Koh Chang's East Coast: Salak Phet, Salak Kok and the Quiet Side of the Island
Most visitors to Koh Chang never see its east coast. They land at the ferry pier in the north, ride down the west-coast road through White Sand, Klong Prao and Kai Bae to Lonely Beach and Bang Bao, and they go home believing they have seen the island. They have seen half of it — the beach half. The other half faces the sunrise. It is a coast of mangrove bays instead of sandy bays, of fishing villages instead of beach bars, of orchards, temples and waterfalls that most guidebooks mention in a paragraph and most travellers skip entirely. This guide is about that quieter half: Salak Phet, the island's oldest and largest fishing community; neighbouring Salak Kok, where a village hides inside a mangrove forest; Long Beach, the far southeastern strand; and the slow road that links them all. None of this is secret, exactly. The east coast is on every map of Koh Chang, and the road there is good. It is simply that the island's rhythm pulls people west, toward the sunset and the sand, ...