Koh Chang,

The past gave us plenty of opportunities to explore this tropical paradise in depth and over a wide variety of weather conditions and side-trips across the entire island. The largest island in the Gulf of Thailand, has an abundance of beaches, jungles and places for the exploring traveler and we want to give true beach lovers an overview and updated guideline.

In order to help with any decision making, when locating your holiday destination. We have added quite a few pictures and short videos, to show you a 180° degree cam-swing of the different bathing beaches, which we found suitable for individuals and families with kids as well.

Enjoy the sights on Koh Chang!

This map gives you a basic idea, how the layout of Koh Chang is and where the shown beaches are. The island is in Trat province, roughly 300 km southeast of Bangkok.


Start the beach reviews in the geographical north of the island. When you arrive on the island by ferry in Ao Sapparot or at Centerpoint pier, almost all beaches are located like pearls on a string along the island's main road. If you follow this road counterclockwise, you come to the community of Khlong Son first. You are near the northwesternmost point of any road and can access Khlong Son Bay to your right via small side roads. The first beach access is possible at Chang Noi Beach, a classy residential development close to the forested Koh Chang Noi peninsula (uninhabited)

The main area for all touristic activities follows if you cross the final hill on the north end of the western side, from here you have a fantastic panoramic view of White Sand Beach and the villages and beaches south of it. As you can see, most developments here, do follow the main road. The primary accommodations being on the beach side. There is a year round crowd here and businesses do not have a tendency to close for the rainy season. Banks run branches here and there is a plentitude of shops, spas, massages and bars here. The beach itself stretches for miles and is completely free of any sand flies

White Sand Beach has always carried the vast majority of our stays on Koh Chang. The unique blend of food offerings and accommodation options, did suit our taste best. The Top Resort at the southern end of town, on the cliff, had been our home for almost all nights in this eastern part of Thailand. No other location offered us more comfort and cozyness in a relative close proximity to a fabulous bathing beach for their kind of prices.

There are plenty of reports on this location alone, so we will almost skip it here now and move on with our guide to the island. Read our day-by-day chronicles, if you like to learn more about White Sand Beach.

South of White Sand Beach community, over a hill or two south on the main road, Pearl Beach in it's rough beauty attracts few guests at their single resort here. No other businesses nearby, make this location ideal for patrons, that want absolute peace and isolation. The Resortel here has plenty of meeting facilities and rooms.

Sunflowers in Lopburi - A flower-galeria beyond expectations

EACH Year, in the month from December to February, the fields of the foothills in Lopburi Feature a nice spectacle, That is very memorable for Flower-fans. Sunflowers are in full bloom and some people drive far to witness this. From Bangkok's hustle, it's only a couple of hours easy driving on well maintained roads - making this a perfect day trip.


To the farmers here, its just a regular crop to feed to the markets as sunflower seeds are a delicious snack. Roasted and salted They are Offering Big Bags of this Treat Along the Roadside and at Jolasids Pasak Dam-site. Phattana Nikhom this area is called Being and IT is only a Few KM due West of Lopburi City.





The Pasak Dam Jolasid keeps Flood-Waters during Rainy Season away from the fertile Central Plains and the After Completion of this royal Project, the flooding there and downstream AS AS Far Bangkok Was Reduced by a significant Amount The water here is used for irrigation Being purposes and the farmers quickly adapted to the availability of year-round water and it's benefits. Pasak Jolasid Lake is the largest man-made lake in the central region of Thailand.



Pasak Jolasid is the royal name the monarch gave this project and it translates into "to effectively retain water". The waters of the large lake of 180 + KM ² also holds an abundance of fresh water fish and it generates also some electricity. The entire eastern shore plus some of the outlying agricultural areas specialize in sunflower crop. Right before harvesting time in the peak of the dry season it may be rewarding to take the family out to the lake shore for a flowery trip.


Driving from Bangkok is Quite Easy, just Take the Asia Highway to Bang Pa-In and Then Continue Towards Saraburi on Pahonyothin Road. Just before hitting Saraburi City, continue north on road number 1 to Lopburi until it forks off into road 21 to Chai Ban Dan and Petchabun. Take road 21 until you see the sunflower fields or signs for the dam-site. (Pasak Jolasid Dam). 21 The road passes the lakeside on the left. Basic tourist facilities are provided for on the lakefront, snacks and drinks can be bought there as well. Tourist oriented businesses may soon follow on the lake shore.



