Khlong Phrao beach on Koh Chang Island - part II - the useful

We wrote earlier about our time on Khlong Phrao beach, Koh Chang Island.

Now it's time to write down a less interesting but useful thing or two for those planning to visit. 

First accommodation – the app to use is called Agoda as it is a market leader in South East Asia. There are plenty of last minute deals. Booking.com also works well in Asia. We use both though Agoda may often have better prices or a greater range. However Booking.com does have better filtering and reviews tend to be more reliable.

As far as our experience is concerned, we stayed in a fairly affordable place called Sabaidee Resort. It had the perfect location and a very nice garden. While the interior and service had some peculiarities it is still a place we would recommend and maybe even return ourselves.  For more comfort we would recommend either checking the more expensive units at the same place or checking the more expensive and closer to the beach Blue Lagoon. It is another place with French proprietors. It looks beautiful and has a great restaurant in an estuary/lagoon setting. We had dinner there once and they also run cooking classes - we've seen a glimpse of those and it looked like the people there were having a lot of fun. We ate there once and it is a proper gourmet place. It remains only slightly more expensive than the Sabaidee Resort.

We didn’t venture out of the affordable range. Being on a longer travel and simply enjoying the summer feeling and beach days we didn’t feel the need to look for more luxury. Though one can find plenty at places like Barali, Dewa or The Emerald Cove. Those who wish for a more naturalistic feel should look up at KP Huts. Some might call the huts dilapidated or at least basic, but they are right on the beach and make you feel as if you were on a deserted island.

One note to make: the whole island is covered with a lot of forest, so expect to hear and see at least geckos, if not other animals.

Next: Getting there.

If coming from any of the other nearby islands then Boonsiri Ferry is the company to use.

For a couple of reasons though it might be good to consider starting with Koh Chang:

Getting here takes the shortest, so coming from another Island to Bangkok, once more rested might be better. That is if one wishes to leave Bangkok for the end in order to be close to the airport before departure.

Also – there is a very easy way to get from Bangkok to Koh Chang. There seem to be many mini-van companies offering door to door transportation. That costs some 600 Baht per person. One advantage is that you don’t need to worry about moving your luggage or anything. And the trip should be done in about 6 hours. Not sure do they pick up from the airport. We had our transfer arranged by one of the tourist agencies in Khlong Phrao village but most accommodations offer to sort this out for their guests. The only disadvantage of this approach is picking up and dropping off others. But it saves time to get from the government bus for Trat to the Ferry port, and to get from the Ferry port to accommodation on Koh Chang. 

The company which we ended up using was called Koh Chang Pramsub Tour. This was a comfortable and safe transport and a reliable service. Their phone number is 08-91186-660. But as said earlier, a lot can be arranged via accommodation. For anyone wishing to venture of to Koh Mak or Koh Kood we most strongly recommend Boonsiri Travel. We used them to get to and from Koh Kood and it was a joy. Their business is very well organized with songthaew pick ups on the Island and a bus to Bangkok Khao San road area or to the airport train station from the ferry port. Their full schedule indicates that they can be used also to get directly to Koh Chang, from Koh Kood or Koh Mak to Koh Chang or between Koh Kood and Koh Mak. It may seem chaotic at times, but they make good care of all the passengers and make sure everyone and their luggage is in the right place. Their time tables can be trusted and the journey is pleasant.

So much about getting to and from Koh Chang. I could easily imagine a very nice two week holiday consisting of hoping between the 3 islands in the Eastern Seaboard and spending some 4 or 5 days in Bangkok around the time of River Festival during Loy Krathong. That is something we did in November 2019 and it was great! Until we write a blog about it more can be read in this old Bangkok Post announcement.