28 Feb

28 Feb - 'Youths hide anti-tank missile launcher near Ambassador Hotel' A recent headline from the Pattaya Mail - no real reason for mentioning it other than it does offer a timely reminder for owners of battlefield munitions. Remember, to lock up your shoulder fired guided missile launchers again after use. I find a length of chain and three-digit combination lock, readily available from your local haberdashery store for around 120 baht, does the job adequately.

More hotel feedback, this time from Val - praise for Tropicana and you're left with the feeling that Grand Lagoona has some room for improvement:

"We were meant to stay at the Amari, but cancelled when they announced a final rate that was doubled compared to our pre-booking rate the day before!

We followed your advice and choose to stay instead at the Tropicana. We completely agree with you, we loved it, thought it was really excellent. We would go back very happily.

One day we stopped at the Grand Lagoona, Bangbao for lunch and it was a complete disaster. The food was so bad that even some drinks had to be sent back. We can take some pretty average food, but that was probably the worse I've had in years, all countries considered. The place in itself was dirty, empty and had an eerie, spooky feel."

Land for Sale on Koh Chang . . . In response to emails I've received recently, I went off on a hunt for land the other day. Not just any land but the aim was to find small plots of 'Chanote' titled land with beach frontage and easy access to the main road i.e. land, suited to building a nice house on. This criteria ruled out the west coast, so we headed east and came back with a handful of places that anyone interested in living on Koh Chang should seriously consider plus a few other interesting bit & pieces.

Here's a taster . . . want to be able to walk out of your house & onto the sand?

A two storey concrete beachfront house, (needs renovation) built right on the shoreline on around 1500sqm of 'Chanote' titled land with private access. And it has about 40 metres of beachfront. Price: 5 million baht.

23 Feb

23 Feb - Another unreported death on Koh Chang. I had a call a few days ago from the friends of a Taiwanese girl who drowned off Kai Bae beach on Feb 9th. The family suspected it was more than an accident as she was a good swimmer. We checked and the hospital where she was taken confirmed that it was accidental, although the doctor who saw her did admit that it was very strange that she drowned in mid-afternoon, in calm seas, not far offshore and no-one noticed. Take care if you're swimming at the southern end of Kai Bae beach.

I had quite a few emails as a result of the advertising from Harlequin Properties in a couple of British Sunday newspapers last weekend. Apparently, they're selling the Siam Royal View development in Klong Son where 10 million baht will get you a house on 330sqm of land in a compound with 400 fellow homeowners.

My general dislike for large housing developments aside, it was interesting to see on www.harlequin-property.com the statement: 'Thai shareholders all sign undated share transfer contracts at the time the company is being registered.' Whilst this may be common practice - when a foreigner is setting up a Thai registered company to buy the land - and most lawyers will say "Don't worry about it.", it's still odd to see a developer actually coming out and stating it on their website for the simple reason that it also happens to be, technically, illegal.

If you've got a resort or any type of business you want to sell, let me know. I get quite a few emails from people with cash in their hands and who are looking for businesses to buy outright or to invest in, on Koh Chang.

And finally . . . If you're in Trat town you might fancy a visit to 'Trat Food Safety Street'. Look left, look right, look left once again and if there are no motorbikes racing through the food stalls, dig into your bowl of noodles.

19 Feb

19 Feb - Thanks for the cheese . . .whoever sent me the package of Anchor mature cheddar from somewhere in Thailand (cant read the postmark on the parcel.)

Quote of the day is from a guy who was staying at Klong Prao Resort who described it as being like "Colditz". He wasn't referring the standard of accommodation but to the sunbed war which has broken out between the British and Germans. Neither group is in the right, with members of both nationalities throwing their beach towels over sun loungers as soon as the sun rises. When someone famously asked "Why can't we all just get along?" they obviously hadn't just seen their sunbed snaffled by a lobster-red European tourist.

If you've got 550,000,000 baht to spend on a hundred room resort, let me know as I know a family who want to sell their very well known resort which is sitting on 31 Rai of prime beachfront.

A few places you lot reading this have told me you liked on Koh Chang . . .

