Thailand is famous for its beaches and islands. Some of them
could better be described as too famous, others as infamous.
When an island has an airport built on it, its character
rapidly changes. The package tours fly in, and the tourist
industry soon provides luxury hotels constructed out of concrete
and everything else the package tourist requires, jet skis, macho
motorbikes, discos and restaurants and bars to suit each
tourist's nationality. Thus an end, is brought to the tropical
paradise.
I went to Koh Samui before it had an airport. I went to
Phuket's Naiharn Beach before its beauty was ruined by its first
hotel. Going to either of these destinations would certainly lead
to disappointment.
I have also been to Koh Chang, Thailand's second largest
island. As yet there are no ugly concrete hotels there and, with
luck, as it is a national park, there never will be. Another
consideration was that unlike Koh Samui the best beaches are on
the West side of the island. I am a photographer, and I have
always found it easier to get good sunset shots than sunrises. I
think that is because I am more likely to be out and about when
the sun sets. I went there twice last year with my girlfriend,
Kanjana, and we both had a really good time. I regard some of the
photographs of I took of her at Koh Chang's Kai Bae and Lonely
Beaches to be among my all time favourites. Koh Chang it was to
be.
I went to a travel agent and booked a minibus for the morning.
That night we packed everything we thought we would need
including a tent so that would be ready when the minibus came to
pick me up in the morning. Usually I do not bother to carry a
tent, but the last time we went to Koh Chang we arrived on Friday
May 1st, not realising that Labour Day was a public
holiday in Thailand. That time we walked the length of a beach
trying to find a bungalow, but ended up renting a tent and
feeling lucky to get one. As we were going at the Christmas-New
Year peak season, I thought it would be good to have some
insurance.
When I asked Kanjana who would look after her cat, Ugly, she
informed me that we would be taking her. Ugly is a strange name
for a cat. She chose it, not me. While I was staying in Thailand
in the summer, she got a rather pretty cat. Then a few days later
she found this scruffy looking stray kitten in the street across
the road from where she lived, took it home and called it Ugly.
Unfortunately the pretty cat got ill, and died. Now she has only
one cat, which is full of life and rather pretty.
Taking a cat on holiday seemed to me a crazy idea. "Cats
do not like going on holiday," I said thinking of the
reaction of cats I have had whenever I have taken them out of
their territory or put them in a car. In my mind I could see
these images of my last cat meowing and looking frightened when
as a kitten I took her to a nearby park. I could almost her my
last cat saying "Meow, meow, take me home, I am
frightened." Then there was the incessant meowing when she
had to go in a car. Kanjana insisted and told me that Ugly liked
going on holiday. "What about the dogs on the beach?" I
asked. She had decided that Ugly was going with us. I could not
change her mind.
At 7:30 we went downstairs to wait for the taxi to come. Ugly
was in Kanjana's backpack, her head sticking out. While waiting
we bought some food to eat in the minibus and I got a newspaper.
At 7:45 the minibus arrived, and we were on our way. Usually the
minibuses have to go all around town picking up other passengers
from their hotels, but we were extraordinarily lucky. We had the
whole minibus to ourselves. At least, the driver told us, we had
the minibus to ourselves until we got to a place called Ban Phe,
which is the port for Koh Samet, another island, which gets
extremely crowded as it is not so far from Bangkok. He had to
pick up some more passengers there.
I could not believe how good Ugly was, not a word of
complaint. She walked around the back of the minibus to explore.
When we got to Ban Phe, the driver told us we would have to wait
for the other passengers. We took Ugly out for a walk. She was
really enjoying herself. I had never seen a cat that enjoyed
travelling before. The driver told us that the other passengers
had not yet arrived from the island, and suggested we had
something to eat, which I did. Eventually one more passenger
arrived, and we were on our way again.
The minibus got to Laem Ngop, the port from which the boats
for Koh Chang leave, at lunchtime. Laem Ngop is just a small
fishing port. Near the jetty there are a number of restaurants,
shops and agents selling tickets for boat tickets for Koh Chang
and other islands.
As the boat to Koh Chang had left shortly before the minibus
arrived, it seemed to be time for lunch. Kan ordered a drink and
something to eat. I went to the market area, but much to my
disappointment there was not a durian in sight even though this
was a durian-growing area. Durian is an extremely smelly tropical
fruit that you either love or hate. I love it. They are grown on
Koh Chang, and in season, can often be purchased from a pick-up
truck on the island. Durian was only available as a paste. I
bought a kilo of it.
When I got back to the restaurant, a German sitting at the
next table started talking to me. He was on his way back, and
told me he had been staying at Koh Mak. He had really enjoyed his
stay there, and strongly recommended the Fantasia Resort. We
decided to discuss the possibility of going to Koh Mak with the
agent that operated from the restaurant we were in. The agent
said there would be no trouble finding somewhere to stay on the
island. The German told me that from Fantasia you could see good
sunrises but not sunsets. I checked a map of the island and
looked at the West coast. There were beaches and resorts on the
west from which sunsets could be seen. Better still, there were
some small islands off the coast, which would make the sunsets
more interesting. I asked Kan what she wanted to do. That was it,
change of plan, forget Koh Chang, we had been there already, off
to Koh Mak. I purchased tickets for the next boat, which left at
three o'clock.
As we had two hours to kill before the boat left, I went for a
stroll leaving Kan and Ugly in the restaurant. I decided to walk
along the jetty. Maybe I would get some interesting photographs
of boats, I thought. As I walked passed one boat, someone called
to me saying that they were going to Koh Mak at two o'clock. Why
wait till three, I thought. I headed back to the agent, and asked
if we could change to the two o'clock boat. "Two o'clock
boat, three o'clock boat, same, same," he said, "no
problem." He took our tickets, and changed three to two.
I then bought myself a fresh pineapple shake. I was asked if I
had booked a bungalow yet. "No," I said. "Would
you like to book one?" Usually I prefer not to book in
advance, but it was peak season and with prices so cheap, I did
not really want us to have stay in a tent. Cats' claws are not
very good for tents. Better to be safe. "What's available on
Koh Mak?" I replied. The girl then took me to a desk round
the corner from her drinks shop and showed me some photographs. I
chose a bungalow with toilet and shower for 250 baht a night. She
then got the owner of the desk who told me that it was not 250
but 350 baht for that bungalow. I complained that I had been told
250 and we settled for 300. I was glad to know that we had
somewhere to stay.
We got back to the boat by two and waited for it to leave. Two
o'clock passed and we continued to wait. Ugly explored the boat.
As the engine had not been started yet, I got off the boat to
take some photographs of some people loading a pick-up with
coconuts. I noticed an ice-cream seller nearby, and thought I
would eat one while waiting for the boat to go. Kan did not want
one. I ate the ice cream and waited. Then I bought some fruit,
green mango and guava, and Kan helped me to eat that. Then we
waited. Soon I realised what "Two o'clock boat, three
o'clock boat, same, same" meant. There was only one boat. It
left at 3:15.
There were
only a dozen or so people on the boat and all of them seemed
friendly. We discussed where we were heading. (A Frenchman was
going to an even smaller island, Koh Kaam, after getting to Koh
Mak. "Do you think I will be able to get anything to smoke
there?" he asked. "No problem, my guide book says that
the resort is owned by an ex-cop so I'm sure you can get
something," I replied.) It was an extremely pleasant trip
with beautiful views of Koh Chang and other islands. The
adventurous Ugly seemed to enjoy the trip, too. She had a bit of
a sleep with Kan. Thai women and cats seem to have similar
sleeping habits. They can sleep anywhere and anytime. They also
seem to like to spend most of the day asleep. As the sun started
to set, we approached Koh Mak. The boat stopped just off the
island by a small village. A small boat came out from the
mainland to pick up one of the passengers. We then continued to
the port on Koh Mak.
Kanjana and Ugly
Lined up on the jetty waiting for the boat were a few
agricultural tractors with carts attached to them and an old pick
with Bob Marley painted on the bonnet. We got the feeling that we
had made a wise decision coming here. We got into carts and
waited for the drivers to come. The local dogs seemed to express
an interest in Ugly, but we thought it was better not to let her
loose to play with them. We kept hold of her. An Englishman
clutching a bottle of beer appeared. "Are you the
driver?" I asked. "No," he replied. I started
talking to him and learnt that his name was Steve, he came from
Liverpool and operated some bungalows on the island called Lazy
Days, but not the one I had booked. He was friendly and amusing.
Then a German showed up. He was in charge of the bungalow I had
booked. A Scottish girl who was on the boat was asking all the
bungalow operators if they had any empty bungalows. None had.
Good thing I had booked one, I thought, especially as it was
already getting dark.
I showed my booking to the German. "Sorry we are
full," he said. Having been travelling all day I was not
happy to hear that and told him so. He offered me a cheaper
bungalow without toilet and shower for 100 baht a night, which I
declined mainly because I was annoyed, but also because I found
Steve rather amusing and thought that the atmosphere at his place
would be more entertaining. Good thing I had brought a tent. I
got off the cart behind the German's tractor and into Steve's.
