29 Oct

29 Oct - Are today's backpackers a bit soft? Has living in a nanny state taken it's toll on a generation of travellers? A quick look at the photo right and it would appear to be a photo of a group of fresh faced visitors enjoying their Asian adventure. But look closer, you'll see that they are all carrying cushions (an orange one, brown one, burgundy one and a pale blue one) to protect their sensitive backsides from the rigours of the Bangkok to Trat bus journey. Call me old fashioned, but there's something just plain wrong about travelling half-way around the world carrying your own cushion.

Our wealthy neighbours atAana Resort just across the river from our house, and Evolution Tour have got together to offer special rates for visitors to this site who are in need of upmarket accommodation from now until 19 December. Room Rates, inclusive of Tax etc:

Deluxe = 3,300 THB per night with breakfast
Deluxe Grand = 3,700 THB per night with breakfast
Villa = 6,400 THB per night with breakfast
** Stay 7 nights - pay only 6 nights **
** Stay 12 nights - pay only 10 nights **

Make an enquiry but bear in mind that whilst it will be peaceful midweek, at the weekend the place often fills up with Thai tour groups on '2 day / 1 night' packages who love making a racket - screeching as they canoe in circles and getting over excited at the sight of a breakfast buffet.

On Koh Mak, a newly built coffeeshop / internet cafe on 800sqm of land can be yours for a negotiable annual rent of 200,000 baht - includes accommodation. A cheap way to live on a desert island. More . . .

Just added an update on the 'Good Time' housing project on Koh Mak. There are a couple of small single floor houses which are ideal for anyone looking for a place to stay for a month or two a year and then rent it out to holidaymakers for when they aren't using it. These teak houses were priced at 68,000 Euros and are now 58,000 Euros each, for a 90 year lease including 400sqm of land. Both are under construction now. (As this photo on the left shows.)

Koh Chang in the blogs . . . what some visitors have been saying about KC this week:

Allies Travels: "Koh Chang...we are finally here! There isn't much of a beach. The 'white sand' is actually under the water, so laying out kind of sucks...but the swimming in amazing! Everytime I look in the water, I want to jump in! It's so blue and clear, and the sand is so soft...and rock and creature-free! I haven't had any encounters with any jellyfish yet which is good, although I still have my fingers crossed! "

Lisa and Jason: The row of Thai girls standing at the front, trying to lure customers in welcomed us with gracious Thai smiles. We sit down. Nigel, the bar owner comes over and welcomes us to his bar. Friendly people, friendly owner, great music. All is good. We order the famous rye and soda. Sure it is a little (ok, a lot) more expensive than everywhere else. but the music!!! Then, our server, sits down. Apparently, we have our own private server. She's nice enough and spoke a little bit of English and it took a good 3 minutes before we both got extremely uncomfortable. Is she ever going to go away? Then we notice. Lisa is the only girl, other than the Thai girls, in the whole bar. Yup, every man has a personal server. But those men have their hands on the bums of their server. Yes, top notch service. Happy ending? No thank you. So, we made our way up the road to Paddy's Irish pub. They just like to drink there, prostitutes not included."

Lost Already: "The beaches are lovely here, beautiful clear water. We made some little Thai friends. Three 9 yr old boys kept bringing me shells while i was lazing around on my lilo.. we ended up having so much fun with them! Just like when you were on holiday as a kid.. didnt matter that we didnt speak the same language.. just messed about in the sea. Ali was chuckin these kids around in the sea, and i was miserably losing the 'who can stand on the lilo the longest' game! It was a real shame when it got to be time to leave... thai kids are amazing. Not at all like screaming, whiny, needy, spoilt western kids. I'm so glad i never was one ;)"

24 Oct

24 Oct - It's a good time to go canoeing at the moment, very calm seas and very clear water off Kai Bae & Klong Prao beaches which makes it easy to spot the large jellyfish that are hanging around at the moment.

Head out in the morning when there are no people around and the sea is always calmest. Spend a nice hour or so snorkelling around Koh Rom & Koh Suwan, the two islands nearest Klong Prao beach. Although much of the coral is dead in places, you can see loads of fish and hard corals just off the south west of Koh Rom.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that golf on Koh Chang was limited to a new crazy golf course in Kai Bae. Seems I was speaking too soon as a real, full size golf course looks set to be built on the island.

