A brief history of Koh Chang
Depending on who you talk to, the "known" history of Koh Chang started anywhere between about the end of the 19th century and the mid 1970's. It's also hard to differentiate between myth, reality and folklore.
In January 1941 the Royal Thai Navy engaged the French in a major naval battle in the waters to the South East of Koh Chang, a fact which is memorialized both on the island on Long Beach and on the mainland close to Leam Nob. Since then Koh Chang has had a naval presence and was an important lookout during the Khemer period in neighboring Cambodia. Today you will often see ships of the Thai Navy moored off the East Coast, especially in mid January, the anniversary of the battle against the French.
A regular visitor to our local waters is Pangan (LST-713), a landing ship which was laid down in Chicago in 1944 and saw service in the US Navy from 1945 to 1969 as the USS Stark County in the Pacific Fleet, seeing active service in the Korean War of 1950. She was loaned to the Royal Thai Navy in 1966. In 1997 she was delisted from the US Navy rolls and given to the Royal Thai Navy.
It seems before the Second World War Koh Chang was little know by anyone. It was, at this time, essentially a lawless no go area occupied by a few families who made a living from farming coconuts, fruit and rubber on the mainland. Piracy was also common in and around the Koh Chang archipelago.
Long term residents will also tell you that it used to take about a week to travel from Salak Phet to White Sands over land.
In the mid 1970's the first intrepid travelers started to arrive by fishing boats from the mainland. The first "hotel" was established on Lonely Beach 17 years ago, then lonely for sure because of its inaccessibility. Some travelers around that time would arrive loaded with provisions and find a warm welcome from local families who to this day reminisce with a warm smile about those days.
Electricity and land line phones arrived at the same time as the paved road, in 2000 when the Thai Government made a decision to invest in infrastructure and promote Koh Chang as a tourist destination.
In the five years The Guide has been publishing, Koh Chang has seen explosive growth from about 3,000 available beds in 1999 to around 15,000 today.
Koh Chang Statistics
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Province: | Trat |
| Area: | 154.8 km² |
| Inhabitants: | 5,356 (2005) |
| Pop. density: | 34.6 inh./km² |
| Geocode: | 2307 |
| Postal code: | 23170 |
| Area Map | |
 (Link from Wikkipedia) |
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Ko Chang (Thai: เกาะช้าง) is the second-largest island of Thailand, located on the Thai east coast near the border with Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a mountainous island with several waterfalls. The island is part of the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park.
During World War II, Ko Chang was the scene of a naval battle between the Royal Thai Navy and a Vichy France squadron. Two Thai navy vessels were sunk in the encounter.
Until the mid-1980s the infrastructure on the island was undeveloped, but tourism has increased significantly since then.
Geography
The island is about 30 km long and almost 14 km wide only 217 km², The national marine park is have a total area of 650 km² and 70 % is marine. The interior of the island is mountainous and covered with tropical rain forest. The highest elevation is Khao Salak Phet, which is 743 m above sea level. Around the coast of the island are several sandy beaches, most of which have many resorts and hotels nearby.
It is located at 12°03′12″N, 102°21′0″E
Administration
The island forms a sub-district in the province of Trat. The district was formed in 1994, when it was split off from Laem Ngop district. The district is subdivided into two communes (tambon), which are further subdivided into 9 villages (muban). There are no municipal (thesaban) areas, and 2 Tambon administrative organizations.
| Nr. | Name | Thai name | Villages | Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ko Chang | เกาะช้าง | 4 | 3010 |
| 2. | Ko Chang Tai | เกาะช้างใต้ | 5 | 2346 |
National Park
In 1982 the island together with 46 surrounding small islands was protected as the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park. About 85% of the island is part of the national park, mostly the rain forest in the interior of the island. Nearby coral reefs are also contained within the National Park. Notable animals in the park include the stump-tailed Macaque, the small Indian Civet, the Javan Mongoose, and 61 resident bird species. The Koh Chang Wart Frog (Limnonectes kohchangae) was originally thought to be an endemic species, but has now been found on the mainland as well.