The Scottish girl who could not find anywhere to stay was also in
it; she was going to spend the night sleeping on the floor of
Steve's restaurant.
When we arrived at Lazy Days, we ordered something to drink
and looked through the menu. Sea air is always good for the
appetite. While waiting for dinner to arrive, I pitched the tent.
Kan played with Ugly. Steve advised me not to put the tent under
a coconut tree and helped me choose a suitable place. It only
took about five minutes to put up. I told Steve to put me on the
waiting list for a free bungalow.
Back in the restaurant my drink had arrived. The food took a
long time to come, but I have never been a fan of fast food, and
everything is slow on Koh Mak. I was introduced to Steve's wife,
Diane and his child and the other foreigners working there, Clive
and Lucy. Steve is a PADI (Professional Association of Diving
Instructors) diving instructor and his wife, also an accomplished
diver, assists him. I also met and talked to many of the other
people staying there. A cat is a good conversation piece. It was
definitely a friendly place. Ugly met the local dogs and they
seemed friendly, too. That was lucky.
That night we slept in the tent with Ugly. I was worried that
she would start clawing everything in sight, but she did not. She
was still playful and the only things she wanted to claw were
moving objects like my feet. The tent could still be used on
another trip, even in the rain.
In the morning I got out of the tent and looked upon the clear
blue sea. A lovely day, but that was not surprising as at this
time of year every day is lovely. In winter it is hot and sunny
but not too hot, and rain is rare. In fact during our holiday
every day was hot, and it never rained. I thought it was also
time for Ugly to get up. As she was a house cat who did not
normally go out, I thought it was time to teach her a few things
every cat should know. First, she had to learn to climb trees. I
placed her on an almost horizontal branch, and for the first time
she looked a bit nervous. She had not done this before, but soon
she tried walking along it. Her first lesson completed
successfully, I thought it was time to teach her something more
difficult, steeper inclines. I placed her on the trunk of a
coconut tree, and she held on but did not move. Then she tried
moving. Up was no problem, but she fell off when she started to
come down. She soon learnt that it was not a good idea to turn
round and try to go down forwards. She learnt to go into reverse
and really stick those claws in for steep inclines. I felt more
relaxed about the dogs now that she could climb trees. If she was
chased, she could run up a tree and the dogs would not be able to
follow her.
Having taught the cat to climb trees, I thought it was time
for a swim. The water was clear, clean and warm. Some coconut
trees hung over the sea. On one of these someone had nailed some
pieces of wood to make it easy to climb and tied a rope. Someone
told me what to do. "Climb up it and jump off into the
water." I climbed up. "Now stand on the third step,
hold on to the rope, and lean back." When I was on the
ground, the rope did not see to be too high up. It looked a lot
higher once you had climbed up. "Place the bottom knot
between your legs and then just let yourself fall." It
looked a long way down, and I do not have a head for heights. I
went for it, and it was fun swinging over the sea and then
dropping into it. Nothing like a swim before breakfast.
After breakfast I walked to the next group of bungalows to
arrange a refund from the German. He said I had to pick it up
from the agent at the port. I foresaw problems. What would happen
if back at the port they told me I had to get the refund on the
island? The next day he was sending someone to the mainland so we
agreed they would pick up my refund and give it to me on the
island. It was not a lot of money, but a principle was involved.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the beach on the
beach with Kan and Ugly. Anyway we wanted to keep an eye on Ugly
and did not think that she wanted to go for a walk. She certainly
did not want to go for a swim. Kan and I played with Ugly and
watched the dogs. One of the dogs was starting to become friendly
with Ugly. It is so easy to just let time pass on an island like
this. I talked to many people while relaxing there. Kan seemed
more interested in playing with Ugly and the dogs. By the end of
the day Ugly was playing with the dogs and climbing trees. They
would chase her until she ran up a coconut tree. It was just a
game, and it was evident that she was in no danger. The beach at
Lazy Days seems remarkably friendly. I had a long conversation
with a retired couple, and Englishman and his French wife.
I learnt that he had been an advertising executive in Paris.
He and his wife had given up their jobs seven years ago and had
been travelling ever since. They had worked out that if they
lived inexpensively, they would not need to do any more work.
They told about some of the places they had been. As his wife was
French, we inevitably discussed food. They told me that they had
seen many sea urchins (uni) in the sea near some of the islands.
