4 May  - Rain . . . it's pretty wet across most of central and northern Thailand at the moment. In an ideal world Koh Chang would be spared from the downpours and tourists would flock here knowing that a sun kissed paradise awaits them. However, it isn't a perfect world and it's pretty bleak here after 24 hours of virtually continuous precipitation.

Until only a couple of days ago most of the rain had been confined to nightly thunderstorms and isolated heavy downpours, which you expect on a mountainous island at the hottest time of the year. But thanks to us getting the tail end of a cyclone over Burma, the thought of Koh Chang as a sun kissed paradise is not one that springs to mind right now.  The good news is that the heavy rain should ease off in the next couple of days though which will give the mudbath which now masquerades for our access road, a chance to dry out and also allow people to venture out of their hotel rooms.  But until the rain stops I've been compiling a list of wet weather activities:

1) Seek solace in Beer Chang
2) Download torrents of the new series of 'Have I got news for you' and 'The Colbert Report'
3) Err. . . that's it. Apologies to any teetotal visitors who don't have a laptop and their own wi-fi connection. You must be bored.

Thai Met Office site: http://www.tmd.go.th/en/ 

Looking for some of the white stuff, let me know, i know a guy who has some. Grade A, not cut with anything. Nothing but pure 100% home grown, Thailand's finest rice.  The same as they used to sell abroad way back in February when there was enough food to feed everyone. Or maybe we all just ate less in early '08.  

Food price hikes . . . the price of a 2 bar Kit-Kat is holding steady and durian is 20 baht a kilo. Here on Koh Chang where we don't really care what's happening elsewhere in the world.

A recent ad from one of Koh Chang's free guides was aimed squarely at eco-loving visitors with guilt complexes. For a mere   US$100, tourists are offered the carbon allowance for a Cambodian worker based on Koh Chang.  The ad goes on to state these worker's low carbon credentials 'We house six or eight into a room, load 20 or more onto a pick up to take them to work, and don't allow them to use more electricity than is necessary to run a 12" TV and 60 watt bulb.'  Contact details are given simply as 'the foreman at any construction site or HR Dept at any 3 star hotel on the island'.   

More from 2007's official visitor stats.  Not good reading for Bangkok Airways as the number of visitors flying into Trat airport decreased by a shareholder worrying 31%.  Also where have all the old people gone?  The number of visitors to Koh Chang rose, but the number of over 55's  - often those who like their comforts and stay at the better resorts, decreased by a whopping 61%, from nearly 50,000 in 2006 to 17,500 in 2007. Most importantly, the average length of time for a visitor on Koh Chang shot up from 3.11  to 3.18 days - what did you do with your additional 100 minutes on the island? 

Visit the TAT website for spreadsheets of all the stats that matter for every province in Thailand.

The Bangkok Post reported last week on a cunning plan drawn up on the back of a beermat one boozy lunchtime, when the top brass from the Transport and Tourism and Sports ministries got together for Nong the secretary's birthday bash.  As part of the masterplan the ministries will promote the use of speedboats, such as hydrofoils, to ply between the eastern and western coasts of the Gulf and between the region's tourist destinations.  Recommended routes include Koh Chang to Samui and Cha-am to Chanthaburi.   ( Speak to any local in Chantaburi and you'll hear them all complaining at the lack of a high speed hydrofoil service to run-down western gulf beach towns.)

A Hua Hin - Pattaya boat service has never taken off, despite both places receiving millions of tourists a year and a Samui - Pattaya overnight boat was mooted, and advertised a couple of years ago but again, never ran. (The old cruise ship that was to be used was last spotted capsized in the Chao Praya River after it sank during repairs that didn't quite go to plan.) So, having a Samui - Koh Chang service anytime soon only seems possible if Elvis is captaining the ship.