Ko Chang

A local account on GotoKnow says Ko Chang originally had no permanent community and served as a monsoon anchorage and a source of fresh water and supplies. Ao Salak Phet, or "Ao Salat", was known to Hainanese and Vietnamese pirates. Most island elders have Chinese ancestry, so Chinese junk crews are believed to have been the first settlers (an oral tradition, not confirmed by evidence).

Under Rama III, when Siam fought Vietnam from around 1833 for about 12 years, Trat sent men and supplies throughout, and a camp was set up at Ban Laem Hin at the mouth of Trat bay, so the waters around Ko Chang mattered for security early on.

Silpa Wattanatham says King Rama IV was the first Thai monarch to visit Ko Chang, in 1857, aboard the steamer Siam Orasumphon.

King Rama V visited Ko Chang 12 times: in 1873, 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1887, 1889, 1900, 1901 and 1907. Early trips were for leisure and nature; later ones had security motives, such as setting up a naval station in 1879 to suppress pirates and counter Western powers that already held Vietnam and Cambodia.

Than Mayom Waterfall was originally called Khlong Mayom Waterfall. MGR Online says Rama V visited it nine times, and his royal monogram "Chor Por Ror" is inscribed there. In 1876 he built a stone cairn as a memento, with a letter recording visits in the Chula Sakarat years 1235 and 1238, but later searches found no trace of it. Love Thailand adds that Rama VII and Queen Rambhai Barni also visited.

In 1904 France occupied Trat, after which Rama V did not visit Trat again until Siam regained the town in 1907; his last visit to Ko Chang was on 14 November 1907.

At dawn on 17 January 1941 the Battle of Ko Chang was fought during the Franco-Thai dispute over Indochina. Silpa Wattanatham says Thailand had three ships, HTMS Thonburi, Chonburi and Songkhla, against seven French vessels; Thailand lost all three and 36 sailors. Japan then mediated, and a peace convention was signed in Tokyo on 9 May 1941. The Royal Thai Navy marks the day as Navy Heroes Day, with a memorial at Laem Ngop.

Accounts of the losses differ slightly. Thai Holiday Guide says HTMS Songkhla and Chonburi were sunk while HTMS Thonburi was disabled and ran aground. On Ko Chang itself a modest memorial with plaques stands in Ko Chang Tai near Ao Salak Phet, facing where the ships went down, while the main memorial at Laem Ngop has a ship-shaped building and a statue of Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse (Krom Luang Chumphon). Wreath-laying ceremonies are held at both every 17 January.

French losses remain debated. France maintained its ships were undamaged, but an article by Montchai Rabruentaweesuk in Silpa Wattanatham (January 2021) gathers Thai sailors' testimony and the 1955 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships, which says the cruiser La Motte-Picquet was "damaged by gunfire". The claim of a cover-up is the author's interpretation of circumstantial evidence, not official French records.

Tourism came relatively late. Wikipedia says foreign backpackers began arriving in the mid-1970s, before resorts spread along west-coast beaches such as White Sand Beach, Khlong Phrao, Kai Bae and Lonely Beach.

A 2001 Chulalongkorn University thesis by Dokor Panadit divides Ko Chang's tourism into three periods: little development before 1985, a boom in bungalows and hotels from 1986 to 1996, and a wider range of facilities from 1997. White Sand Beach was hit hardest, followed by Khlong Phrao and Kai Bae; land use was the most damaging impact and the root of other problems. The study recommended development, controlled and conservation zones, plus better waste and water systems.

The state stepped in through the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA). C9 Hotelworks reported on 23 October 2011 that DASTA had drawn up a five-year tourism master plan for Ko Chang and nearby islands, with a budget of about 340 million baht focused on green, sustainable development.

In 1982 Ko Chang and its neighbouring islands were declared Mu Ko Chang National Park, Thailand's 45th, covering about 406,250 rai (650 sq km), some 70% of it sea, with about 85% of Ko Chang inside the park. Sources give between 43 and more than 50 islands.

Administratively, Ko Chang was split from Laem Ngop as a minor district on 30 April 1994 and became a full district in 2007 with all other minor districts (Royal Gazette, 24 August 2007). It has two subdistricts, Ko Chang and Ko Chang Tai, with its centre at Ban Dan Mai on the east coast, and about 8,538 residents in 2019.

As land values rose, so did disputes over park land. In April 2021 a post offered 298 rai on Ko Wai for 350 million baht; Thai PBS reported that only about 8 rai had title deeds, the rest being park forest, and the national parks department ordered an investigation under the 2019 National Parks Act.

At the southern tip, the Bang Bao community became the launch point for snorkelling trips to Ko Wai and Ko Rang. MGR Online reported over the 2012 Coronation Day holiday that island rooms were more than 90% full, the Bang Bao pier walkway had over 60 shops, some earning 4,000–5,000 baht a day, with Ko Chang shrimp paste and seafood the best sellers, and that the return trip saw 5–6 km queues and 3–4-hour waits for the ferry, showing holiday ferry jams date back at least to then. In the May–September monsoon some shops close and reopen around October.

In 2026, diesel at 47.74 baht a litre led Trat to approve the first Ko Chang ferry fare rise since 2016, effective 10 April 2026: adults from 80 to 130 baht and cars from 120 to 280 baht. Over the early-May 2026 long weekend, queues to board stretched 5–7 km; on 1 May alone one pier carried 24,001 passengers and 2,315 vehicles in 69 trips, prompting calls for a second ferry port.