Salak Kok Bay Koh Chang Island, Thailand

Any exploration of the area wouldn't be complete without a visit to Salak Kok Bay. A pint-sized fishing village that screams authenticity, houses are built along a series of boarwards that snake around the canals of a mangrove forest. Red and aqua-painted fishing boats line the boadwalks and you stroll around gives the feeling that you've really discoved something special and unique. It's an incredibly pretty, untouristed area.

A new business in Salak Kok has just started to rent out kayaks that you can use to go exploring in the mangrove forest just look for the signs at the road in the village. It's 100Baht for an hour's paddle or 200Baht if you want a guide along. The business also has a few traditional Thai row-boats in which you can enjoy a romantic Thai dinner while being rowed around the mangrove forest. It's like a strange juxtaposition of the Amazon Rainforest meets the canals of Venice. The dinner costs 1,200Baht.

The bay is approximately 1 kilometers wide, up to 2 kilometers long and only connected to the sea by a narrow passage. It is very flat and completely scattered with islands of mangroves. It is one of the best-preserved mangrove-forests in the whole of Thailand.

In 2005 a concret bridge was built through parts of the mangrove-forests. On the tour you will find signs with all information about the mangroves and the animals living there - very interesting and absolutely commandable! (You'll find the entrance at the mainroad before the turn-off to Baan Salak Kok.)

The quiet fishing village Salak Kok (Baan Salak Kok), located at the southern edge of the bay, is built, to a large extent, on stakes into the bay and many of the houses are connected with small timber bridges. Besides there is a school and a temple located outside the village.

At the end of the bay there is a small viewpoint, from where you have a beautiful view into the Salak Kok Bay.

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