A weekend on Lanta Island in southern Thailand.





Koh Lanta ("Lun-TAR") is a small island in southern Thailand, in tkhe province of Krabi. It is a really cool place. Hordes of young folk head here for a few days or weeks to frolic in the ocean, enjoy the cheap and tasty local and international fare, and generally chill out. The environment is cool and fresh, thanks to the ocean, and the mood is relaxed and happy. You can get here by plane, bus or partly by train from Bangkok.





I spent 3 days here with a Thai lady friend, she is engaged to this English chap, but she invited me to come and see her. Long story. She teaches the Thai language to foreigners here on the island.





The island runs north to south. The small tourist town is on the northern tip of the island. Fun place, restaurants, tourist shops selling all manner of trinkets, bars, and lots of activity. At the southern end of the island is a small national park with trees, elephants, plants and trees, elephant rides, a cave complex. All good fun.





If you look at the tourist books, they will all tell you that Lanta is "Pang Mark!" (expensive), not necessarily. It is pricier than the mainland, but there are cheaper places. For example, I rented an aircon bungalow for 600 baht a day ($18). The trick is, live back from the beach. My place was (literally) 2 mins walk from the beach. The same bungalow on the beach is 2x the price — go figure. Arrive on the island, and they look around for the accomm that suits you.




Travel safe.