Supposedly high season has begun but Koh Chang is still pretty dead. Hotels are all full from Xmas to the first week of January. But it'll be interesting to see if the busy period ends by mid-February as it did this year. If so, most shopkeepers only have a couple of months to make the majority of their income for the year. Not a surprise really but another example of the 80:20 rule in action. Bullish news though from a man with a very lengthy title 'Chairman of the Koh Chang Subdistrict Administration Organization'. Apparently there are 3-5 applications per month for building new hotels on Koh Chang and demand is "skyrocketing" with tourist arrivals up 10% year on year. (Look there are some figures floating past, I'll pluck them out of the air and use them as statistics.) Dull News story here.
Tracy with the dog - your email address isn't correct.
Got a copy of the Sunday Times brought over for me by a visitor to KC last week. The magazine cover asked readers what they'd do with 50 pence, buy a bar of chocolate or save the sight of a child. That hit home and certainly made me think. I didn't realise the price of a bar of chocolate had risen so much back in the UK.
Koh Chang's got the tail-end of Typhoon Durian at the moment, choppy seas and quite a bit of rain last night. Back to normal sunshine today though.
Been back to 'Crust', the new bakery in Klong Prao, several times this week simply because it's hands down the best place for bread on the island. Mam got a 5 baht discount there earlier this week, so hopefully it'll be up to 10 baht as a result of this mention. Who says opinions cant be bought on this site? More seriously, anyone thinking of opening a business on KC should take note of what this place does - it satisfies an unfilled need for a good product at a good price. Simple. There are too many small businesses thinking only about profit and neglecting quality, coming up with ideas that there obviously isn't a demand for or simply copying everyone else - what Koh Chang really needs is yet another western owned beer bar. The American diner in VJ Plaza is a good product (Real burgers, creamy shakes etc) - but has only very limited appeal to visitors to Koh Chang, it'd go down well in Pattaya or Phuket though. The island's only Irish pub fills the need but falls flat as soon as you walk in the door. All the atmosphere of a barn and none of the charm any good pub possesses. It the future it may well do well . . . providing none of the hotel owners with land on the main stretch of Whitesands decide to build their own Irish pub; and they get some staff who can take down an order correctly. I've met several owners of east coast resorts all of whom have built small resorts which offer a good standard of room for a good price. You can get a lovely AC bungalow with TV, fridge, breakfast for well under 1,000 baht. But there's no demand at all from western visitors, there's no need to be met. I get asked how they can get more customers and the best I can come up with is give a way a free beer in the restaurant with every room or when that fails, a free room with every beer. Or failing that, sell the resort to a sucker as a long term investment.
Hotel owners who read this site, something for you . . . I'm already getting emails from your guests complaining about the differences between what they actually want and and what you think they want. The majority of these emails relate to music and the reason why hotels think it necessary to have evening meals accompanied by pretty bad live music or schmaltzy CDs. This type of 'entertainment' may well be classier than an scale model of an Italian farmer's cottage built entirely from international cheeses but it doesn't mean that it's a good or sensible idea.
One hotel in Kai Bae has a wandering Filipino minstrel strolling along the beach serenading/annoying diners. Why would this be attractive to guests? Others stick a 'Best of Lionel Ritchie' CD on and subject diners to this night after night after night. Live bands, or more commonly two or three guys and a Casio organ, are also apparently a winner. But when either half the diners can't hear themselves think due to the thud from the base & drums or the restaurant empties every time the band comes on, surely it's time to rethink evening entertainment when this happens.
The majority of guests don't even want live music when they're having a quiet dinner. Sure a little music is nice if peace and quiet isn't a viable option, but how about some Thai music - not the 'Saw-U' Thai violin that makes a sound not dissimilar to that of a of a rusty cat being gang raped, but a nice bit of 'ranad' - wooden xylophone - which can be quite mellow. Volume can even be set low, so that it isn't intrusive. Now, there's a novelty. Your guests aren't travelling half way around the world to hear 'My Heart will Go On' beaten into submission by a bargain basement cover band.
Christmas is on the way and what could be more festive that Christmas lights. Oxford Street has them, Bangkok's shopping malls have them, so why shouldn't Koh Chang have them? (Money and no one being bothered to put them up aside.) Kids will be delighted to see an Xmas tree in the hotel lobby, but as doting parents you'd probably like to take your little 'uns off to see the best & brightest lights on Koh Chang. The place to visit is Koh Chang Entertainment Plaza, a collection of near empty beer bars in Chai Chet, just north of Klong Prao beach. Stop by the roadside after dark and feast your eyes on the garish combinations of primary coloured neon and fairylights. Your kids will love it. But be prepared for the possibility of a few awkward questions if they're over 4 years old:
"Mum, who's the fat old guy with the red face sitting on the chair."
" Err, that's . . . errrrm Santa. He's come to Koh Chang for a holiday."
"Wow. Can I say hello to Santa, Mum?"
"Not now he's busy. See."
"It's not fair, that lady has been sitting on his lap for a long time. I want a go."
"Not tonight. There's a long queue of other ladies waiting their turn, I think she's one of Santa's special helpers."
"She looks very happy. Do you think Santa promised to give her something special this year?"
"Yes dear, I'm sure she'll be getting her stockings filled tonight. Now back in the car."
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