First up, 'Sea Hunter', sea fishing tours. 1,200 baht per person for a day at sea on a fishing boat. Friendly staff, good food, good quality equipment, knowledgeable captain and the guarantee of catching loads of fish.

'Slick Willies' - The themed American diner in VJ Plaza that three people have mentioned in the past week. Huge burgers and milkshakes the way milkshakes should taste. Not cheap, but you're paying for quality (and the decor).

'Bread & More' - Bakery, sandwiches etc in VJ Plaza, near the apartments. again, a couple of people have mentioned the place in glowing terms. Also focuses on quality, so expect to pay 100 baht+ for a sandwich using imported fillings. (But don't order the iced coffee, it's crap.)

Try the excellent ice cream at 'TeTeCaCa' or 'Titicaca', in 3x3 Avenue, Kai Bae - it's one of those places where the staff don't really know to spell the name of the place. Two things to avoid are 1) the rather sad attempts at coffee and food; 2) asking the staff why this coffee, snack & ice cream place has a Mexican name.

Finally, just opened last week is 'Moccachino', roadside at Kai Bae Plaza which is already my favourite coffee shop on Koh Chang simply because they actually know how to make good, strong coffee which is sensibly priced plus the coffee shop is very nicely designed. The place also doubles as an internet cafe with a choice of Macs or PCs, both with large LCD monitors.

11 Feb

11 Feb - I just discovered, from Alexa.com, that this site is the 721,066 most popular on the web. My aim is to be in the top 721,000 within the next 6 months.

There's less than a month to go until the annual Koh Chang Queen's Cup event which involves kayaking for elephants. (As they cant do it themselves, their trunks aren't quite as flexible as they'd like to think.)

The good news is that the format has been changed from previous years. (I wrote an article last year about the crap format - teams of 3 people competing for 3 days which was about as un-tourist friendly as you could get). This year lucky participants get to kayak across the open sea from Bangbao to Koh Wai and on to Koh Kham. It'd make for an interesting paddle and I'll be taking bets on how many people actually make it alive if the wind picks up, as the two person teams have only around 6 hours paddling time to make it across nearly 20 kilometres of open water.

It is a very good cause though, and it'll definitely be an experience to remember so why not give it a try if you're on Koh Chang on 11 March and have 2,000 baht entry fee to hand. For more info call: 01 919 3995. You could visit the event website - www.kohchangqueenscup.com, but that would be a waste of time as it hasn't been updated for the 2006 event yet.

Of all the posh hotels on Koh Chang 'Nirvana', in Bangbao is the one I receive most complaints about. They're often minor niggles but they shouldn't occur in a place costing well over 5,000 baht/night.

A guest who contacted me a few days ago started by commenting that "Nirvana is a wonderful example of original style and design, truly inspired by its creator, the gardens are lovely and the setting is delightful - a haven of peace and tranquility" So far, so good.

But the positives were followed by a list of negatives. Among the small quibbles the guest had, the one that amused me was: "There were tea and coffee sachets (and mugs) in the room, but no means of heating any water. (Luckily we'd brought our own travel kettle)"

However, it was the fact that the guest contracted a rash which was later diagnosed as being due to bed lice, which they re convinced must have come from an unwashed duvet cover. The guest's conclusion: "Fantastic accommodation, setting etc. HOTEL MANAGEMENT SKILLS NON-EXISTENT!!"

Nirvana bosses should also note that charging walk-in guests around 1,000 baht a night less than those who book in advance online also isn't a way to win friends and keep guests happy.

10 Feb

10 Feb - Breaking News, a ferry capsized at lunchtime today (no foreigners - other than Burmese - dead so it isn't really news). The boat capsized and sank 300 metres off the mainland. Three people drowned, a dozen were injured. The cause was overloading the boat with construction materials which were heading for a resort on Koh Kood. Be sure to ask how many concrete poles your ferry is carrying before buying a ticket.

Was there a rape in Lonely Beach recently?