The plans haven't been officially announced yet so I'm not allowed to mention the exact location but I'd recommend that anyone with money start buying land in the Bangbao area as this would be worth a fortune should a golf course be built in the vicinity. Also worth a look for investment would be the new Tranquility Bay Residence, 70 condo units and 10 villas, only a couple of kilometres from the golf course with leasehold condominiums starting at 5.7 million for 60sqm and villas priced around 30 million baht. On-site Sales office will be opening in a week or so.

The Financial Times are doing a report on the best properties for people with an interest in fishing to buy abroad. (I know it looks like they're running out of stuff to write about, it's not, it's a 'niche'.) The writer emailed me to see if I wanted to feature our guesthouse as an example of a fisherman's house in Thailand, and I said 'Yes' as I've never had my name in the FT before. So it'll be interesting to see what they write.

Also in the papers was Koh Mak, chosen as one of The Sunday Times''Worlds Top Secret Beaches' in the Oct 22nd issue: "Koh Mak is six square miles of pristine beach and coconut palms that make the famously “undeveloped” Koh Chang, 10 miles north, look like Manhattan. Koh Mak is not without its hotels, but as we’re only talking about a dozen, and as most of these have only a handful of rooms, it’s startlingly easy to find a stretch of chalk-white beach to yourself along the island’s 15-mile shore. Prices are disconcertingly cheap, and Koh Mak has some of the planet’s best budget-luxury beach hotels."

Need a hotel? If you've already tried finding a room you'll know that the better value hotels & resorts on Koh Chang are already virtually full mid December - mid-February. You can send enquiries to the online agencies which is time consuming and the replies aren't always as quick as you might wish for. Or you can use the new form in the Accommodation section of this site. Have a Koh Chang based tour agency contact the hotels on your behalf and get the prices & availability sent to you.

There's a new speedboat service from Laem Ngop (mainland) - Dan Mai (on the east coast of Koh Chang) - Koh Wai - Koh Mak. Departs Laem Ngop at 10am. Returns from Koh Mak at 1pm. Laem Ngop - Koh Mak leg is 450 baht. Koh Chang - Koh Mak is 600 baht, including transport from your hotel to Dan Mai. Book through Matching Tour on Whitesands.

18 Oct

18 Oct - First, thanks to all the people who took the time to email me with info and links about ALS following my last update a week ago.

Go east young man and seek your fortune. Having tried running a noodle stall, a t-shirt stall, a motorbike repair shop, a laundry service, a tour agency and finally a combination of all five run out of the same shophouse, Somchai was about to give up hope on ever making it big on Koh Chang. One night, a little over a month ago, a chance encounter with an Arabian oil billionaire in his brother's karaoke joint changed his life. Somchai listened intently as the stranger told him of the vast wealth that lay beneath the dry, unfertile desert. Surely, he thought, if oil can grow under the arid sands of the Middle East there must be huge quantities hidden, just waiting to be discovered under the fertile roadside plains of Koh Chang's Klong Prao sub-district. A week later his pick-up truck was in the pawn shop and Somchai was proud owner of a second hand oil rig. I called by to see how work was progressing, it's slow admitted Somchai but he's down to a depth of over 40 metres now and manages to produce enough of his own fuel daily to half fill a dozen Johnny Walker Scotch bottles that he sells to passers by - to refuel their scooters or for use as petrol bombs - at 30 baht a time. As for the future, it's looking rosy, Somchai has another 12 bottles on order from Noi's recycling emporium and is hoping to break even sometime in the coming decade.

But if you think Somchai will have a hard time making any money then spare a thought for whoever ends up renting a shop unit that's being advertised for sub-lease in Whitesands. The unit, which is scheduled for completion by the end of the month is located roadside opposite Grand View Resort at the quieter, southern end of the beach and could be yours for a mere 500,000 baht 'key money' plus 15,000 baht/month rent for a 3 year contract. Without going into a lengthy rant about how ridiculous this is, you got to be on crack to rent it . . . and you got to be selling crack to make enough profit in the brief high season to pay the rent, let alone pay for a place to live plus make a profit.

