Friday, January 2, 2009
Mosquito bait
With only Jim and myself to work with, the 24-hour journey from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Trat to Koh Chang was a breeze. I found our third-class, overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok particularly impressive as the THB 611 (AUD$27) fare included dinner, breakfast, clean blankets, and relatively comfortable seats.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Labels: Thailand
# posted by liz : 5:30 PM