An emailer wants anyone staying around the area between Siam Hut and Treehouse to be careful if they're walking home alone at night as his friend was raped there by a Thai guy. She went to the international clinic and a report was made to the police, what if any action was taken to find the culprit remains a mystery. But if it's anything like the murder of a Thai woman in Klong Prao last year, when locals were told to keep quiet in order not to frighten tourists away, then it's a pretty f&$ked up state of affairs but not one that should surprise anyone who's lived in Thailand for a while.

Also from my ever expanding Inbox . . . here's a link that's interesting: http://www.geocities.com/jesada2080/passport_info.htm Apparently the guy/gal is now in Kai Bae, a fact that I believe as I've had an email from him asking for info about renting restaurants, bars etc. It's a small world. If you need more info contact < cubriant@yahoo.co.uk > and not me as I really don't care.

Cheerier news . . . . yesterday Steve from the UK bought the funky house for sale in Dan Mai, which I only put on the site 10 days ago. Proof if it were needed that the good stuff for sale sells quickly and the un-sellable overpriced crap takes months or years to sell . . . basically as long a time as it takes for a sucker with cash to come along.

One local is living the high life after entering into a small hotel project with an Italian guy. Building costs were figured at 14 million baht with he Thai 7 Italian sharing the cot. However, in reality the cost was less than half this. Guess who pocketed 7 million?

I had a couple of days in Bangkok recently, the end result is that I'm probably the only person on Koh Chang who's doing a bit of work for a company offering 'no option' heart disease patients treatments using stem cells derived from their own blood. More info at www.theravitae.com or www.vescell.com. It's interesting stuff and the proof that the experimental treatment works is pretty overwhelming.

4 Feb

4 Feb - Call it becoming a fashion victim, call it the influence of western civilisation, call it a sad attempt to blend in with hip young backpackers . . . but I actually saw a local fisherman wearing fisherman's pants yesterday. What's wrong with 99 baht polyester football shorts?

Best Western, the traveling salesman's choice of expense account accommodation, will soon be opening 3 star resorts on Koh Chang and Koh Kood, according to recent reports.

A few months ago I mentioned that Jim and his 42' schooner 'Remington' were heading to KC to offer adventurous types liveaboard trips around the archipelago. Jim's now here, with his yacht, which can be seen moored off Lonely Beach. For info on charters and the boat in general see www.sail-remington.com

First it was 'The Times', then 'The Independent' and now 'The Observer' has printed a full page article on Koh Chang which, as with he two other articles, is little more than a thinly disguised advertorial for the Amari Resort and Kuoni holidays. Surely it's time for a few other hotels to get together an organise a press junket?

There are a few good lines in the article. A nice contradiction to begin with: "There is little resort-style development on Koh Chang . . . because it is a protected marine national park - although not protected from earth movers on every corner helping to throw up new hotels."

And proof, if it were needed that travel journos don't really have clue where they are when they're enjoying the freebies on offer from the likes of Amari & Kuoni Corp.: "A seven-night stay at the Amari Emerald Cove resort costs from £756.50 per person. This includes international flights with Thai Airways to Bangkok and onwards to Phuket and transfers to and from the resort" That's a hell of along transfer from Phuket to Koh Chang :-)

Fortunately the write up does a pretty good job of not going overboard on the tourist brochure bull that is usually associated with this type of write up.

San Miguel beer is now brewed in Thailand and San Mig Light and San Mig Pale Pilsner are available in V-Mart supermarket, Klong Prao for 55 baht per 640ml bottle. The latter tastes particularly good, it's very smooth and far superior to Thai beers in the simple fact that it's drinkable. The former has no taste but being a Light beer I guess that's the point. And, using that reasoning, it must be good too, although it still tastes like piss to me.

Samui's tourist arrivals from the UK were down 30% in January following the murder of a good looking young female visitor a month ago. Koh Chang's arrival figures were unaffected following the murder of an old bloke a month ago. The lesson from this is that if you're old or ugly, then no-one cares if you get murdered abroad. Unless it's a particularly bizarre death, 'Bob Thompson, 59, died after inadvertently swallowing a parrot fish whilst snorkelling off the paradise island of Koh Chang, Thailand.' -this stands a change of being considered newsworthy by sub-editors.