whats wrong with ko chang????

Have been to 3 different travel agents and not one has booked anyone for there. Is it an ideal destination? looks and sounds lovely but the brouchers only list 3 resorts to stay at, I know there is more but can anyone reccommend for 2 adults and 3 children?

whats wrong with ko chang????

That would explain why there are so few aussies on Koh Chang. Now that you mentoin it, I think we encountered mostly Scandinavians, Brits and some Swiss / Austrians while there.

There was on ad on here earlier about the Siam Bay Resort having large family bungalows.

whats wrong with ko chang????

Nothing wrong with Koh Chang at all !!

When I have been down you way I often glance at travel agents windows out of interest and they always have just the same %26#39;main destinations%26#39;, often it was bali, penang, langkawi and then Phuket, Bangkok, maybe Samui and Chiang Mai, but many of the many other great places never or hardly mentioned.

This I guess applies to other places too so no disrespect to your local TA%26#39;s but it is a fact that many places hardly get a mention.

The sawadee list has around 20 places on Koh Chang for all budgets,

These reviews may help to give you some ideas:

www.res24.com/review/posts.html鈥?/a>

Some good places are Amari, Barali is mid range, been around a good few years, Koh Chang Kacha I do not know myself but it gets good local write-ups

If you want a lively touristy place like Phuket or Samui Koh Chang probably would not suit you, but it is a nice island with marine national park nearby, don%26#39;t look for heavy nightlife and entertainment, but for a relaxing island it is very pleasant.

You can fly to nearby Trat or go by express bus or car from Bangkok.

Lots of nice beach places and some qaulirt resorts, also budget places to stay.

http://www.kochangisland.com/

I am sure Ian will come in to give you his local expert advise.

If you head down to Koh Chang but also want to mix some livey/shopping then you can always stop a night in Jomtien or Pattaya are going down or back.

It is more popular than you would expect but again that comes down to what the TA%26#39;s tend to push out. There are so many nice beaches and islands in Thailand but they never get mentioned, oh well, all the better for the rest of us I guess!

seriously though, it is a little sad that people %26#39;miss%26#39; so much of what is available in my opinion by heading just to the crowded tourist places. Sure, spend time on a touristy island or beach but I would alsways say spend those days heading away and find some truly remarkable places.

Ah but of course you won%26#39;t find a Mc';D or a Starbucks in sight so that might wreck it for many :)) !

Thanks Dutchy, I will look Siam Bay resort up, travel agents steer us straight to Phuket or Koh Samui.

Ian probably won%26#39;t tell you but he runs a guest house on Koh Chang.

It looks lovely and is not at all expensive.

Thank you, thankyou Monica. We stayed on an island in Fiji in October so I think that is what I%26#39;m looking for, quiteness, still able to explore if we want to, the kids did not eat junk food for the entire trip ie maccas, lollies, chips etc. It%26#39;s a shame travel agents don%26#39;t know more about this area, as it reads very well, looks lovely and appears to be just what we are looking for. Many thanks

I know the old saying is that %26#39;guide books%26#39; can be out of date before they are published but as long as you look on them as a %26#39;guide%26#39; then it is at least worth, even if not buying, to get some from your library. Most guide books at least have maps and weather details, I worry that so many people miss out on great places relying perhaps too much on TA and forums, there is something from all of them to be gained.

One of the great things about Thailand is you can get well off the %26#39;busy%26#39; tourist tracks but you certianly don%26#39;t have to %26#39;rough it%26#39;! There are some fabulous resorts scattered around beaches and islands that are often %26#39;exactly%26#39; what people are looking for, doesn%26#39;t mean those places are empty, they are not, put popular with those who have looked into in detail what is on offer.

If you don%26#39;t want to rush along the coast you can overnight around Pattaya or Jomtien, there is also a nice Novotel Coralia resort at Rayong which is between Bangkok and Koh Chang, if you want to break a perhaps 5 hour trip into 2 then a night at the Novotel in Rayong is a break.

I think Fiji probably scores over Koh Chang for beaches but Koh Chang still has that %26#39;ruggedness%26#39; that allows a little adventure into a trip.

WhenIan comes into this I am sure he can tell you lots of things for you all to do. You can %26#39;still%26#39; easily get into the Thai way on Koh Chang and if you make the effort you can see and get absorbed into Thailand, if you open yourselves up.

You can also get car+driver between places very easily and for a family a great way to travel is by getting a mini-van ( 9 seater ) with driver to take you place to place, it%26#39;s costs effective for 5 of you also.

I get a few emails from New Zealanders but not so many from Aussies . But as everyone else has said there%26#39;s no sinister reason why Koh Chang isnt taking up pages in your tour agent%26#39;s brochure other than the fact that most of the good resorts are only a few years old. It takes a bit of time for a new location to get noticed by tour agents and then longer for there to be and decent resorts worth including.

A couple of years ago the situation was the same in the UK - only 2-3 resorts in any travel agents brochures, that%26#39;s changing quite quickly as new resorts open and older ones improve facilities and are given facelifts.

Koh Chang is a bit different to a small island off Fiji - although that didnt stop the tourist authorities here from declaring Koh Chang and surroundign islands to be the %26#39;Maldives of Thailand%26#39; - forgetting that the Maldives are tiny, flat islands whilst Koh Chang basically isn%26#39;t tiny or flat.

I was going to tell you that I run a guest house on Koh Chang which is lovely and not at all expensive but Dawn1 beat me too it. However, it sounds like you%26#39;re looking for something a bit more upmarket - let me know what sort of place you%26#39;re looking for ( hotel room / bungalows / rough price etc ) and I%26#39;ll be happy to give you a few ideas for places that you can book online and fit the bill. How old are your kids? Just asking as you%26#39;re options are pretty limited if you want one bungalow/room that would fit all the family.

Hi Ian, we were orignally looking at Kacha resort, at the moment there is a group of about 14 people willing to come. My children are aged at time of travel 5,10,12. There is another family with children aged 2,5,9. 1 couple and about 3 singles. We are also looking at going in October is this an ok time to travel?

You know when I went to the travel agents for brouchers and asked about koh chang, they all said no it%26#39;s chiang mai, when I pointed koh chang out to them on the map thats when they told me they haven%26#39;t booked anyone to go there before. But I think it%26#39;s what we are all after. Thanks ian.

Bangkok Airways has I think 3 flights a day now to Trat which is the stopping off point, but for a large group that would be expensive.

Ian, do keep us posted on Koh Chang, it%26#39;s a while since we were down there but thinking about it in the New Year.