If you still haven't booked anything for Xmas / New Year, you're going to have problems unless you're after a 10,000 baht/night Jacuzzi suite at one of the 4 star hotels. People are even booking Kerdmanee Resort - my interpretation of 'resort' obviously isn't the same as the owner's. But two places that are worth a look, have their own websites in English and accept advance bookings are:

www.kachapura.com - upmarket backpacker accommodation, it will be quite loud here as there are loads of bars nearby, but the rooms are very nice. Good if you need a posher than usual place to crash after a late night on the Vodka / Red bull.
www.gardenresortkochang.com - just off the roadside in Kai Bae, describing the location as being at the back of a 7-eleven gives a false impression, as the owner has done a good job of building some pretty nice bungalows in a quiet garden setting.

Officials from Trat province and the Thai Navy have got together and come up with the idea of bringing a couple of old navy ships to the area and sinking them in order to 'sex up' plans to make Koh Chang a site for people who are interested in historical naval warfare tourism. (These guys know how to spot a niche market when the see one.) One boat will be scuppered near the naval memorial in the south-east of Koh Chang and the other in somewhere in deeper water so that scuba divers can get an idea of what it must be like to be on a warship when it sinks.

Finally, it's not often that land on the mainland for sale comes to my attention but I took the photo opposite a couple of days ago from a huge 25 Rai plot, with good land papers, that was for sale. This is the view from the house on the land across a couple of fish ponds towards Koh Chang in the distance. It's only 3km from the car ferry pier to Koh Chang and 2km from the passenger ferry piers to Koh Mak. I was going to put some more photos on the site . . . but it's almost certainly sold now. The very good stuff doesn't take long to sell. In this case, 25 Rai for 2.8 million baht.

11 Oct

11 Oct - That's the kitten that deleted my emails yesterday in his new favourite sleeping place.

Lots more rain , more mudslides & more flooding today. I was supposed to be in Koh Mak now but the boat was cancelled due to the weather.

Lou Gehrig's Disease - Getting serious for a moment. I'd heard of it but never come across anyone suffering from until until the other day. One of the staff at a hotel near us has it. He's a nice guy, mid-30s with two young children. We always used to meet when I was taking the dog for a walk in the morning and he was on his way to work and also often in the evening when he'd come down to the beach with his kids and they'd play with the dog. But I hadn't seen him for quite a long time, so I guessed that he left to work elsewhere. A couple of days ago I saw him again, looking a shadow of his former, healthy self. He was walking stiffly and his speech slurred. He told me about how he was rushed to hospital about 5 months ago and spent a month in a coma. Then he had another 3 months in bed before coming back to work. During this time he was diagnosed as having ALS - an incurable disease commonly known as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease'

The hotel rehired him, and put him in a job where he can spend most of the time sitting down and not over exerting himself outdoors. But doctors have told him that if he's lucky he's only got 5 years left to live, probably only 3. There's no cure, no chance of recovery and he's basically just got a slow death to look forward to. His extended family will look after his kids and make sure that they're taken care of so he isn't worried about that. They'll also take care of him when he can no longer walk - which he thinks will be in the next 6-12 months. He hasn't given up any any means, he's just a realist. He wants to work for as long as he is able and says that he's got to fight to stay alive as long as possible for his kids.

He's been Googling in Thai, so he's knows a lot about the disease and what to expect - but Thailand doesn't have the same support sites for sufferers and their families as in the US or Europe. Although his English is good enough to hold a simple conversation it isn't good enough to read through English language websites I told him I'd see what info I could find to help him and have been doing some searching to find some info about natural medications / supplements that he could findland and take to either slow his regression or improve his quality of life. So, if anyone reading this has any experience of dealing with someone suffering from ALS, please email if you have any ideas about what works. (At present his medication consists only of Vitamin B & E tablets.)

Back to the non-terminal frivolity . . . If you catch the songtaew (pick-up truck taxi) from the mainland ferry pier to Trat bus station be aware that the songtaew will stop outside the offices of one of the bus companies in the centre of Trat. A guy will ask if you're going to Bangkok or the border and if you reply yes, you'll be ushered off and pointed towards the ticket office. The bus company is perfectly legitimate, but there are other better bus companies operating. So, what you may well find is that you buy your ticket and are then taken to Trat bus station where you catch the bus. However, you might find that when you get to the bus station that there are earlier departures but there's nothing you can do about it as you now have a ticket for a different bus.