Prepare some extra rolls of film or plenty of storage on your media for the digital camera as photo opportunities come up frequently here.


Most of the sunflower fields are accessible from the roads, be careful when walking around in them and don't damage the fragile plants.

Timing is essential here, the best time of the day are early mornings and late afternoons, when the sun is low and the colors are much more alive. Our pictures here were taken in February and between the hours of 16:00 and 17.00 afternoon.


The city of Lopburi is famous for it's temples and monkeys, combine the two attractions and have a great weekend out in the central plains. Accommodation CAN BE found easily in Lopburi City . Inquire with the state Railway , the Dam AS Well AS Lopburi Itself, are linked to the Thai State Railway! Inexpensive buses to Lopburi can be boarded at Mor Chit or Future Park.

Thailand - Bangkok

If I cast back my mind, I really can't say exactly when I started to have the desire to visit Thailand.. I only remember that it was a very long time ago.. Possibly inspired by my mother who would tell me about her friend who frequently went to there and kept saying that it was the best place in the world... That combined with my love of the Asian and the exotic would most certainly have something to do with it.


My very first visit was back in 1992 when on a spur of the moment decision I decided to fly to Bangkok with my youngest son to visit my sister and her, what was to be future husband. At the time they were backpacking around Asia.. My youngest son has always been the one to return to the fold at Christmas time.. so when he phoned and asked me what we were doing for Xmas.. I immediately said.. Let's to to Thailand...


After a pretty tedious and grim journey we finally arrived in Bangkok.. My lovely sister and partner were waiting for us and off we went to the wackiest and most adorable typical teak guest house you could possibly imagine.. Exhausted after the trip we crashed out and didn't surface till the next day!


In those days it was custom to leave your shoes at the front door of the hostels, it was also the norm to help yourself to tea, coffee, breakfast, you then jotted down what you had had in a little notebook. At the end of your stay you simply added up your list and informed the owner how much you owed them. Long past gone are those delightful little details.



That first morning in Bangkok will stay in my memory forever, I just kept thinking "Oh my God, all those hours of awful journey has been worth it just to see this beautiful place"

Bangkok known in Thai as "Krungthepmahanakhon Amornrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat Ratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit" is the longest name in the world for a city... or Krung Thep meaning "City of Angels" Most of you probably know this.. but I thought I would add it just in case somebody didn't.

How do I begin to describe this incredible city?. Bangkok is a unique experience that you will never ever find anywhere else in the world. It won’t matter how many people you ask to describe Bangkok, everyone will give you a different perception and opinion. I can only voice my feelings for this amazing city and if it differs from others, well it’s my way of seeing it.



Bangkok is a mixture of delightful and decadent, modern and traditional, calm and chaos, hedonism and Buddhism. From towering shiny skyscrapers to squalid slums, from poorly clad street vendors tiredly pushing their carts full of wares, to the very latest and most luxurious cars you could ever wish to see. Super chic shopping malls with the very latest designer fashions to labyrinths of cheap markets for off the peg clothes, Elegant roof top five star dining to literally thousands of food stands where eating is an adventure in itself and every dish is delicious.

Wonderful smiling people with an incredible culture, and an awesome philosophy. Bangkok is a harsh reality of life and a city of innumerable contrasts of which one will never tire.

Elephants in Thailand

Elephants used to roam all over the country and they were out in abundance in Thailand. Today the kingdom has a few elephant concentrations left, usually where tourists go and spent their holiday budgets. Elephants sure do not chose the sites but their operators and handlers. Elephant rides is a show being promoted by all sorts of tourist information outlets and the nationwide touting agencies. Some of these elephant centers do actually appear to me, like they were beneficial to these gentle giants. Others though appeared to me just like another created "activity" for tourist only. In my years in the kingdom, I have actually witnessed so called elephant camps, where animals didn't seem to be taken care of well (judging by their scars, limps and general appearances) and others, where the elephants seem to me like they were taken care of very well (predominantly north or east of Bangkok).


