Isle Voices
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Thailand · Thai

Koh Chang

Thailand's wilder island, jungle to the tide line.

Niran

Your host · Thai

Niran

Island host

Niran wears a silk sinh and a jasmine pin, and she still names every tree on the waterfall path. She speaks Thai of Trat, not of the tourist pier.

Koh Chang is the second-largest Thai island, still more rainforest than resort. Longtail boats work the west bays. Thai is spoken in the market, and hornbills still cross the road.

Field notes

10 fruits

  • Mango

    มะม่วง

    Mangifera indica

    Thai mangoes eaten with sticky rice, or green and shredded with chili. Island trees fruit in the hot season.

  • Rambutan

    เงาะ

    Nephelium lappaceum

    Hairy red fruits sold in rattan baskets after rain, cool and translucent inside.

  • Durian

    ทุเรียน

    Durio zibethinus

    The king of fruit. Trat durian is prized — creamy, sharp, argued over at dusk.

  • Mangosteen

    มังคุด

    Garcinia mangostana

    The queen, purple rind, snow segments. Eaten after durian as a cooling counterpart.

  • Pineapple

    สับปะรด

    Ananas comosus

    Roadside spears with chili salt, grown in the drier pockets of the island.

  • Coconut

    มะพร้าว

    Cocos nucifera

    Young coconut water after a hike to Khlong Plu. Grated flesh in every curry.

  • Banana

    กล้วย

    Musa

    From tiny kluai khai to cooking bananas grilled in their skins at the night stall.

  • Papaya

    มะละกอ

    Carica papaya

    Green papaya becomes som tam. Ripe papaya is breakfast with lime.

  • Longan

    ลำไย

    Dimocarpus longan

    Clusters of brown shells, translucent flesh, a cooler from the mainland orchards that still reach the island.

  • Rose apple

    ชมพู่

    Syzygium samarangense

    Bell-shaped, watery-crisp, pale green or pink, eaten with chili sugar.