Koh Chang feels like one of those “the earth after human” BBC specials– empty resorts, closed stores, restaurants being engulfed by trees and vines. Tourists are a rare sight and dogs are free to roam to streets. Locals laze around waiting for customers. The different types of clouds are in a continual battle for dominance over the sky real estate.
In my recent musings over the post-apocalyptic aura of Koh Chang, I decided that this isn’t a paradise lost. It’s a paradise found. Nature is reclaiming the island, as rain heals the jungle and beaches from negligent human care.
After having a conversation with a local business owner, I’ve realized that my paradise found has been anything but heaven for the people living here.
I arrived at the BB Divers dive shop in Bang Bao, eager for my snorkeling excursion despite the ominous clouds racing above. I plopped myself on a seat , and started chatting with the woman next to me.
Turns out she was the owner. Originally from Belgium, but had been living in Koh Chang for some 10+ years. She owned a hotel on Lonely Beach (the backpackers paradise) and bought another one near Bang Bao at the start of the pandemic. She scored a great deal, thinking “This won’t last too long…” We all know how that story played out…
The lifeline of Koh Chang flatlined as tourism disappeared overnight.
No tourists meant no money.
“Did the government offer any assistance?!”
She explained that once the strict lockdowns within Thailand were lifted, the government started a travel subsidy program to promote internal tourism. Tourists would pay half of the hotel rates, and the government would pick up the other half. Said tourists would proceed to eat at restaurants, go on snorkeling excursions, etc.
There was a big problem: only certain resorts were eligible. The larger, more expensive accommodations benefited while the little guys were left in the dust. There was another big problem: many residents of Thailand couldn’t even afford to go on a holiday with a 50% markdown. No tourism and no government relief drained pockets across the country.
Locals were forced to return to the mainland to find work, leaving their stores, hotels, and bars to the hands of nature.
As travel restrictions have lifted, tourism is starting to return. However, not only is it the off season, but there are still strict travel bans in Russia and China—two of the largest sources of tourism for Koh Chang.
The woman seemed hopeful that things are on the rise and that the worst is over. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and the next peak season should be prosperous.
I felt like I’d been slapped in the face with my own privilege.
$600 unemployment checks, $1200 stimulus checks, small business loans, and countless other relief programs helped people in the United States survive the maelstrom of COVID. There were still hardships. Businesses, jobs, and lives were lost, and people suffered/are still suffering.
But people in Thailand got absolutely nothing. I was stressed over a career. People here were stressed over affording rice.
Developed nations were able to shut down their economies with the mission of saving lives. But how many lives ended up being destroyed as a result? We’ve read this story before. Wealthy elites make decisions for “the benefit of everyone.” “Everyone” turns out to be “some.” The people who need the most end up getting the least.
Luckily, humankind is resilient. Time keeps ticking as we bounce back and move forward.
1 thought on “Koh Chang: Paradise Lost! (From a Local Perspective)”
youre right in the “western” world we have been so fortunate with schemes the ability to see out the pandemic with safety nets. its easy to forget that much of the world didnt have that available to them