Chaloklum...
The bay of Chaloklum retains the atmosphere of a Thai fishing Village and is considered a less developed part of Koh Phangan. The village located in the north of Koh Phangan, about five minutes drive from your rental villas at Talaytong. The area has lent itself to development over the years by having a relatively large land size of flat land for Koh Phangan. Remember Koh Phangan is a mountainous Island making most of the land unsuitable for a main settlement. Chaloklum is one of only three villages to support a large pier and fishing industry.
Chaloklum Village is a collection of Thai wooden villas and houses which make attractive viewing for holiday photos. There are many accommodation options in and around the village and on the beach. The main road runs behind the village and snakes through to the south of Koh Phangan and to Thong Sala the main entry port on Koh Phangan. Coming from the villas at Talaytong, the drive will enter the Village from the West. The main road runs parallel to the village road which is next to the beach.
On the main village road is a collection of shops, restaurants, dive and watersport rental shops and fish yards with their backend pool rooms as well as many village houses. A walk in the village is a must and you will spot a few local seafood restaurants along the way such as Nong Nook and Aun Jun. Kayaks are on offer to rent at the dive inn opposite the pier. The village also supports a seven eleven shop which opens twenty four hours and opposite is a video rental shop and chemist which make the area a close by trip to get essentials whilst staying in the villas at Talaytong.
Most of the fishing boats are fishing for squid and in season early each morning the boats come in and the catch is cleaned and cut and spread out on large racks to dry, dried squid is very popular in Thailand and Asia and the majority of the dried squid leaves Chaloklum for the export markets. As the squid is so fresh a must try in the local seafood restaurants must be either the barbecued squid or a Thai dish with squid in it. This fishing industry is still doing substantial trade in the village of Chaloklum and its possible to see the fresh fish brought in at the pier around seven to ten o'clock in the morning.
The best place to go snorkeling in Chaloklum bay is towards Haad Khom where good coral formations can be found even for Koh Phangan's standards, so don't forget to pack your snorkels back at the villas. Chaloklum bay is normally busy with an incoming or outgoing fishing fleet, boats are often mored in the bay in groups when the sea is rough. A boat building yard can also be found between Chaloklum and Haad Khom at the mouth of the river feed by the steep mountains east of the village.
There is not much night life in the bay except in very high season try either Sheesha Bar, The Lost Dog which are both on the main village road or perhaps Cafe Del Mar which is further down the beach or Ioasis which is Italian managed. The best night life occurs when the festival arrives in the Temple at Chaloklum, this happens on a grand scale just before the songran festival and at a few other times around the year. The festival is a collection of food tents, market stalls, game stalls and music shows as well as overstocked stocked beer tent. The festivals are very popular with the local Thai's and are often very packed full of people with a friendly atmosphere.
A good place to look for a dive school on Koh Phangan, Chaloklum village has around five schools to choose from, such as : Chaloklum Divers
For a dose of daily news a small newsagent down a the west end of the beach road sells daily newspapers, the Bangkok Post being amongst them. For hardware try opposite the pier in the small hardware shop next to the Worlds End restaurant, they also sell fishing equipment here.