Koh Chang

It's my first time to visit Koh Chang and I'm quite impressed. Koh Chang (Thai: เกาะช้าง) is the second largest island of Thailand, located on the Thai east coast 310 km away from Bangkok near the border to Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand. The name means Elephant Island. It is a mountainous island with several waterfalls and rainforest. 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, in which the Thais were decisively beaten.

Until the mid-1980s the infrastructure on the island was undeveloped, but tourism has increased significantly since then. Around the year 2000, malaria was eradicated, the area became a national park (and began charging entry fees). The island now receives 655,000 visitors annually, about two thirds of them Thai. The Chang islands are one of the few places with virgin forest, but the mad rush to cash in on tourism has had a heavy toll on its virgin forests. Land prices have skyrocketed, there are also beautiful if not high end resorts now popping up all over the island.