Asia Golf Courses January 2018 January 2018 | Page 29

Koh Chang, known al
so as ‘
El
ephant I
sl
and’
named
because of i
t
s el
ephant shaped headl
and, i
s
Thai
l
and’
s t
hi
r
d l
ar
gest i
sl
and af
t
er Phuket and
Samui
. I
t i
s l
ocat
ed ar
ound 300 ki
l
omet
r
es east of
Bangkok i
n Tr
at Pr
ovi
nce, i
n t
he Gul
f of Thai
l
and
near t
he Cambodi
an bor
der
.
Koh Chang i
s par
t of t
he Mu Ko Chang Nat
i
onal
Par
k. Despi
t
e i
t
s i
ncr
ease i
n devel
opment and
t
our
i
sm i
n t
he past decade or so, i
t has r
et
ai
ned i
t
s
r
emot
e and r
ugged char
act
er
.
Fr
om j
ungl
e cover
ed mount
ai
n peaks t
o sweepi
ng
bays, gr
eat wat
er
f
al
l
s t
o f
l
our
i
shi
ng cor
al r
eef
s,
beach hut
s t
o l
uxur
y r
esor
t
s, Koh Chang has pl
ent
y
t
o of
f
er f
or ever
yone.
Wi
t
h an ar
ea cover
i
ng appr
oxi
mat
el
y 429 squar
e
ki
l
omet
r
es, 70% of Koh Chang i
s cover
ed i
n
r
ai
nf
or
est
s, mount
ai
ns and beaches. The hi
ghest
peak on t
he i
sl
and i
s Khao Sal
ak Phet
, r
i
si
ng f
r
om
t
he gr
ound at 743 met
er
s, and gi
ven i
t
s mount
ai
nous
t
er
r
ai
n t
her
e i
s an abundance of wat
er
f
al
l
s wi
t
h t
he
t
al
l
est but not al
ways t
he most accessi
bl
e bei
ng
Kl
ong Neung wat
er
f
al
l
, whi
ch can be f
ound on t
he
east
er
n si
de of i
sl
and.
Koh Chang has t
hr
ee mai
n seasons, t
he cool season
r
uns f
r
om November t
o t
he end of Febr
uar
y
. Thi
s i
s
when t
he i
sl
and i
s at i
t
’
s busi
est
, wi
t
h guar
ant
eed
dai
l
y sunshi
ne, st
unni
ng bl
ue ski
es and cal
m seas. I
f
you don’
t mi
nd cr
owds, t
hi
s i
s t
he i
deal t
i
me t
o vi
si
t
.
Dur
i
ng t
hi
s t
i
me t
he aver
age t
emper
at
ur
e i
s bet
ween
27C and 30C, you may exper
i
ence t
he odd
r
ef
r
eshi
ng t
hunder
st
or
m.
The hot season f
ol
l
ows t
he cool season and r
uns f
or
3 mont
hs, Mar
ch t
o Apr
i
l
. Dur
i
ng t
hese mont
hs t
he
t
emper
at
ur
e i
s over 33C most days and al
ong wi
t
h
t
he hi
gh humi
di
t
y i
t can get uncomf
or
t
abl
e. You’
l
l f
i
nd
your
sel
f sweat
i
ng when st
andi
ng st
i
l
l
. The mont
hs of
Apr
i
l and May ar
e al
so t
he usual hol
i
day mont
hs f
or
Thai
s, so t
he t
our
i
st ar
eas of t
he i
sl
and can st
i
l
l be
busy
. Especi
al
l
y dur
i
ng Songkr
an, Thai New Year
,
whi
ch i
s f
r
om 13 – 15 Apr
i
l
.
I
f you happen t
o be ar
ound f
or t
he Songkr
an
cel
ebr
at
i
ons don’
t be sur
pr
i
sed t
o f
i
nd wat
er bei
ng
t
hr
own at you, t
hi
s i
s al
l par
t of t
he ‘
Songkr
an’
cel
ebr
at
i
ons and al
so a gr
eat way t
o cool down i
n
t
he scor
chi
ng heat
. Be sur
e t
o keep your camer
a,
phone and passpor
t i
n a wat
er
pr
oof bag.
The l
ast season i
s t
he r
ai
ny season, st
ar
t
i
ng
t
owar
ds t
he end of May
, t
he r
ai
ns car
r
y on unt
i
l t
he
end of Oct
ober
. Dur
i
ng t
hese mont
hs t
our
i
sm on
Koh Chang dr
ops of
f
, as do t
he pr
i
ces of
accommodat
i
on, and whi
l
e t
he weat
her i
s
unpr
edi
ct
abl
e i
t st
i
l
l can be a gr
eat t
i
me t
o vi
si
t t
he
i
sl
and. The i
sl
and i
s much qui
et
er
, t
he pr
i
ces ar
e
l
ower and t
he r
ai
nf
or
est
s ar
e l
ush gr
een and f
ul
l of
l
i
f
e. I
t
’
s t
he i
deal t
i
me t
o vi
si
t f
or peopl
e who j
ust
want t
o chi
l
l out and enj
oy some peace and qui
et
.
even Whi
t
e sands beach, t
he busi
est beach, i
s
cal
m.
Comi
ng f
r
om Bangkok, t
her
e ar
e numer
ous
t
r
anspor
t opt
i
ons. Ther
e i
sn’
t one whi
ch i
s ‘
best
’
as
t
hat depends on your own budget and pr
ef
er
r
ed
st
yl
e of t
r
avel
. At t
he t
op end of t
he pr
i
ce r
ange, t
he
qui
ckest but al
so most expensi
ve opt
i
on i
s t
o f
l
y on
Bangkok Ai
r
ways t
o Tr
at
. Whi
l
st f
or peopl
e who
pr
ef
er t
o see some l
ocal l
i
f
e on t
he way t
aki
ng t
he
bus f
r
om Ekkamai Bus St
at
i
on,
Bangkok t
o one of t
he mai
nl
and pi
er
s i
n Laem Ngop
i
s t
he cheapest means of get
t
i
ng t
o t
he i
sl
and. A
one way t
i
cket on an ai
r
condi
t
i
oned bus i
s ar
ound
260 Baht (
That
’
s j
ust 6 EUR.
)
. Fer
r
i
es t
o t
he i
sl
and
r
un r
egul
ar
l
y f
r
om 06:
30 – 19:
30.
Get
t
i
ng ar
ound t
he i
sl
and i
s f
ai
r
l
y easy and
st
r
ai
ght
f
or
war
d. The mai
n mode of t
r
anspor
t i
s by
songt
haew ( pi
ck-
up t
r
uck t
axi ) t
hey r
un f
r
om t
he
f
er
r
y t
er
mi
nal st
oppi
ng at al
l t
he beaches al
ong t
he
West Coast of t
he i
sl
and, but t
hey r
ar
el
y l
eave
unl
ess f
ul
l
. You can cat
ch a songt
haew day or ni
ght
t
o get ar
ound, but be awar
e t
hat pr
i
ces i
ncr
ease
af
t
er ar
ound 22:
00.