relax. you're in koh chang

koh chang
this is just to try to lure you to go to koh chang. oh, what great fun!

getting to koh chang from bangkok: you have to get out of bangkok sometimes. fortunately, it's not hard to find beautiful places in thailand. koh chang is easy to get to: via air (fly into "trat"), van (pickup at khao san rd.), private car (you're on your own with that), or AC bus (oh so many options).

we took a 5-hr bus ride to koh chang from bangkok's ekkamai station (473B roundtrip), which i recommend. buses also pick up at suvarnabhumi airport, mochit (northern bus terminal). try to take a bus to go to laem ngob or the center point pier and you won't have to pay for a taxi/songtaew like if you got off at trat.
you have to hop on a ferry out one of 3 piers, which runs every hour and costs 30B for 40-min ride to the island of koh chang. here's a helpful webby for the all transpo options possible to get to koh chang. i love the internet.

my recs for fun things:
khlong plu waterfall: about a 1 km hike in from the entrance, you reach a crispy, chilly waterfall with 2 swimmable pools. you definitely want to jump in the water after you hike up to the falls. great 2-3 hour excursion. if you're into hiking, you can take a 10km (ish) trail from khlong plu waterfall to tharn mayom waterfall.

baan chang offers elephant rides, trekking through the forest or along the river (you can bathe the elephants). 1 hr is 500B, 2 hrs is 900B. you don't trek that far, but they give you a good chunk of time either riding on the bench on the back of the elephant or riding on its neck. how often do you get to ride on an elephant? baan chang seems to try to take good care of the elephants, too, which is always a bonus. (on Klong Prao Rd. T: 084-863-8185, 081-761-1554)

unless you have a tried and true iron stomach, do not go on a day-long boat trip. every time i have been on one of these, someone has always thrown up and multiple people get seasick. if you can get a boat just to take you to one to three stops and hang out for a long time at an island, i think it's the best way to go. renting a speedboat for a full day runs around 7000-9000B. My recs are for koh nok, koh mak, and koh thong lang. koh nok is a tiny little island that has great reefs for snorkeling.
koh mak has the most beautiful white sand and crystal-clear water. and i swear it smells like fresh laundry and can feel incredibly serene (if there aren't other groups of people coming, too). stay as long as you possibly can.
koh thong lang has amazing coral and is packed with sea life. an island slightly larger than koh nok, it offers more fish and sea stuffs to snorkel through than koh nok, though it's also further from the main island of koh chang.

accommodations:
it's easy to find lodging in koh chang smack on the beach for all budgets. your best bet is to internet search for hotel deals. string of hotels along klong prao beach and white sand beach. backpacker hotspot at lonely beach.
we found a half-price deal for koh chang paradise resort and spa on the klong prao beach which has cute little bungalows at different ranges (their highest level has individual pools and are constructed in a blend of traditional thai and american southwest styles. oh, if i had money...