A tourism market overview of Koh Chang
Ferry from Trat to Koh Chang
Despite being one of the largest islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Chang has always lagged behind mass tourism elsewhere in the country. A marketing company “C9 Hotelworks” took a look at what makes the island attractive in a recent report published under the name Koh Chang Tourism Market Review.
Annual overview 2018
Last year, 1,2 million guests were welcomed in 272 tourist hotels and other accommodations with a total of 7617 rooms. Average room occupancy was around 65%, noting that occupancy plummeted to less than 40% in the low season.
The visitors
The vast majority of visitors come from Thailand itself, their market share has fluctuated between 60 and 70% over the last ten years. Of the foreigners, the Chinese are the largest growing group, while Germany, Russia, Sweden and England are mentioned as other top countries.
Obstruction
Tourism to Koh Chang has grown over the years, but there is no mass tourism (yet). There are not yet any new hotels from large chains, because the major obstacle is that the island cannot be reached by plane. People depend on the small airport of Trat owned by Bangkok Airways. The many budget airlines have therefore not yet discovered Trat. Most visitors to Koh Chang travel overland to Trat and then take a ferry to Koh Chang.
The future
The expectation is that this will change in the foreseeable future, because Koh Chang offers, just like Koh Samui, Koh Tao or Koh Pha-ngan, what the tourist likes to see: sun, sand, sea and fun.
Read the full report at this link: www.c9hotelworks.com/downloads/koh-chang-tourism-review-2019-07.pdf
Source: Facebook message from C9 Hotelworks
Let's hope that ko chang can stay what it is for a long time…. & doesn't go down like Samui & Phuket
I do not see it as an obstacle that Koh Chang does not have an airport and can only be reached by boat, but it is probably a great advantage to keep the number of visitors somewhat limited. My first visit to this pleasant island was more or less accidental. Arrived in Trat by car from Pattaya via Rayong and Chanthaburi. Saw the signs to the ferry there, sometimes in a different direction than first indicated, but later it turned out that these were different companies, and we decided on spec to make the crossing including our car. We arrived in the afternoon and after an extensive meal we decided to look for accommodation. Turned out to be not so easy, it was Chinese New Year weekend which we hadn't thought about at all and time and time again we were told there was no room available. Yes, sometimes in a dormitory, but we didn't like that. But once tried at a very luxurious resort seen from the outside. We did have a beautiful bungalow there with all the trimmings, but yes, much too pricey for our wallet. By now we had understood that no more boats would arrive that day and that put us in a strong negotiating position. After all, new guests would not come and with a lot of discount we could book for 2 nights. Enjoyed it very much and then returned to Koh Chang a few more times. Probably won't be in it in the future, I've seen it and as the years go by I have other priorities.
Koh Chang is still my favorite island. Quite big too. I've been there for the 14th time now. Usually after arriving at the airport I take a cheap minivan for 250 baht to Tjomtjien. Also a nice band place to recover from the long flight. Right next to Pattaya. And then I arrange a minibus for about 650 bath to Koh Chang, including the boat to the island. Travel time about 5 hours. I haven't been to Phuket and Samui for a long time. Much too touristy and expensive. I will come to Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Tao. Not yet spoiled by too much tourism. What makes Koh Chang so attractive? Everything actually. No towering hotels, there are restrictions on how high you can build. Beautiful white beaches. Great food and still cheap. Certainly also the relatively cheap barbecues on the beach at White Sand beach. And the Moe krataa (Korean barbecue originally) eat as much as you want for only 199 baht. A nice nightclub. Have fun, Life bands. Relatively cheap shopping if you know the way. Beautiful waterfalls. Very good snorkeling for little money with the boat from the southern pier all day 600 bath including food to beautiful islands with lots of fish and clear water. You also have excellent affordable seafood restaurants on the pier itself, highly recommended. Accommodation from 500 bath can still be found everywhere. Especially if you book online you get a lot of discount. The last time I was on Koh Chang I was on Coconut beach. Bungalow overlooking the sea with air conditioning for only 700 bath. Had to bargain. It was low season and we had the bungalow park to ourselves including an empty beach where there were only a few tourists. Beware of the roads there which are very winding if you go to the pier by moped. And especially if it has just rained, all the oil on the road surface floats to the top and is therefore very slippery, certainly not driving in the dark. I have seen 1 accidents of moped riders in 4 day after a heavy rain shower. What they have to do again is to finish 4 km of road so that you can drive around the entire island. Now the road still ends and you have to drive all the way back if you want to explore the road on the other side of the island. There it is not touristy at all and ends in a beautiful fishing village. From Koh Chang you can also easily go by boat to Koh Mak and Koh Kood for a few days. Also beautiful islands and fairly cheap. Only a few hours sailing (if the weather is good). Sometimes boats don't go when the weather is very bad. In short: Koh Chang is still free from mass tourism and cheap. I hope it stays that way for a very long time. Now that I'm writing about it, it's about time to book another ticket to Thailand. Come completely.
Koh Chang is a beautiful island with beautiful nature, beautiful beaches and many resorts. We have been there quite a few years ago and wanted to go back. But despite not being a popular tourist destination, the hotels and resorts charge quite high prices. I think that the journey to get there is not the real problem, but the overnight prices. In our opinion, there are still plenty of other beautiful destinations left that do ask reasonable prices for an overnight stay.
Despite being one of the largest islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Chang has always lagged behind mass tourism elsewhere in the country.
Koh Chang may be one of the largest islands, but only a very small part of the island is actually habitable for tourists! Only a strip of about 100 meters along the coast of the island is habitable. The rest are just high inaccessible mountains. Moreover, only half of this strip is attractive. There are the beaches. The other side of the island, about half of the strip, has no beach at all. Effectively, Koh hang is not one of the largest islands in Thailand at all!!
Let that obstacle remain for a long time to come… no planes to the island, no mass tourism! It is not conducive to the inhabitants of the island anyway. If mass tourism comes at all, then (in my opinion) many Thais from other parts of the country will also benefit from it. And when big hotels come, only they take advantage of their tourists.
It is possible that some shopkeeper will earn a little more, but I doubt that this is the case for everyone. And for the people who still go on holiday to the island, it will become even less attractive to go there.