Children will not want for a choice of activities to keep them busy on this adventure island with the sea and fine beaches offering plenty of scope for games and general fun. Thais are very child friendly and take great pleasure in playing with kids from abroad. If paintballing doesn’t get the kids’ adrenaline pumping, Koh Chang’s elephant riding certainly will.

Canoes and Kayaking
For a fun trip along the coastlines try paddling canoes, which can be rented per hour or per day. Canoes and kayaks can be found along the beaches and a number of resorts. Several resorts offer free kayaking for their guests. Triyaks can be found at Kai Bae Hut Shop.

Elephant riding
There are two elephant trekking operators on Koh Chang. They offer two-hour treks that take you into the tropical rainforest, pomelo orchards and the secluded Wang Nam Kiew Waterfall. Other programs on offer include elephant bathing, feeding, performances and a one and a half-hour trek into the forest. Shorter rides are also available. Phone: +66 89 939 6676

Monkey school
The school is located at the southern end of Whitesands Beach. Here monkeys are taught how to pick coconuts and fruit from trees in order to secure their survival. The most abundant species in Koh Chang is the curious red-tailed Macaque. For more information, contact the Koh Chang animal foundation at +66 9 042 2347.

Paintball
Koh Chang’s first paintball arena, Splat-fields, is located in Dan Khao, about 100 metres from the Centerpoint ferry pier. This combat game is quickly gaining popularity among the young and the young at heart. The site is open everyday and the helpful staff can assist little soldiers in German, English or Thai. Bring out the toy warrior in you at this fun venue.

While Koh Chang is not renowned for offering a vast quantity of cultural attractions, the island is home to a fascinating naval museum as well as a stunning shrine. There are a number of activities to partake in which will allow you a glimpse into Thai culture. These include cookery courses and volunteering.

Koh Chang Naval Battle Area
This site is located close to Salak Petch Bay, in the south of Koh Chang. This is where the Thai and French Naval forces fought over the eastern border. The Thai Navy holds an annual event to commemorate the battle victory and pay tribute to the dead naval forces by floating garlands into the sea. A museum has been built on Laem Ngnob Beach, boasting an exhibition of Koh Chang’s naval history.

Shrine of Chao Po Koh Chang
Heading up a steep road on the west coast to Ao Sapparos, not very far from the pier, you can see the shrine of Chao Po and Chao Mae Koh Chang on your right. This shrine is highly revered, especially by local people. Chao Po Koh Chang (the Deity of Koh Chang) has protected people on Koh Chang, nearby islands and Trat on the mainland for generations. Fishermen lost at sea or hit by monsoon put their faith in Chao Po Koh Chang. According to legend, many prayers have been answered and the locals have been praying to Chao Po Koh Chang regarding various hardships, from poor harvests to illness or other miseries.

Temples
Koh Chang is home to a number of temples offering sights and meditation classes for those who are interested. Meditation is part of Buddhist philosophy and in Thailand; meditation has been practiced as part of religious tradition on a daily basis for hundreds of years. Many monks speak English and enjoy speaking to visitors about all sorts including religion, Thailand and English Premiership football.

Thai Cookery Schools
One thing travellers can take back home with them is the memory of Thai cuisine. These days, it’s not difficult to re-create many of your favourite dishes as most Thai ingredients can easily be found abroad or substituted. Classes typically take a few hours and students are taught the art of fruit and vegetable carving as well as traditional stir-fry dishes. Some courses also include trips to the local market to choose and identify local produce.

Volunteering
It is possible to volunteer on Koh Chang, either as a teacher in a local school, or through animal foundations. Volunteering is a great way to experience local life and culture on the island. For more information, telephone: +66 42 460 351; website: www.travel-to-teach.org/thai/koh_chang.html

Thailand is world-famous for dining and shopping and Koh Chang is no exception. Every beach has its own variety of eating options, ranging from fine dining on the beach to simple Thai noodle stalls in the alleys behind the resorts.

The variety of cuisine ranges from traditional Thai to Italian pizza, Swedish meatballs, Indian curries, Texan steaks, English breakfasts, French haute cuisine, German schnitzel and vegetarian. Fortunately, international fast-food chains have not yet set up shop on this quiet island.

The best place to go for fresh seafood is the fishermen’s village in Bang Bao. Here you will be served the freshest catch of the day. One well-known restaurant is Chow Lay Seafood. Set on bamboo stilts above the water, it has a rustic atmosphere, giving diners a glance into the island’s traditional way of life. Just ask one of the staff to angle for your selection of prawns, crabs or fish from the restaurant’s large aquariums.