Just stay on the songtaew and only get off when you reach an obvious bus station just out of town. The ticket office is at one end of the bus station, the times of the next buses clearly displayed. Buy tickets for minivans to the border at the small table set up next to where the minivans are parked. (You can also get a minivan to Chantaburi or Rayong, these will usually leave when they are full and are quicker than regular buses.)

If you arrive at the bus station and are heading to Koh Chang, you can choose to wait until there are enough people to fill a songtaew to the ferry pier, or pay 200 baht (total) to rent the pick-up privately if you don't want to hang around. A ticket costs 50 baht NOT 20 or 30 baht as your outdated Lonely Planet states. It's the same price for Thais & foreigners.

On the way from Trat to the ferry piers look out for the songtaew making a stop at the office of a tour agent near the pier for Koh Mak, again a guy will come to the pick up and ask if you want to go to Koh Chang ( which you probably will do) if you get off here you'll be on the slow wooden passenger boat which doesn't leave very frequently and is often overcrowded in high season. Far better to stay on the songtaew and get off at Centrepoint Ferry pier then cross on the car ferry.

Visiting Cambodia & Koh Chang? Anyone want to share a private minibus transfer from Siem Reap to Koh Chang on 29 November? Amy & friend, from the UK, are looking for other people to share the cost of a private transfer (8,000 baht), if you're interested, please email me & I'll put you in touch with her.

Whitesands Publications who produce a pretty good tourist mag to Koh Chang have revamped their website - http://whitesandsthailand.com It's what you'd expect, you learn that Koh Chang is a nice place, with lots of nice places to stay all of which are on nice beaches, on koh Chang you'll also find nice places to eat and come to realise that the island is populated by nice people. If you're the type of person who still books their holidays based on your travel agent's recommendations then this is the Koh Chang site for you, if not you might fall asleep after the first few pages.

6 Oct

6 Oct - Lots more rain . . . all day yesterday & all day today. The road near bridge over the Klong Plu river has again been almost washed out, half disappeared last night.

Siam Royal View have released more beachfront plots and marina plots which should be of interest for anyone looking for a beachfront house or wanting to own a riverfront house where they can moor a boat right outside the door. (I'm told that this plot plan was drawn by a guy who used to illustrate the Biology textbooks you used in high school. His inspiration for this plan was the anatomical diagram of a flaccid willy on page 89.)

Peace and quiet has been restored to VJ Apartment; the apartment of choice for foreigners who cant find anywhere better to stay, Thai nurses & middle management at hotels. The junkie English guy who had been consistently keeping most of the building awake by noisily beating his Thai wife was finally kicked out as events came to a head with him returning home after a night out only wearing a t-shirt, which was quickly dispensed with. It was up to the police to suggest he put some clothes on and point out that banging on all the doors on his corridor wasn't a good way to make friends.

Keeping on the topic of drunk foreigners . . . the grandly-named Koh Chang Entertainment Complex, and the girls who work there, were declared open for business on 2 October. If only there wasn't a particularly interesting episode of may favourite Thai soap opera on, I'd have been there with my camera to record the event for posterity. History's loss. But if you're looking for a night of cheap beer and mindless conversation about the size of your wallet and the option to "You nice man. You pay bar for me?" at the end of the evening, make a beeline for Koh Chang Entertainment Plaza, just north of Klong Prao beach.

There's a new steakhouse opening on Whitesands next week. I've got an invite to the Grand Opening and the food's free, so regardless of menu price, atmosphere and service the Texas Steakhouse on Whitesands is my recommended steakhouse on Koh Chang . . . . and will remain so, until I have to pay for a meal there or another steakhouse owner offers me a freebie.

Slight correction made to the ' Battle of Koh Chang' blurb in the Articles section - after a Thai historian emailed me. Some people are sensitive about facts, whereas I'm not one to worry too much if a specific ship was or wasn't sunk 60 years ago, which isn't an attitude shared by historians apparently.

