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Welcome to Koh Chang! News, Views, Information and Opinion.

Relaxing by the Pool - July 1st.It can get bit quiet on the island during the "Green Season". generally what happens is that it rains for a few days and all the visitors leave the island seeking the elusive holy grail of a dry place in the monsoon. After they leave the weather becomes sunny and lovely, like today, and those who stayed here get the place to themselves.
But since it is so quiet island residents often find themselves at a loose end and looking for ways to pass the time. So let's welcome the new Wednesday Night Pool League. Tonight sees the second match in the six team league organised by Lee from Garden Resort in Kai Bae.
The teams involved are Garden Resort - Kai Bae, Happy Turtle - Bailan Beach, Paddy's Palms - White Sand Beach, Northern Lights - Hat Kai Mook, Lonely Beach Resort - er.. Lonely Beach and Gecko Bar - Chai Chet.
Tonights home games are at Paddy's Palms, Lonely Beach Resort and Gecko Bar if you fancy going along. There are plans to expend the league for the next season in October so if you have a bar and want to join in then you can contact Lee on 085-439-6428.

The Sunday before last saw a day spent re-planting mangrove forest in Salak Phet. As we frequently complain little is done on the island in the way of ecological renewal and protection so this is a brilliant development. The day was organised by the government body DASTA and all manner of local people took part. We are working to get advance warning when events like this are going to take place so that we can inform you before it happens in a refreshing, pro-active, forward-looking fashion. Watch this space.

Oh and our new guide and map are just out - see the cover below. Pick up your copy from pretty much everywhere.

A New Home in the Sun - June 15th. Well, dear readers, if you're still there, it's been a while hasn't it? You probably think that we've been idling around drinking beer and watching cricket and failing to update this site. And you'd be half right. But also in the astonishingly long time since we updated the site we moved our home and office. Back breaking work involving endless loading and unloading of the motorbike sidecar that represents the White Sand Publications corporate motor fleet. That's the new place pictured left.You can't miss it, it's next door to the Post Office at Hat Kai Mook or Pearl Beach. Our old office was originally the Post Office as well but we're not stamp fetishists or anything.
So you know where we are, feel free to drop in. And if anyone has a good excuse for us to use for not updating the site for a month in a month's time then please contact us and we'll be happy to use it.

Ee by Gum! - May 6th. Even through a global recession and Thai political turmoil the resorts keep opening on Koh Chang. The latest new place is next to Paddy's Palms on White Sand Beach. The owners are the same as of Koh Chang's previous holder of the Overuse of the Letter E Award; Keereeta Resort. They have really excelled themselves this time and used more E's than the Happy Mondays in their prime. Their new place is called Keereeele Resort.
While we're on the topic of new names the owners of The Resort Previously Known As Funky Hut have just changed the name of the place to Amber Sands Beach Resort. They are on a pretty East Coast beach composed of, you guessed it, amber sand and well worth a visit. Check it out at www.ambersandsbeachresort.com.

More property sales. This time it's a large house on Bang Bao pier that would be suitable for a luxurious private residence or would be ideal to turn into a guesthouse. It is down a small side pier and as you would expect has great views over the bay. There are six bedrooms and three bathrooms, a kitchen and a large deck area that could be used for a restaurant. The price is 8 million Baht. If you are interested then contact us and we'll put you in touch with the owners.

And our office on the hill out of White Sands is still available to rent. Come on, it's cheap, it's lovely, we're broke, contact us.

You can read previous posts here.

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Our Printed Guides

Be sure to pick up your free copy of our Guide to Koh Chang, Trat and the Eastern Islands and our Guide to Koh Chang Restaurants & Bars. You will find them at Bangkok and Trat Airports, good Travel Agents and at many locations around the Island. Our maps are updated quarterly and both guides contain much more than just local information. If you have any problems finding them you can drop by our offices just up the hill on the right past Plaloma Resort as you leave White Sand Beach to the south. We are always happy to see you, unless it's 7am.

