Thailand Ko Chang & Eastern Seaboard (Chapter) Edition 14th Edition, February 2012 Pages 41 PDF Page Range 191-231 Coverage includes: Si Racha, Ko Si Chang, Pattaya, Rayong & Ban Phe, Ko Samet, Chanthaburi, Ko Wai, Ko Mak, and Ko Kut. Useful Links: Having trouble viewing your file? Head to Lonely Planet Troubleshooting. Need more assistance? Head to the Help and Support page. Want to find more chapters? Head back to the Lonely Planet Shop. Want to hear fellow travellers’ tips and experiences? Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Community is waiting for you! © Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. To make it easier for you to use, access to this chapter is not digitally restricted. In return, we think it’s fair to ask you to use it for personal, non-commercial purposes only. In other words, please don’t upload this chapter to a peer-to-peer site, mass email it to everyone you know, or resell it. See the terms and conditions on our site for a longer way of saying the above - ‘Do the right thing with our content. ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Ko Chang & Eastern Seaboard Why Go? Si Racha .......................194 Bangkok Thais have long escaped the urban grind with Ko Si Chang ................. 196 weekend escapes to the eastern seaboard. Some of the coun- Pattaya .........................197 try’s fi rst beach resorts sprang up here, starting a trend that Rayong & Ban Phe .......204 has been duplicated wherever sand meets sea. As the coun- try became industrialised, only a few, like Ko Samet beaches, Ko Samet .....................205 remain spectacular specimens within reach of the capital. Chanthaburi ................ 210 Further afi eld, Ko Chang and its sister islands off er the best Trat ................................213 ‘tropical’ ambience in the region but expect crowds. Ko Chang ......................216 Just beyond the foothills and the curving coastline is Ko Wai ..........................228 Cambodia, and the east coast provides a convenient, cul- Ko Mak .........................228 tural link between the two countries. Many of the mainland Ko Kut ..........................230 Thai towns were at some point occupied by the French dur- ing the shifting border days of the colonial era. Migrating travellers who take the time to explore these lesser-known Best Places to Eat spots will fi nd remnants of Old Siam, tasty market meals and an easygoing prosperity that defi nes ordinary Thai life. » Mum Aroi (p 201 ) » Barrio Bonito (p 226 ) » Cool Corner (p 215 ) When to Go » Pan & David Restaurant The best time to visit is at the end of the rainy season (usu- (p 197 ) ally around November) but before the start of high season (December to March). The weather is cool, the landscape is Best Places to green and rates are reasonable. Peak season on Ko Chang is during the Christmas and New Year holiday period. Crowds Stay thin in March but this is the start of the hot season. » Birds & Bees Resort (p 201 ) The rainy season runs from May to October. Some busi- » Tubtim Resort (p 208 ) nesses on Ko Chang close for the season and the nearby is- lands of Ko Wai, Ko Mak and Ko Kut shut completely. Your » Ban Jaidee Guest House best monsoon bet is Ko Samet, which is relatively drier. (p 214 ) » Bang Bao Sea Hut (p224 ) » Paradise Cottages (p 224 ) Khok Pip Ban Sa Wang BANGKOK Khoi Talu Ko Chang 3076 304 Minburi 304 319 & Eastern 3200 Seaboard Ratchasan Phanom Lat Krabang Sarakham Highlights kong Chachoengsao Pa 304 SAMUT Kha Pa 1 Beachcombing Bang Sanam Chai PRAKAN Khet Ngam and jungle trekking Ban Pho Khlong 314 on Ko Chang (p 218 ) Plaeng Yao Nam Floating the Si 2 Muang Boran Mae 315 Yot day away on the (Ancient City) 331 crystalline waters of CHACHOENGSAO 3 Phanat Nikhom Ko Kut (p 230 ) Chum Num 3 Swimming with Chonburi Prok Fa the fi shes in the gin- 344 Nong Samet Ban Bung clear coves of Ko Wai Ao Krung Thep Bo Thong Khao Yai (Bay of Bangkok) (777m) (p 228 ) CHONBURI KO CHANGKO & EASTERN SEABOARD 4 Cove-hopping Ko Si on pretty Ko Samet Chang Si Racha Lum Borai (p 205 ), so close to Nong Yai 3 Bangkok but so far Laem Chabang Map Yang away 344 5 Strolling the old city and watching Ko Phai the gem traders in Khao Chamao Wang (1024m) Chanthaburi (p 210 ) Pattaya ng Chang Nong Ko Lan Running errands Samet 6 3191 RAYONG with the Thai 331 36 Rayo housewives in the Ao Ban Sare Ban 3 Klaeng day markets of Trat Chang Khlong 3 (p 213 ) 3 Ko Kham Laem Mae Avoiding Yai Rayong Phim 7 Sattahip U-Taphao Bangkok’s hustle Airfield