[quote=“the chief”]
Hey Kenny Fuckin Dryden,[/quote]
Hey I like that. But I think you may have misconstewed my comments to you. I wasn’t dismissing your assessment. I can see that it must have been pretty dire back in the day. But what with the new ferry (20 minute crossing every (daylight) hour) and the road extending from Long Beach to past Bang Bao, it certainly has become far easier to access all parts of the island. I was only trying to work in my line Koh Chang? Koh Change! Sorry if my post felt dismissive.
That said, I won’t likely be returning. I spend my vacations seeking bottom time. Koh Chang’s diving scene is rife with competition and it’s sites are few and extremely far between. The most popular area is down by Koh Rang. There are maybe 4 sites out that way, but they are shared by at least 1/2 a dozen outfitters. The bread and butter of these operations is the all too common snorkel fish.
Here is a relatively small pod:
Unfortunately, they congregate in much larger schools in the areas around Koh Rang. They are a stupid breed of fish, these snorkel fish are. They stand on coral and represent one of the greatest threats to our global reef system. Education (as usual) seems to be the answer, but the owners and operators of such dive outfitters as BB Divers seem to ignore the laws of nature, preferring to adhere to the greeds of Mammon…
Fortunately, these snorkel fish are a gullible lot as well. Alot of fun can be had at there expense. For example, I politely asked them not to swim over scuba bubbles as we can’t breathe when they do. Lots a yuks in that one…
So, for a diving destination, you can find far better places to go than Koh Chang.
But if relaxation and great food are your vacation’s raison d’etre, Koh Chang may be the place for you. As I mentioned upthread, I had 6 hours of massage on my first day in BKK. I had a pretty nagging kink medial of my scapula and radiating up thru my traps into my sterno-cliedo mastoid muscle. In laymans’ terms, I had a really sore neck. It had been plaguing me for some 3 weeks prior to my Thai odyssey. The fine ladies of Sukhomvit could do little to alleviate my erm, muscular stress. But, on my second day on Koh Chang, I discovered Joy.
Joy is a young man from up near the Laos border. He came to Koh Chang in October to work as a masseuse for Herbal Sauna, located on the main road in Bai Lan, the community due south of Lonely Beach and North of Bang Bao. Joy worked me for an hour and squeezed so much atrementous, acrimonious angst from my system that I fear I may have indelibly scarred the idyllic jungle setting that bears witness to Joy’s work. In what I can only describe as a unique blend of thai and tantra, Joy can cure whatever ails ya. The difference was completely palpable. There was only a residual aching of the original pain after a single hour under his magical hands. I came back the next day for a 2 hour session. That did the trick. I haven’t been bothered by any neck or back pain since. In fact, my body feels lighter, my lungs feel clearer, my heart beats stronger and my skin feels radiant. My very soul has been given the old spring clean. Magic is Joy.
The next day, Joy left for his home. Like crack, I was addicted. Luckily, I was also cured, so I didn’t miss him as much as if I was still in a modicum of pain.
If I was still a-hurtin’, I may have followed him home, thrusting baht his way so he would keep those hands on me. 
Re:Relaxation…later…gotta get back to my class now…
