Lazy Day on Koh Chang

As I mentioned several times, every day is very different and even if the differences are very small they are evident if we look closely for even the minuscule differences.

Walking on the beach a month ago I saw a fishing net ready to be picked up but not removed. As the waves washed in the sand it was covered except for a small portion. Last week the whole net was uncovered by the receding sand and it seems someone from the beachfront resort moved it up where it can be taken away.

Koh Chang, Thailand fishing net on the beach Folksytravel

As I was in the ocean with a friend a silver fish, about 15 cm long, jumped out of the water and stabbed my friend. Here you can see how it pierced his ear. He should have taken advantage of the piercing to insert a pirate’s earring. He didn’t. But he did take revenge on that fish or his cousins. They were very tasty with a spicy Thai sauce.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel fish attack

This is the first time I saw a Hulu Hoop Girl! This is Gee the coffee lady.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel hula hoop coffee lady

Coconut trees need to be harvested from time to time to avoid the coconuts falling on heads and killing customers.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel coconut harvesting

One delicious dinner, for me, is grilled pork with a spicy sauce, cucumbers in a salad dressing and deep fried shrimp chips.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel food

Look how kids are transported on Koh Chang.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel transporting kids
Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel transporting kids

This cat is dreaming of her roll in the next SuperCat movie.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel super cat

Roel made this great Holland dinner, slow cooked pork with mashed potatoes mixed with sauerkraut.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel Holland food

After Pizza at Babylon you can have home made Gelato.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel gelato, italian food

Late night meals include grilled fish and fresh caught shrimp (that morning) with a spicy lime/herb sauce.

Koh Chang, Thailand Folksytravel thai food

While eating a meal and drinking you might be lucky enough to provide a drink for a moth.

Trattoria & Pizza (Chef Angelo) in Lonely Beach area makes fantastic Panzerotto, Tiramisu and crystal lemon desert. Easy to sleep after that wonderful meal, all for US$11.

A Day in the Life of a Super Retired Person

Noticing a lot of simple things during the day is really important to finding something inspiring or just interesting. Here are some things I’ve seen over two days that I found postable. The captions will tell the story.

This owner is so considerate he puts direction stickers to show the model name and also where the second passenger should get on the bike.
Nice color. Hard to miss.
Now I know what a real dragon looks like. They are great for deliveries.
Nice car at Rasta View, Bang Bao
TRUST?
Illegal Parking. No ticket, just shooed him away.
Tropical climate snow on the jungle plants. Didn’t feel that cold.
A small snack before shopping.
Bought a shelf to place my AIR FRYER! This ain’t minimalism, baby!
At Chang Bar for a Drink. Found this poor dismembered ROBOT!

And now you get to see how a stormy day at Chang Bar can be. This is not the worst by any means. A bad day has waves washing hundreds of kilos of sand into the bar.

The Devistation

We’ve heard enough words about economic devastation from the Covid pandemic. But I wanna show here what kind of damage the pandemic and everyone has done to the tourist industry here in Koh Chang. I think this is fairly reflective of many other tourist areas in Thailand.

A Massage Service.

Most of the Tourists on Koh Chang have been people from Europe, Russia and the US. Increasingly there are more Chinese tourists and that should increase over time. But no one is able to come into Thailand, with a few exceptions. So the tourist industry remains fairly dead. What has resulted on this island, about 90% to 95% of all the businesses have closed and many of the business owners have just packed up and left. It’s easier to go home and get something on rice than it is to stay here and not know where to go for your next meal. THESE WERE ALL THRIVING BUSINESSES A YEAR AND A HALF AGO.

Just shuttered.
Looks like no guests.
Abandoned.
Bungalows
Taking the down time to fix up the place.

Koh Chang Waterfalls Galore

This small island has some pretty high, steep hills, up to 740 meters, and right now it’s rainy season so there is a lot of water collecting and leeching out from the soil into the rivers. If we’re lucky there’s a lot of water for people to use for their businesses and homes but if we’re unlucky there’s too much rain and the rivers flood and cause unexpected damage.

Gee seriously wanting to go NOW!
Take a photo of taking a photo

One nice thing about the steepness of the terrain is the many waterfalls which you can visit almost any day. They create quite a number of pools along the terrace of waterfalls where you can swim. I haven’t been to the park waterfall since they charge quite a bit of money for non-Thai to enter. So a few days ago Gee, Fon and I went trucking up to one of the mid range waterfalls.So a few days ago Gee, Fon and I went trucking up to one of the mid range waterfalls.

On the way to the waterfall we saw some beautiful flowers and some PVC pipes, prevalent around natural waterfalls for local people, supplying themselves with freshwater. We also saw an interesting mushroom I had never seen before.

Interesting Mushroom
Getting free fresh water (PVC not included)

The way up there was through some private property so we had to pay 40 Baht (30 Baht=US$1) to get through the property to the river and then across some slippery rocks, adorned with ropes for people to grab for safety. We finally made it up to a nice pool and waterfall.

Some of the pools have fish so you can sit and let the fish eat the parasites off your body, a very interesting sensation.

There are some waterfalls on the eastern side of the island as well as the western side of the island. They are a lot of fun and worth visiting. The water is very cool, refreshing and very recommendable.