Thor
14 years ago a Bangkok hotel manager named Thor took a holiday to the relatively unknown island of Koh Chang. At the time there was no road, no electricity and no infrastructure. White Sand Beach had a few simple beach huts that were reachable only by fishing boat.
Thor fell in love with the island and as soon as he could he quit his safe Bangkok life and took a job working in a small shop on the beach. After a while an opportunity arose to build a small restaurant right at the end of the beach and Thor's Palace was born.
Thor's Palace offered a relaxed setting with good music and an eclectic menu. Thor says that he devised the interesting menu as a way to persuade people to walk all the way down the beach to his place. These days Thor's Palace is in the heart of White Sand Beach and continues to serve food that author and Guardian travel writer Emily Barr gushingly described as, "the best meal of my life".
Visitors to the restaurant will recognise Thor straight away. He is a tall, elegantly presented Thai of impeccable manners. If you chat with him you will notice his excellent English and his penchant for sharply witty one-liners.
Thor has seen the rapid growth of the island from a backpacker's haven into a major holiday centre. He is philosophical about the changes pointing out that nowhere stays the same and says that he is still happy that his customers are such nice people.
During the monsoon when the island is quiet and often wet Thor wisely closes up the restaurant and sees the world. He has travelled extensively in Europe and describes Barcelona as his favourite place. Flags, banners and souvenirs of his travels are draped around Thor's Palace. Last year Thor was selected as a model at the annual Lifeball HIV/AIDS charity event in Vienna. He greatly enjoyed the experience meeting supermodels and interesting people from around the world. Sadly his encounter with Elton John was not as rewarding. "He was very short and had too many bodyguards," Thor says.
Thor is happy doing what he is doing. His ambition is to continue running Thor's Palace for as long as possible. He has a small plot of land by a river in a quiet part of the island where he is building a home. This low season he is planning to forego his usual travels. Instead he says he will take advantage of the rains to do a bit of gardening.
Oodie
Oodie is the owner of the appropriately named Oodie's Place on White Sand Beach. This music bar has offered live music nightly since it opened over six years ago. When it opened it was little more than a shack with space for the band and a few customers. Over the years it has grown around the original site as a pool room, a Thai kitchen and a French kitchen have been added. Now guests sit on long wooden benches and enjoy the nightly set of Blues, Rock, R'n'B and Reggae classics. Musicians and singers amongst the audience are encouraged to come up and play with the band.
Oodie first picked up a guitar and began to learn to play the blues when he was fourteen years old. It was in his blood, he says. In true rock and roll fashion he is a traveller, having lived in many places over the years. Perhaps due to his love of American music he spent many years in the U.S, mainly in California, and now has a faintly American accent.
During his time in Bangkok he became a respected face on the Thai music scene. He has had bands of his own and has toured and played with some of Thailand's biggest acts such as Carabao, Caravan and Zo-Zo. From time to time these bands come to visit him and play a night at Oodie's place.
He first decided to come to Koh Chang in 1999 when it was still not developed and seemed very remote because he was tired of the hassles of city life. He drained a patch of swamp and built his bar. He stays because he enjoys playing music to visitors and says that he likes to see happy people. He encourages his guests to come to Koh Chang and be welcome. To, as he says, "leave all the shit behind".
So, after all these years has Oodie found his home and settled down? "No, its just what I'm doing now", he replies.
Lisa
As you travel around the island you may notice something strange. In marked contrast to many other places in Southeast Asia the vast majority of animals look relatively healthy and well cared for. A few years ago this was certainly not the case. There were mangy, frightening dogs and cats all over. Few of them had been inoculated against rabies. Koh Chang had no animal health care at all.
In 2000 a scuba diving instructor called Lisa came to the island. As well as her diving skills Lisa was an animal lover with 20 years experience in providing volunteer veterinary medicine. She began by helping friends on the island to vaccinate their pets and provide emergency care when required. Things took off and soon she found herself being asked to help animals all over the island. Seeing such great demand led her to begin the process of setting up an animal healthcare foundation. The main focus of this foundation is to educate people in how to provide their animals with good general health care and to offer the services necessary to do so. This includes initial vaccinations, yearly booster vaccinations, sterilization (for population control), general healthcare and emergency services (most commonly car hits and poisonings).
The funding for the foundation, so far, has been 100% private donations. Lisa has put in 25,000 USD (1,000,000 Thai baht) of her own money and countless hours of her own time for free. The cost of vaccines, sutures, syringes, needles, catheters, medicines, IV fluids, etc. is approximately 15,000 Thai baht per month. Electricity & telephone have been approximately 3,000 Thai baht per month. There is no official billing system at the foundation. It is asked that people pay for the materials used but the time and treatments are free. People usually cover the cost plus they give a donation towards the care of the temple and street animals.
Lisa has been trying for well over a year to have an official foundation number issued by the Thai government. She is one of the first foreigners ever to do this and it is a difficult process. Before this can happen, Lisa has to show 400,000 Thai baht in the bank. This is where all donations are greatly appreciated to go towards this amount. Once an official foundation number has been issued Lisa will be able to solicit funds from organizations such as ASPCA, WWF, National Geographic, Wild Aide, Humane Society, etc…. More funding would obviously mean better facilities and equipment resulting in better care for the animals.
Lisa's efforts have made a real difference on Koh Chang and her efforts are greatly appreciated by everyone on the island. If someone needs help with their animal and they have no money, it's not a problem. They already know that they can come to the foundation to receive animal health care for free. Sometimes a donation of fish, rice, washing powder or bleach is offered (and greatly appreciated).
There have been a number of travelling veterinarians who have helped support the foundation by donating their holiday time to perform medical services and educate volunteers. Lisa offers special thanks to Dr. Irit Hillel from the Netherlands; Dr. Edda Hoffmann from Germany; Dr. Somsak Srisutham, from Thailand; Drs. Richard & Ruth Lysons from England; Dr. Massimo Rubeo from Italy; Drs. Judy Laphem & Mary Lou Kizer from the USA and Drs. Pong, Prayad & Panlar from Thailand.
Anyone interested in donating funds to help support the continuation of the Koh Chang Animal Foundation is welcome to do so. You can donate to the account of Miss Elizabeth Marie McAlonie at the Koh Chang branch of Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited. Account number 368-1-12054-3. Swift code is AYUDBTHBK. You may also contact Lisa on 089-042-2347 or email her at mcalonie@hotmail.com. Her webiste. Or you can donate to this good cause here: