KOH LANTA AREA GUIDE – GENERAL

West Coast
The majority of facilities and services are on the west coast of Koh Lanta Yai, based on or near the 5 of the main beaches on this side. All of the beaches on this coast have white sand and sunset views, so have attracted many resort and bungalow developments.

The busiest areas are Ban Saladan (the main town), Klong Dao and Long Beach areas, and the further south you go, the quieter and more secluded it gets. There is 1 road that follows the west coast all the way down to the most southerly point on the island

East Coast
The east coast of Koh Lanta is a complete contrast to the west. Very little development has occurred here, and so there are only a handful of accommodation options, mainly guesthouses. This is probably due to the fact that there are no beaches – just mangrove and muddy waterfronts.

This has actually ‘saved’ the east coast and let it remain a string of traditional Koh Lanta villages and towns, where the locals go about their daily business of fishing, rubber/palm/shrimp farming, almost completely unaffected by tourism. There is also 1 road on the east coast that follows the coastline all the way to the south

In the Middle
Connecting the 2 east and west coastline roads of Koh Lanta are 2 more roads that cut across the island, 1 in the Phra Ae / Long Beach area, and the other in Klong Nin. The middle of the island  is made up of various mountain ranges (some parts over 400m high), jungle, palm and rubber plantations. Virtually none of the central part of Koh Lanta is developed, as most of it is in the protected National Park district