palmıana
DE
Koh Lipe with turquoise water, a longtail boat and a green island behind
Koh Lipe in the Andaman Sea

Asia · Thailand

Koh Lanta & Koh Lipe

Two Andaman islands: one slow and long with a famous coworking, one tiny and turquoise.

Save to your sun list

Koh Lanta is the island that Phuket used to be: long beaches on the west coast, sea gypsy villages on the east, no high-rise, and a national park at the southern tip. Koh Lipe, three hours south by speedboat, is a speck near the Malaysian border in the Tarutao marine park, with water so clear the longtail boats look suspended. Together they are the quiet corner of the Andaman.

The palm: Coconut palm

Coconut and rubber cover Lanta’s interior, and the beaches are lined with leaning coconut palms that every photo of Thailand seems to include. In the mangroves on the east side grow nipa palms, whose fronds thatch the fishermen’s houses and whose sap makes a sweet vinegar.

When to go

°Crainsea January: 32°C by day, 4 rainy days, sea 28°C32°February: 33°C by day, 3 rainy days, sea 28°C33°March: 34°C by day, 5 rainy days, sea 29°C34°April: 34°C by day, 9 rainy days, sea 30°C34°May: 32°C by day, 17 rainy days, sea 30°C32°June: 31°C by day, 18 rainy days, sea 29°C31°July: 31°C by day, 18 rainy days, sea 29°C31°August: 31°C by day, 18 rainy days, sea 29°C31°September: 31°C by day, 20 rainy days, sea 28°C31°October: 31°C by day, 20 rainy days, sea 28°C31°November: 31°C by day, 14 rainy days, sea 28°C31°December: 31°C by day, 7 rainy days, sea 28°C31°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Typical daytime highs, rainy days per month (one drop is about four days) and sea temperature. Green bars are comfortable months, amber bars are hot or wet or cool, and the darker bars mark the best time to go.

Sights

Mu Ko Lanta National Park

A lighthouse, a beach and monkeys at the island’s southern tip.

Lanta Old Town

Stilt houses over the water on the east coast, a Chinese temple and seafood restaurants on piers.

Four Islands trip

Longtail boat to Koh Muk’s Emerald Cave, swum through in the dark to a hidden beach.

Koh Adang

The jungle island across from Lipe, with a viewpoint hike and empty beaches.

Beaches

  • Long Beach, Koh Lanta

    Four kilometres of sand with beach bars, sunsets and gentle water.

  • Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe

    Snorkelling from the sand, longtails at anchor and the sun coming up over Adang.

  • Kantiang Bay

    Lanta’s southern bay, a curve of sand between hills, the island’s prettiest.

Events

  • Apr

    Songkran

    Thai New Year, 13 to 15 April, a three day water fight in every street.

  • Nov

    Loy Krathong

    Floating candle baskets on the November full moon.

  • Mar

    Laanta Lanta Festival

    Old Town’s street festival of food and sea gypsy music in March.

For remote workers

Internet4/5

A comfortable month: about €1,200

Koh Lanta’s KoHub is one of the oldest island coworkings in Asia and the reason the island has a winter community of remote workers. Thailand’s Destination Thailand Visa allows long stays for remote workers, and the standard visa exemption is generous. Lipe is for a week of snorkelling, not a season: wifi is patchy and the island is walkable in twenty minutes.

Compare as a base

For families

Calm water5/5
Shade4/5
Medical care3/5

Lanta’s Long Beach and Klong Dao are shallow, sandy and gentle, with restaurants on the sand and no traffic to speak of. Lipe’s Pattaya Beach is calm inside the reef. Thai food wins over most children, and Krabi has a hospital an hour and a ferry away.

Rank for your family

Three things to know

  1. Fly to Krabi, then minivan and car ferry to Lanta; Lipe is reached by speedboat from Pak Bara or Lanta in season.
  2. The season is November to April; Lipe half closes from May to October when the monsoon arrives.
  3. Rent a scooter on Lanta and carry cash; the island has a few ATMs and a lot of beach.

Stories from here

A mother and daughter flying a kite on a tropical beach

Families · 6 min read

How to pick a beach for small children

Shade, shallow water, a lifeguard and a toilet within a hundred metres. The five things that matter more than white sand, and the palm destinations that have them.