Thailand has some gorgeous beaches...and a whole lot of overdeveloped, polluted, party zones. If you're into parties, you have to check out the legendary monthly Full Moon Parties on Koh Phangan. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a super-cheap island getaway to relax on the beach, look at monkeys, and feel transported to a tropical paradise, Koh Chang is perfect.
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| Monkeys! An entire family of monkeys! So many monkeys! Baby monkeys! Grown monkeys! All kinds. |
Pristine beaches with perfect waves, friendly locals, tons of cute bungalows tucked away throughout the island, and even some partying to be had at the bars in town. I hope Koh Chang never falls prey to the developers and their huge hotels; at the moment, the island seems to be proof that tourism can bring a place up, not down.
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| Look at these two cat friends! |
It's a few hours from Bangkok - allegedly six hours by bus, and 4.5-5 by taxi - and then about 45 minutes by ferry. The bus ride is just $8ish, and you can also fly on a sweet fancy propeller plane with Bangkok Airways for a flat $76 one-way every day during the rainy season. (Looks like they raise it to $94 in the nicer cool season.) They're a "boutique airline," and what that means is that the plane is adorable and they give you a lot of snacks considering it's a precisely one hour flight.
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| View from the ferry |
When I went, I flew there because my friend hates buses, and I ended up getting a private taxi home for about $20, because the the taxi driver lived in Bangkok anyway and was heading home for the evening. To keep it budget, I would take the bus instead of flying next time, as it hardly saves any time at all when you consider how far away the airports are.
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| Eh, could be worse |
Now on to the good stuff. We pre-booked a room in a lovely-looking bungalow on AirBnB for like $17 a night. Do not make our mistake. It was waaaay up a huge hill, more like a mountain, really, and our room was COVERED IN ANTS. Like, we napped on the bed, and were picking ants off us the rest of the day. They did give us a different room after we complained a lot, and it did not have many ants. They were like, "Oh yeah, that room tends to get ants in the rainy season." It was one of those moments, let me tell you. Like...hm...OK...it is the rainy season. Maybe spray for ants before renting out the ant room? But anyway, so our place was OK but for around $5-20/night (depending on the type of room), we randomly found a gorgeous beachside resort with a great restaurant and the friendliest of dogs. The bungalows looked much nicer - more glamping than camping - and the beach was beautiful.
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| Hammocks are awesome |
My recommendation is, especially if it's not high season, just show up and wander around until you find a good place to stay. For a beachside non-air-conditioned bungalow (sort of like the cabins back in summer camp), I'd expect to pay $5-10, depending on where you are on the island. Maaaybe $15, if it's a really nice place and you want air conditioning. Lack of AC isn't too bad on the island, though; even though it must be roughly the same temperature as Bangkok, it feels breezy and pleasant; it's beach weather!
The places online are higher-priced and overall no better - if not worse - than the places not online. That said, our place wasn't exactly terrible, just comparatively overpriced and inconvenient. When we went down the island maybe 20 miles, it seemed like every little restaurant or shop offered simple rooms for 150 thb (about $4-5) a night. Pretty cool! You can really live down on the island for dirt cheap.
Note: I visited during the rainy season, which is the off-season for tourism. Rooms may be harder to come by and more expensive during high season.
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