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I arrived in
Thailand in April 1997. After a foray into Burma I returned with no
money to my name in June '97. I had to work, I taught English. I
had to live somewhere, I lived in a guesthouse in the Thewet area of
Bangkok. To save money, I only had one US$100 traveller's cheque to my
name at the time, I shared a room with another English guy who
had been working in Thailand on and off for a few years. He told me
about a place he used to visit for weeks at a time. An island
relatively near Bangkok which was still virtually undiscovered by tourists.
There was some development at the north of the island but midway down the
west coast there was a beautiful beach which was only accessible by boat or
by 30 minute hike along a dirt track from the village a couple of kilometres
to the north. (At this point the story is beginning to sound like the
plot from 'The Beach'.)
The island in
question was Koh Chang and the beach was Lonely Beach. Despite all my
good intentions I never made it to KC then, I had to work weekends and never
took long holidays. My mate, Gibble, from the guesthouse, stopped
coming to Koh Chang when the road was built down to Lonely Beach in 2001.
By this time the one bungalow resort that existing in the mid-90s had
already been surrounded by other copycat operations all offering the same
lazy, leafed roof vibe and the beach was on the backpacker trail.
Fast forward to 2005 and Lonely Beach
is still mentioned in the same breath as the one featured in Leonardo's
movie by many backpackers who've spent too long listening to late night beer
fueled traveller's tales. The reality is a bit different. Big business
in the form of a well known politician and the guy who owns the rights to
distribute Singha Beer in the east of Thailand own several of the
largest backpacker resorts and the first three star package tourist hotel
opened up two years ago.
In high season, staying on the beach is
no longer 'dirt cheap'. Prices are rising and now there are even nicely
designed roadside bungalows going for 2,000 baht / night in high season . .
. and getting customers. The majority of people staying here are
different types of backpackers to those who were were here only a few years
ago. They want a cheap room but also want all the conveniences of
home, a mini-mart, internet cafes, fresh coffee and a good nightclub or two.
The area still seems busy in high
season, no doubt about that, but for people who have small businesses in the
area the future doesn't appear to be rosy. At present, Sept 2005,
there are at least half a dozen roadside businesses up for sale. The
majority owned by farangs who have misjudged the market or just aren't
offering anything that appeals to the current crop of visitors as much as it
did a couple of years ago.
Gentrification is slowly spreading
south down the west coast. Sleepy Bailan, a couple of kilometres
south, is now home to an increasing number of 150 baht/night resorts while
those places on Lonely Beach slowly increase prices and replace bamboo huts
with more substantial concrete bungalows complete with indoor plumbing and a
family friendly atmosphere. Given the rate that Kai Bae is expanding
it's only a matter of a high season or two before the roadside in Lonely
Beach sees the ramshackle wooden restaurants and bars replaced with concrete shophouses, that's what passes for progress in the eyes of developers.
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