Ko Ban Phe Ko Man Nai and bustle with an Samae Saket Ko Thalu alternative layover in Ko Samaesan Ko Samet Ko Kudee Si Racha (p 194 ) and a day trip to Ko Si Ko Chuang Khao Laem Ya/ Chang (p 196 ) Mu Ko Samet National Park 8 Admiring the modern masterpiece of Pattaya’s Sanctuary of Truth (p 198 ), an elaborately carved testament to the artistry of Buddhism and Hinduism 9 Dining on G U L F O F seafood beside the T H A I L A N D sea everywhere, the primary reason Thais travel to the beach 0 50 km 0 30 miles Lam 348 Pra chin Sa Kaew buri Watthana Ang Sila Non Mak Mun Nakhon Huay Jot Sai Yoi 33 317 C A M B O D I A Khao Chakan Aranya Prathet Poipet 3395 Sai Diaw Non Sao-Eh Sisophon Khlong Hat Khao Takrup (660m) Wang Mai 3395 317 Khao Daeng Thun KO CHANGKO & EASTERN SEABOARD Khanan CHANGKO & EASTERN SEABOARD CHANTHABURI Tamun Battambang Khao Soi Dao Nua (1566m) Pung Ngon Nong Chek Soi Takra Ban Pakard Khao Chamao/ Pong Nam Psar Pruhm Khao Wong Khao Khitchakut Ron National Park National Park Pailin Si Yaek Kong Din 317 Nong Khla Makham 3 Ban Pa-Ah Tha Mai Chanthaburi Chang Thun Nam Tok Phlio Nong Laem Sadet National Park Sii Ta Chalap 3157 Chak Yai Laem Singh Khlung Pong Dan Chumpon Laem Ko Proet 3159 Tha Chot 3271 TRAT 3156 3 Trat C A M B O D I A Bang Kradan Ban Noen Sung Laem Muang Laem Ngop 318 Ao Trat Tha Sen Ko Chang Laem Sok Mu Ko Chang National Marine Park Mai Rut Ko Wai Ko Kradat Ko Rayang Ko Mak Khlong Yai Ko Mai Si Ko Kut Hat Lek Krong Koh Kong 194 no guest houses, girlie bars or traffi c jams. It Si Racha ศรราชาี is also an easy commute to Bangkok’s Suvar- POP 68,292 nabhumi airport if you’re looking for a quiet A subdued seaside town, Si Racha is a mix and untouristed place to layover. of fi shing-village roots and modern industry. Waterfront condo towers eclipse a labyrinth 1Sights of rickety piers and the cargo ships docking Si Racha’s attractions are limited, but the at the Laem Chabang port share the ship- town makes for a pleasant stroll. ping channels with simple, multicoloured fi shing boats. Ko Loi ISLAND Thai towns, especially those with a mod- This small rocky island is connected to the ern veneer, are adept at disguising them- mainland by a long jetty at the northern selves to look like every other Thai town. end of Si Racha’s waterfront and lauded as In Si Racha’s case, you need a bit of back- a local highlight. It has a festival atmosphere story to know that the many Japanese res- centred around a Thai-Chinese temple taurants in town are catering to the inter- (hdaylight hrs), decorated by a couple of giant national workforce of the nearby Japanese ponds with turtles of every size, from tiny KO CHANGKO & EASTERN SEABOARD car manu facturers, and the BMWs that are hatchlings to seen-it-all-before seniors. This cruising the streets indicate that those too is also where you can catch the boat to off - are being produced nearby. In fact, sur- shore Ko Si Chang. rounding the Laem Chabang port, Thai- Health Park GARDEN land’s busiest deep-water port, is a host of The town’s waterfront Health Park is pos- industrial factories, petrochemical facilities sibly one of the best-maintained municipal and chemical plants – the muscle of the parks in the country. There are sea breezes, Thai manufacturing economy. As a result a playground, shady coff ee shop with wi-fi , there’s money in this town: the new munici- a jogging track and a lot of evening activity. pal building is landscaped like a resort and the health park is impeccably maintained. 4Sleeping From a tourism perspective, Si Racha is The most authentic (read: basic) places to attractive for what it doesn’t have; there are stay are the wooden hotels on the piers. COCK SAUCE BY ANY OTHER NAME Judging by the phenomenal popularity of Sriracha Hot Chili sauce in the USA, you’d expect the eponymous town to be a veritable sauce temple. But no one in the town of Si Racha seems to know much about the sauce, much less that US haute chefs are using it on everything from cocktails to marinades and that food magazines, like Bon Appetit, are profi ling it alongside truffl e oil as a must-have condiment. (Curiously the culinary world also mispronounces the name of the sauce: Sriracha, an alternative spelling of ‘Si Racha’, is pronounced ‘see-rach-ah’ not ‘sir-rach-ah’.) There’s a good explanation for all this: the stuff sold in the US was actually invented on home soil. A Vietnamese immigrant living in a suburb of Los Angeles concocted a chilli sauce to accompany noodles based on his memory of Vietnamese hot sauces.