Thailand Guide
The east coast
Hat Khlong Phrao
Sweeping, casuarina-fringed HAT KHLONG PHRAO is one of Ko Chang's nicest beaches, not least because it has yet to see the clutter and claustrophobic development of both its neighbours. For the moment at least, most of the restaurants, bars and shops are way off the beach, along the roadside, with the shorefront left mainly to a decent spread of accommodation. It begins with a nice kilometre-long run of beach that's interrupted by a wide canal, whose estuary is the site of some characterful stilt homes and seafood restaurants.
At low tide you can just about wade across the canal; more reliably, during daylight hours, you can rent your own kayak from almost anywhere along the beach. (After dark, you can use your kayak to paddle upriver to see the fireflies twinkling in the canalside lamphu trees.) Beyond the estuary, the long southern beach is partly shaded by casuarinas and backed in places by a huge coconut grove that screens the shore from the road; it's quite a hike to the roadside shops and restaurants from here though, at least a kilometre along a rutted track.