Houses on stilts
A fishing village over the water.
kallerna — CC BY-SA 4.0 · kallerna — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0 · Sapin — CC BY-SA 1.0 · nakhon100 — CC BY 2.0
An old fishing village at the southern tip of Koh Chang, its houses built on wooden stilts over the bay and joined by a long pier that runs out to sea and ends at a small white lighthouse. Today the pier is a covered market lined with souvenir and clothes shops, cafés and seafood restaurants over the water. The pier is also the island's southern harbour: snorkelling boats leave for the coral of Ko Rang, and speedboats for Ko Wai, Ko Mak and Ko Kood. Mornings bring the bustle of departing trips, and evenings are calmer and lovelier, when the sun sets behind the lighthouse and the fishing boats come home. There is no fee, and the shops open from morning until about evening. Restaurants show live fish, crabs and prawns in tanks to choose from, so agree the price by weight before cooking, and ask how it is cooked if you avoid non-halal food. The best season runs from November to April; from May to October the monsoon makes the sea rough on the west coast and boat trips thin out. The village is about half an hour by road from White Sand Beach, on a lovely hilly road. Come an hour before sunset to walk the pier, then dine over the water.
A fishing village over the water.
At the end of the pier.
Fish picked from the tanks.
Bang Bao bay, southern tip of Koh Chang
From Bang Bao pier, for Ko Rang and the southern islands; book at the pier desks or through your hotel.