Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Ko Lanta
POP 20,000
Once the domain of backpackers and sea gypsies, Lanta hasn't just gentrified, it's morphed
almost completely from a luscious southern Thai backwater into a midrange getaway for
French, German and Swedish package tourists who come for divine beaches (though the
northern coast is alarmingly eroded) and nearby dive spots, Hin Daeng, Hin Muang and
Ko Ha. Within eyeshot of Phi-Phi, Lanta remains far more calm and real, however, and ef-
fortlessly caters to all budget types. It's also relatively flat compared to the karst forma-
tions of its neighbours, and laced with good roads, so is easily explored by motorbike. A
quick loop reveals a colourful crucible of cultures - fried- chicken stalls sit below slender
minarets, stilted
chow lair
villages cling to the island's east side, and small Thai wát hide
within green-brown tangles of curling mangroves.
Ko Lanta is technically called Ko Lanta Yai, the largest of 52 islands in an archipelago
protected by the Mu Ko Lanta Marine National Park. Almost all boats pull into Ban Sala
Dan, a dusty two-street town at the northern tip of the island.