Hello Welcome! As the global recession bites and the dust settles after the Thai civil unrest and airport sit-in you might be wondering how badly the Thai tourism industry has been affected. The cautious answer, at least here on Koh Chang, is not too badly...yet. During the Christmas and New year period the island was packed and not a room was to be found. The view commonly voiced by business owners on the island, who are generally a conservative breed, was that as soon a the new year came the island would empty and doom and gloom would descend. But so far so good. Most people that we speak to are doing tolerably good business and it seems that people still want to spend their holidays on the Lovely Jewel in the Emerald Sea that is Koh Chang. And long may it continue. Treasure Island? Do you see that prime example of cartographic pulchritude to the left? That's the "Koh Chang Treasure Map". It is available all over Koh Chang and is the most accurate and up-to-date map of the island. It is actually a re-working of an earlier version that we used to sell for 100 Baht. We couldn't be bothered selling it this time though so we're giving it away, yes giving it away for nothing! With help from our valued sponsors of course who get the chance to promote their businesses on it. We make 90,000 copies every year so the island is positively flooded with copies. The front is prepared in a lovely illustrated style for which we are grateful to the mysterious artistic geniuses behind Rungthip Studios. On the back we have very detailed maps of all the beaches and villages together with useful information and numbers. If you want to be in it then contact us. Environmental! This poor fellow is a Red-Faced Muntjac and was found by island resident Suthanai Krupanich in a trap in woodland between White Sand Beach and Chai Chet. His efforts to free and save it were unsuccessful. Suthanai, who has lived on Koh Chang all his life, only remembers ever seeing a Muntjac once before when he was around four years old. That gives you an idea of how scarce these small deer really are. So, if you see any evidence of illegal trapping or poaching during your stay on Koh Chang then you can contact staff at one of the island's National Park offices who, at least in theory, are here to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Or let us know here and we'll pass on the information for you. Soaring With the Eagles Successful author Andrew Hicks keeps on returning to Koh Chang, the setting for his bestselling novel "Thai Girl". This visit he got a new perspective on the island. read on here Feed Me! A bunch of new food options have just arrived at White Sand Beach. If you're a bread fan you have two choices. The new B.W. Cafe at Grand View Plaza has home-made bread daily and tempting looking cakes in a comfortably furnished little cafe. If you're feeling a bit braver then you can buy a Vietnamese baguette sandwich from the new stall at the front of the local market next to Paddy's Palms. There is only one kind of filling which is combination of strange looking meats, vegetables and other stuff that looks horrifying but tastes fantastic. Small is 20B and big is 40B so there's no excuse not to treat yourself to a big one - or two. Update: These guys have disappeared - we don't know where. If you do then please tell us. We miss them! Also at Grand View Plaza, is the new Mexican Baja Cantina offering, as you might imagine, all kinds of authentic Mexican cuisine. They are now open. The Online Guide Archives You will find all our Front Page stories here in the Archive.

The Guide Forum Latest Postings Inspirational       How do you fancy the idea of a stay at your own luxury Villa with a swimming pool set in huge landcaped gardens with 40 metres of private beachfront? The Villa sleeps eight guests in comfort and costs much less than four seperate rooms at one of the island's upscale resorts. Inspiration, as the place is named, is located on peaceful Pearl Beach a couple of kilometres after White Sand Beach. If you'd like more information then contact us. Sharp Shooting Over the years there have been quite a few businesses and individual photographers who have sold CD's of photos of Koh Chang. There have been some good photos but the overall standards have been fairly run-of-the-mill. But now there's a good one that we can endorse wholeheartedly. The photo collection is called - appropriately enough - Koh Chang Photography and has been prepared by Jon Milnes of Photo Evolution. There are some striking and original images and not just your standard beach view stuff. If you don't believe us then check out the new issue of our Koh Chang, Trat and The Eastern Islands guide which will come out on April 1st. It will contain lots of Jon's images and should look cracking as a result. You can get yourself a copy of the disk at offices of Scuba Evolution all over Koh Chang or by calling 084-727-5413 or mailing jonathanmilnes@yahoo.com. Baan Talay Thai The successful Baan Talay Thai development on the East Coast of Koh Chang has sold out its first phase of homes. But they have just acquired an adjacent beachfront plot and are selling plots of land for the construction of your waterfront dream home. If you would like more information or want to arrange a viewing then contact us. The Online Guide on KCTV Koh Chang has its own cable TV channel which is available in many of the hotels and resorts on the island. And we're on it on channels 25 and 30 in the form of this advertisement which you can watch here. Basically it tells you how great we are and how you should read our guides and advertise in them. But you know all that already don't you ;) as for the helicopter - no idea what that's all about.