Koh Chang, Muko Chang Marine National Park - Thailand Beaches and Islands

The Eastern Seaboard - Playgrounds and Popular Escapes

Located 8 km. off the coast of Trat, Ko Chang, which measures 30 km. long by 8 km. wide, making its Thailand’s second largest island after Phuket, is the main isle in a 52-island archipelago that forms Muko Chang Marine National Park, established as a nature preserve in 1982. Mainly because of its isolation, only now is the island being discovered by international travellers, and although accommodation options and other tourism facilities are increasing, a sense of discovery is still possible. If not precisely terra incognita, Ko Chang is sparsely populated and roughly 70 percent of the land is virgin rainforest. Rugged in its hills and cliffs, but strikingly beautiful in its long pristine stretches of white sandy beaches and profusion of lush greenery, the island beckons as a tropical paradise.

Koh Chang Marine National Park, Trat

Ko Chang itself has a mountainous interior, which accounts for the name, ‘Elephant Island’, as from a distance the mountain ridges are said to look like the backs of several elephants. Contrasting with a rugged forested interior is a coastline characterised by small bays and exceptionally fi ne beaches, the best spots being on the western side of the island, notably, from north to south, atAo Khlong Son, Hat Sai Khao, Hat Khlong Phrao and Hat Kai Bae. Close by each of these beaches are small villages where the inhabitants support themselves mainly by fi shing, harvesting coconuts and cultivating fruit orchards.

Ko Mak, Trat

Of other main islands, Ko Kut is the second largest in the group and, like Ko Chang, is mountainous and still half covered with forest. On its coast are some of the loveliest beaches in the archipelago. Ko Mak, lying between Ko Chang and Ko Kut, is covered mostly with coconut groves and exudes a rather more inhabited air than its neighbouring islands. Located off the northwest tip of Ko Mak, Ko Kradat is completely fl at and lacks topographical interest, though its beaches and surrounding coral reefs are superb.

The waters around the islands have an abundance of colourful coral, and generally the conditions are good for scuba diving, perhaps best off Ko Kradat. Otherwise, snorkelling or hiring a boat to go fi shing are the sporting alternatives. Away from the beaches, hiking in the hinterland offers marvellous views and a rare appreciation of tropical island scenery. Ko Chang’s natural sights include several picturesque waterfalls, notably Than Mayom, a multi-tiered cascade tumbling in stages through a rocky gorge into a series of deep pools.

It is a short fl ight by Bangkok Airways from Bangkok to Trat, from where pickup trucks ply the route to the ferry pier at Laem Ngop. Alternatively, airconditioned buses to Trat (5-6 hours) depart from Bangkok’s Eastern Bus Terminal.