We agreed that it was a pity that they were not available at any
of the restaurants.
That evening the sunset was a little disappointing. The sun
disappeared behind cloud before it hit the sea. Before the sun
set in the West, the moon had risen in the East. I headed to the
restaurant where I met Steve. Some people who had just arrived
were starting to ask about the availability of bungalows. I
quickly told Steve that when I got a bungalow, someone else could
use my tent. Smart move, we got the only bungalow that came up
that day. The new arrivals had to make do with my tent.
The next day was spent in a similarly lazy way. After the
hustle and bustle of Japan it is a pleasure just to relax and
slow down. However, it takes time to slow down to a true island
pace. In the morning we picked up a couple of coconuts that were
lying on the ground and shook them to see if there was any juice
in them. There was. I went to the bungalow and got my knife. When
we travel in Thailand, we always pack some plates, spoons, forks
and a knife which can be used for cutting pineapples, durians or
anything else we may wish to buy in a market. Kan likes to buy
food in the market and take it back to eat in our room. Actually
when it comes to breakfast, she likes me to go out and buy it so
that she can sleep longer. I hacked the top off one and drank the
juice. It was hard work. The juice was good. Kan told me that,
being a foreigner, I was doing it all wrong. She would show me.
She did not seem to do any better, and I helped her. We did not
pick up any more. In the afternoon at Kan's suggestion we rented
a snorkels and masks and did some snorkelling. That night there
was a better sunset and I got some good photographs.
Then we walked to the local village with a friend to do a
little shopping leaving Ugly in charge of the bungalow. She could
go in and out of the bungalow through a gap between some planks,
and the dogs could not follow her. By now we felt it was safe to
leave her on her own. We decided to eat in the village that day
for a bit of variety. Then we went back to Lazy Days and had a
drink in the restaurant, and I had a game of chess with a
middle-aged Swiss who told me that he spent most of his time in
India and had been travelling and living cheaply for eight years
without working. It was New Year's Eve, but there was no great
excitement. Everyone just wished each other Happy New Year at
midnight, a pleasant contrast to some places in Thailand that
tend to resemble a war zone because so many fireworks go off.
The next day we went for a walk, again leaving Ugly. She would
be happy playing with the dogs, climbing trees and generally just
being a cat who has more freedom than usual. First we visited the
German and we got the refund. Then we continued our walk along
the next bay, which was long and quiet. There were few people
there. In the distance we could see some buildings. We slowly
walked along the bay passing some swimmers on our way, and got to
some bungalows, TK huts, and a restaurant, which made an
appropriate place for a break. We ordered some food. At another
table I noticed the retired couple, and they told me that they
were staying at those bungalows. I felt envious knowing that
could stay so much longer than me. They did not have to get back
to work. So few people seem to have arranged their lives as well
as they have. They seemed so happy, so satisfied with life.
After lunch we walked to the North side of the island. We
headed inland walking through the coconut trees, and came to an
extremely quiet beach. There was only one person we could see on
it, a fisherman trying to net fish. We walked along the beach
until we came to the next restaurant. As restaurants on this
island are so few and far between, it was time to sit down again
and have another drink and a little bit to eat. After that we
headed inland and walked through the trees back to TK huts. As we
walked back to Lazy Days the sun was setting. The beautiful
colours of the sun setting behind the
small islands offshore made a perfect end to our walk.
Back at Lazy Days we met Clive who said he was trying to
arrange a snorkelling trip for the next day and asked us if we
were interested. Both of us thought this would be a good idea so
we said we wanted to go. He then had to try to get some more
people together. They needed eight to make renting a fishing boat
to take us worthwhile. It sounded good. It looked as if they
would get eight together. The Scottish girl was there too. She
told me that she was staying at the one of the German's
bungalows. "How is it there?" I asked. "More
formal," she replied. This confirmed we had made the right
choice. We do not want to be formal on holiday.
The following day at breakfast I learnt that the trip had been
postponed and was going to be the next day. Steve and Diane had
headed off down the coast to go to Cambodia to renew their visas,
and Clive had not had time to arrange a boat because the
restaurant was short of staff. Never mind, time was not important
on Koh Mak, another day was fine. I thought that I would also be
interested in going overland to Cambodia sometime. I must ask
Steve about his trip when he gets back.