Quickly gaining popularity among travellers, Spa Koh Chang Restaurant is a vegetarian eatery on the eastern coast. It has been recognized as ‘One of the World’s Best Vegetarian Restaurants’ by the UK-based Restaurants Magazine. Its ‘Food for Health’ motto makes it a prime choice for health-conscious diners.

Don’t forget to give some of the small ‘hole in the wall’ Thai eateries a try. These are dotted all over the island and some of the best Thai dishes can be sampled at these cheap and usually clean places. The best Thai eateries are popular, so if the place is full of Thai people then it’s probably serving good food.

A surprisingly large range of goods, both souvenirs and necessities, are available on Koh Chang. There is a growing number of shops selling souvenirs on the main beaches. These include carvings, jewellery, clothing and handicrafts, bags, T-Shirts and CDs. Small supermarkets and shops can be found on all the beaches selling a practical range of foods, groceries, hardware and so on.

Apart from seafood, Koh Chang is also famous for tropical fruits such as rambutans, durian, krathon, pineapples and sweet sala. The fruit season is from April to July. The native hat or ngop is a cottage industry product made by villagers in the Nam Chieo community which is located on the route to Laem Ngop district, from where the ferries to Koh Chang depart.

Koh Chang’s beaches provide much of the outdoor activity on the island, with hordes of holidaymakers heading for the cooling waters at Whitesand and Kai Bae beaches each year. If you prefer to stay on dry land, the island’s interior offers lush and cool vegetation, hills and waterfalls.

Snorkelling and Diving
The best dive sites are on the west coast and the southern point of the island, between Koh Chang and Koh Kut. Here you can see soft corals, anemones, countless reef fish and occasionally eel. Both Hin Luk Bat and Hin Lap have coral reefs. Further down south, white-tip reef sharks can be spotted near Hin Phrai Nam.

There are also two wreck diving sites. The Koh Chang wreck is a Thai navy ship sunk by the French fleet in 1941. The wreck sits at 15 metres deep in Salakphet Bay on the island’s southern tip. The other shipwreck is the Pak One, which went down after crashing into a coral reef in August, 1996, while on its way to Vietnam. Nearly eight years later it resurfaced. The 900-ton tanker was a threat to ships in international waters. The Royal Thai Navy drained the ship’s 600 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas and let it slip to the bottom of the sea between Koh Chang and Koh Samet. Today it lies flat in 35-metre deep waters. There are a handful of diving centres on Koh Chang, including the Ploy Scuba Diving in Bang Bao. They offer free transfer to and from the resort.

Boating
Boat trips can be easily organised at most resorts, beaches, fishing villages or from Laem Ngob on the mainland. You can get to different sites for snorkelling, scuba diving and fishing. Sailboats can also be chartered. The Sea Adventures in Bang Bao offers a 13-metre catamaran for charters or cruises, serving dinner while you watch the amazing sunset. Inter-Island Hopper operate regular boat trips from Bang Bao in the south of Koh Chang to some of the other islands. Most boats provide snorkelling equipment, freshwater showers and toilets.

Bird watching
Khao Laem and Khao Yai are popular sites for watching birds. Commonly spotted native species in these areas include Koh Chang hornbills. Bird watching activities are regularly organised all year by Koh Chang and the Nok and Nature Club (tel: +66 89 147 940).

Firefly watching
During the cool season, renting a boat and slowly cruising along the waters at dark will let you observe fireflies in the mangroves. Swarms of fireflies give out mating signals as they make their home in the mangrove forest, lighting whole trees with their simultaneous blinking in the dark. Hotels can give information on the best places to spot the fireflies and arrange boat services.

Hiking
A popular hiking route is the main road west of Koh Chang from Klong Son to Kai Bae. In the island’s north, you can walk from Ban Klong Son to White Sand Beach. The southern half of the island has the best hiking tracks as there are fewer roads. If you like more adventurous hikes, venture inland to the steep and forested hills. Shorter hikes to waterfalls are also popular.

Waterfalls
Away from the beaches, Koh Chang’s mountainous interior offers lush rainforests and steep territory, forming a number of picturesque waterfalls. Many are frequently visited by tourists and locals. At some waterfalls, an entrance fee is charged. The most famous waterfall on Koh Chang is Than Mayom, located next to Than Mayom pier with its entrance just after the headquarters of the Marine National Park.