After repeatedly criticizing D(is)ASTA the organisation in charge of tarting-up Koh Chang up for tourists, it looks like I may end up helping write their English language user guide to the island and even getting paid for it as the guys in charge are apparently "good people" but clueless. So I'll be in good company.

There's a small plot of commercial land for sale by the roadside a stones throw from the Amari Emerald Cove and half a dozen other resorts. Just under 1 Rai & suitable for retail or long stay / apartment type accommodation. Asking price of 7 million baht is negotiable. Foreigners can own leasehold on 30+30 year contract or usufruct if required.

If the terms 'usufruct' and 'superficies' mean nothing to you . . . they should. Especially if you're thinking of living or doing business in Thailand, as owning land though the previously common Thai registered company route is now very difficult / impossible to do. Usufructs & Superficies are two fully legal alternatives which provide security for foreigners. I added a bit about them to the Real Estate Section for anyone who's interested.

1 Oct

1 Oct - There are certain things in life that you swear you'll never do. For some it's marry a Protestant, for others it's give a hand knitted sweater as a Christmas present, and for me it's put bus timetable on the front page of the site. But I've just done it, and for good reason, as unlike in the bad old days of the early 21st century anyone arriving at the new Bangkok Airport (Suvaranbhumi) no longer has to head into Bangkok in order to catch a bus to Trat. They can head to the airport's transportation terminal from where a bus direct to Trat can be caught. The times below are the departure times from Morchit Bus Station, Bangkok & Trat Bus Station - not the times the buses arrive/leave at the airport . . . I've no idea what they are.

The new airport opened a couple of days ago with very few glitches. The airport authorities even took it upon themselves to do away with the impersonal electronic signboards which display flight information for a couple of hours, and instead, employ staff to personally notify passengers of departing flights by walking around the terminal building displaying printed cards. Another of the little things that make Thailand such a special place.

Ate at Invito, Italian restaurant on Whitesands, the other night partly because I'd already tried the Amari hotel's Italian restaurant last month and partly because someone else was (again) paying for the meal. As far as the food goes, prices were similar but the taste was much better than at the Amari. Being on an island you tend to get into the habit of expecting to be disappointed by western food as it's often a pale imitation of the real thing, it's akin to eating Thai food in Europe or USA, so Invito was a very pleasant surprise. It's a place to visit if you're celebrating something and are with a lively group of people - but not so good if you're looking for a place to whisper sweet nothings your loved one's ear, as these will be drowned out by the competing sound systems of neighbouring beer bars. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, there's a big demand on Koh Chang for a good quality romantic restaurant in a quiet location away from traffic noise, away from high volume dance music, somewhere where you can sit under the stars, enjoy good food and not have your significant other spend half the meal being distracted by the nearby bar girls lack of dress sense. Samui has a dozen places that fit the bill, Koh Chang doesn't have one.

It's been raining here - more than usual, due to the island getting the tail-end of a typhoon that's crossing Vietnam. But it's still enough to cut the electricity and make the main road along the west coast impassable for most of yesterday. On Whitesands the main street was turned into a river over a metre deep. Our electricity went out at 4am an our guests spent the morning watching trees float down river past the house . . . we also saw a fridge go past - so as bad weather goes, it was pretty bad. But it looks like the rain is here to stay for another 2-3 days.

Down on Koh Mak, this small housing development has been so successful, only a couple of plots remain, so the owner will develop an additional 10 Rai of land in the coming months. This land is located approximately 150 metres from the current development. Houses will be the same traditional Thai style, but rather than clearing and landscaping the land, the houses will be built amongst existing jungle - for a more natural, secluded feel. I'll be adding information regarding plots & prices etc when I get it. But, if you're interested, contact me and I'll put you in touch with the owner direct as the best located plots will be sure to sell quickly.

If you're in Dan Mai between 8-11 Oct you can join the the local people at meetings to discover what plans DASTA has for making Dan Mai into an Arts & Crafts village. Don't laugh, this is meant to be serious. Given DASTA's past record, if the Arts & Crafts village turns out to be anything more than a prefabricated shop selling dried seafood, fruit by-products and souvenir straw hats I'll be very pleased, if not a little surprised. How this will help the local people and exactly why DASTA think that foreign tourists are clamouring for a sun-dried squid emporium is anyone's guess.