any booking but I need to know where to get off the taxi. Being a very long beach area I dont want to get off at the wrong place and have to walk in the heat for too long. I want to stay in a bungalow (with A/C) directly ON the beach. I need ladies not too far away in a bar. Any suggestion please would be very welcome as I plan to leave tomorrow.