Although the signage on Phuket's roads, implies that the pachyderms are taken care of, it is one of the few places I've been to, where those elephant camps have their animals to cross public roads with regular traffic. On top of that observation, it was also the only place in Thailand, where the elephants were being saddled with heavy strap-on seats, despite visible sores on the upper part of their front legs. Handlers were constantly pulling their elephants around by the ears, but not in a gentle way. Also it appeared to me that the animals weren't fully grown yet, but I am not a biologist or vet that may judge those things.



While elephants elsewhere were always found to munch on a vegetable and leaf mix. The ones on the rich tourist island of Phuket, were fed just a low nutrition bland local diet of fresh cut palm leafs, cut on-site or near (hardly any rainforest left there).




As with a lot of tourist geared operations on Phuket, I had plenty of reasons to find things objectionable there. And that was not the wild pricing for short trips on the pachyderms!



A young calf was acting erratically and staring bewildered away from humans. It banged the head later against a huge stack of unused iron seats that were previously used for other adult animals to generate touristic revenue. A staff member yelled at the calf and pulled it away by the ear to a location not accessible for me, they got nervous now with me taking pictures of things they rather like to hide.



Riders then showed up and forked over their fees before boarding their animals.



The experience will surely be unique for them and the dude previously roughing up animals here was now the guy on stage. Well not on stage, but on the neck. He was all smiles now, his pockets stuffed with cash.




These creatures are huge and majestic, yet extremely gentle and co-operative to the herder's demands. Occasionally there were human lifes at stake, when these giants freak out. Tourist's fatalities on Phuket island were reported in the past. I begin to blame that on unqualified and uneducated cash hungry animal handlers and not on the elephants. The longer we spent time with the grey giants, the more Melona and me liked them. Feeding them and toying with them became a sideline on many trips to follow.



One day, we were biking along the southern outskirts of Pattaya (towards Sattahip), we stumbled on a small group of elephants, being readied to go on their tourist treks. It was time for us for a short break and the elephant handler in charge welcomed us to hang around. Melona seized that opportunity to toy with the giant bull, he appeared very peacefully minded and that encouraged Melona to overcame her initial fear of those creatures. In her former home (Philippines), there are no native elephants. She checked his leathery ears and listened well to the mahout's instructions, while I shared a cigarette with him nearby and took these pictures.



Melona developed quickly an affection for the giant and the bull didn't mind her touches and actions at all. This intensive encounter was not planned at all, like so many of our unique experiences "on the road in Thailand". Just a lucky coincidence and a friendly elephant trek operator. It became a true highlight of the day, when the mahout instructed Melona do do some minor tricks with the animal, they all seemed to have a ton of fun.



Lifting his tail triggered a response and the bull raised a leg to help her climb aboard. She found black bristles at his tail-end and wondered if they were inserted or natural.



Another occasion brought us to the beaches of Rayong. Here on the "Eastern Seaboard" the beaches are wide and a lot less crowded. Some have an exceptionally good quality of sand and the existing infrastructure meets basic requirements. I do personally object the close proximity of Thailand's heavy and chemical industry here, their hotspot is "Map Tha Phut" and located a few stone-throws from here. We accompanied our friend Ruedi Thaler and his family and dragged our nice Jane-Kim along with us. It was a fun filled day on the beach and a baby elephant was brought here for his daily beach excercise by his handler. A much welcomed break for Ruedi's two boys and our girl.



Initial contact was "eyes only" because even the baby elephant had an impressive weight and muscle-mass. The calf was extremely playful and seemed to enjoy his time on the beach as well. Ruedi's big boy quickly was brave enough to touch and interact with the animal. The umbrellas in the backdrop gave shade to beach-dwellers and guests of the snackerias there.



The handler (in the striped shirt) encouraged the kids on site to ride the calf and even Ruedi's younger boy went for a joyride along with a Thai kid. He will have stories to tell when he returns to his native Switzerland.



The unexpected elephant encounter lasted well over an hour and the pachyderm baby loved to cool off in the shallow waters in between playful actions in the soft sand.



Jane-Kim (yellow shirt) tried to copy the elephants moves and that alone was funny to witness, she wasn't brave enough yet to accept invitations for a ride, but she sure was fascinated by the animal.



The calf stormed trumpeting into the cooling waters occasionally, only to wait for the kids to follow, we all had a great day out on the "Eastern Seaboard" and were happy about this wonderful experience.

Many more elephant interactions dot our time and trips in the kingdom, if you're interested in more elephant pictures and stories, please let us know!