As the snorkelling trip had been cancelled Kan and I decided
to go for a walk in the other direction. We followed a path and
had a pleasant walk, which led to a hill with some bungalows on
it overlooking the port. We stopped for a drink then backtracked
and headed to a different part of the coast. We stopped at
another restaurant overlooking the sea for lunch. Kan was happy
to find that somtam, papaya salad, was on the menu, and she
ordered some. She comes from the North-East of Thailand where
somtam is such an essential part of the diet that they start
getting withdrawal symptoms after a few days without it. Then we
headed back to Lazy Days.
The next day at breakfast I learnt that the snorkelling trip
was definitely on. We just had to wait for the fishing boat to
arrive. The boat arrived at about 11 o'clock. Clive had wisely
decided that no one wanted a crack-of-dawn start. We all boarded
the boat and Clive loaded the snorkelling gear, lunch and some
drinks. Off we went to an uninhabited island. We were unloaded on
the island with the snorkelling gear and lunch. Everyone found a
mask that fitted, a snorkel and fins, and then headed off into
the water. Not being a particularly strong swimmers, Kan and I
stayed close to the shore, others ventured further, two went a
lot further. I could see coral, quite a few fish including some
quite colourful ones and lots of sea urchins. After a swim we had
lunch, then on to the next island. Two people were missing, but
apparently this was no problem. They had swum off to another
island. The boat headed to that island, and as we approached it,
we saw two people swimming. They got back on the boat, and we
headed for the next island, Koh Kaam. We followed the North side
of Koh Mak. We could see the beach we had walked along a few days
before. We were unloaded at Koh Kaam, a small island with one
beach and a few bungalows and a restaurant. We did a bit more
snorkelling and then went to the restaurant for a drink and a
bite to eat. (I did not see the Frenchman who was on the boat
from Laem Ngop to Koh Chang. Maybe he could not get anything to
smoke and moved somewhere else.) Koh Kaam was pleasant, but I
thought a little too small to stay on. Late in the afternoon we
headed back to Lazy Days. When we got back, we were welcomed by
Ugly. She seemed to be saying, "I've had a great time
climbing trees and running around, but nice to see you have not
forgotten to come back to me." We had a shower then watched
the setting sun.
Every evening about sunset the tractor heads off to the port
to meet the boat from Koh Chang, but it would not start. There
was some problem with the starter motor. A crowd gathered round
the tractor and pushed it backwards up a small hill. I helped.
Then we pushed it down the hill to start it. It started. We were
glad it was only a small tractor.
The next day was to be our last on the island. Kan was
starting to worry about the fish she kept in a fishbowl in her
appartment. They would need feeding and clean water. We spent it
our last in true style. We did nothing. That is not quite true
because I did take the tent down, do some packing and had a swim,
but it was a quiet, relaxing day. We had to get up early the next
day to catch the eight o'clock tractor to the port.
We got up before eight and with regret checked out of Lazy
Days. Then I had to join the crowd push-starting the tractor. At
the port we got on the boat back to Laem Ngop. We enjoyed the
trip back even though we were sorry to leave Koh Mak. On arrival
at the port we booked a minibus, but we had to wait an hour or so
for one. While waiting, we ate lunch at the seafood restaurant
overlooking the jetty, and would strongly recommend the stuffed
crabs to anyone who goes there. I will have some the next time we
go to one of the islands in that area.
Those who demand the creature comforts of modern life should
not go to Koh Mak.
If you have never been to Thailand, perhaps it may be better
to visit Phuket or Koh Samui first. After Koh Mak Phuket and Koh
Samui will be a disappointment. If you have already done the more
famous islands, can live without jet skis, discos and Big Macs,
try Koh Mak. What makes Koh Mak special is not what it has got
but what it has not got.
Koh Mak is in the Koh Chang National Park, which is not far
from Cambodia. As the rainy season brings extremely rough weather
to the area most resorts operate only from November to May.
Lazy Days Resort can be contacted by letter. Write to Lazy
Days, POB 21, Trad, Trad, Thailand 23000. Simple wood bungalows
without toilet and shower are 100 baht per day (per bungalow not
per person). There are showers that can be used but there is no
hot water. However the water is not too cold. Electricity is on
from sunset to midnight. Telephone calls can be made from the
restaurant. Food is cheap, both Western and Thai being available.
Snorkel trips are 350 baht per day, scuba trips 900 baht per day
including equipment (US made) and 1 tank of air. Lazy Days can
arrange a fishing boat charter for a group for 1,500 baht per
day.
Transport
Tractor-taxis on the island are free. The boat from Laem
Ngop is 170 baht. A minibus from Bangkok is about 350 baht. It
should also be possible to take a taxi from Bangkok for around
2,000 baht.