North to Koh Chang.
I woke early and stood out by the road and waited for the 720 Chompon Bus to go by. I waved and they stopped. My destination was Ranong to hop a long-tail or speed boat to Koh Chang on the Andaman Sea, not to be confused with the big island of Chang bordering Cambodia. I had been to the one near Cambodia many times before and as the years went it became too commercial and more difficult to find quiet places to chill out. They exist but it’s not on White Sand Beach anymore. This Koh Chang on the Andaman side is like a throw back to how Thailand was 20 years ago, the power is off during the day, there is limited WiFi, and limited cell service. This is where you go if you want to unplug and seriously relax. It took me four hours from Khao Lak to Ranong and then an hour break before boarding a taxi van to the harbor where I hopped on a speedboat to Koh Chang.
Ranong is a rather big harbor town bordering Burma. Ranong population I am told by locals is about 50% Burmese and 50% Thai, maybe more Burmese than that from other sources. Many Burmese can be found all over Thailand working as carpenters, maids, kitchen staff, waiters and waitresses and even hotel management all looking for higher wages, enough to start a nest egg to buy a house or a piece of property needed to start a family. The Burmese people are hopeful with the election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD and yet the process is moving slowly with the military not willingly giving up the economic power they have been enjoying while the people and their country are being sold off in many forms through military management; the hardwood forests have been and continue to be sold off, minerals mined, precious gems extracted and all proceeds end up in a relative of a previous military officer’s hands. The military children go to school abroad while the Burmese people are being left with nothing but the scraps. The military still make money off the opium trade. Anyway, I’ve met many Burmese in fishing industry and they say they rarely leave the boat and are paid slave wages but still better than what they would make in Burma. Dynamite fishing still exists in the Burmese waters along with Cyanide fishing that doesn’t just stun the fish for live capture but kills the coral and any life it touches.
People in both Burma and Nepal are being subjected to humanitarian crimes everyday such as slavery, prostitution, child labor, forced labor. Both countries are for the most part 3rd world and when a catastrophe strikes such as an earthquake, tsunami, or war, their neighbors are not compassionate in fact they appear quite the opposite by taking people and reducing them to slaves in countries where they don’t know the language, money values, and live in poor conditions. In Nepal after the earthquake, their new constitution was signed and India didn’t like the outcome so they cut off the oil supply to Nepal for both petrol and cooking oil pressuring Nepal to change the constitution so that India can have more influence through the Deshi and other Indian speaking Nepali.
The boat was almost full but only two of us got off at Koh Chang, the others were heading to another island Pranyam (sp?) that is being commercially built up and I’ve heard losing it’s charm. I had never been here so I really don’t know one guesthouse or bungalow outfit from another. I followed Frank, from Southern California to the main beach and just pulled into a very nice bungalow group called ‘Sawasdee’. Frank went on to Crocodile Rock Bungalows 500 Baht/night. Sawasdee’s was a little more expensive at 950 Baht/night. I was only staying 3 nights so settled in. It looked really nice with a well-maintained garden and looking right at the beach and sea. My bungalow was 20 meters from the waters edge at high tide. The bungalows are set back behind tree line but not by much.
A steady on shore breeze picked up the sea one foot allowing small waves to rhythmically calm you into sleep. All my windows and vents were open the entire time and I never once used the mosquito net. The temperature was comfortable enough to sleep with just a sheet or a sarong. The power is off basically 7 am to 7 pm but water runs and the kitchen puts out some amazing food dishes. I saw Barracuda on the specials list and asked where it was caught and by who? The woman responded with a nod, our own fisherman goes out in a small boat so it’s caught local and on ice, it’s fresh, it was caught yesterday afternoon. The point of asking where what you’re eating might be of concern, some fish are caught illegally or under unhealthy conditions that you pay for versus a transparent system. This would equate to a major drop in illegal fishing all leading to over fishing not allowing the fish recover eventually depleting a food source species from their waters for an extended time. If they don’t know where the fish was caught, you shouldn’t eat it. Then again the bigger fish have absorbed more mercury in their systems than the smaller ones as nature has shown us so eloquently.
The beach had very few walkers at 3 pm, a few in the water trying to figure out if theirs anything to see and there isn’t at the moment due to recent high winds stirring up the ocean floor and leaving the water rather murky but refreshing enough to go in and enjoy a good swim. There were some wooden lounge chairs, hammocks and a concrete wall with intermittent stairs to the beach below about four steps. The wall is there to slow erosion off the sand bank. There’s a respirating tidal flat and mangrove trees lining the tidal waters edge when high tide. The days melted together into one still moment of true calm.
There are a number of guest houses even some other small beach communities spaciously seeded on bits of sandy beaches bordered by rock and stone pock marked and dimpled by water and scars from extracted shells imbedded in the rock. The rock and some of the sand look volcanic.
I should have planned for longer but I don’t really make plans, things have a tendency to turn me in one direction and not in another. Three nights wasn’t enough but for a taste of tranquility in an otherwise busy world.
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