Is Lanta doing better this year than years past, or is it still pretty quiet this high season?

Some 10+ years ago Lanta was a nice place to visit. Nowadays it has become to much of a tourist trap.

Some 10+ years ago Lanta was a nice place to visit. Nowadays it has become to much of a tourist trap.

So is it busy, or is it quiet but looks like a tourist trap?

Lanta is moderately busy at the moment. Now the raging scene of years gone by but still a good influx of people.

The consensus seems to be that while many of the hotels and resorts are full the tourists aren't frequenting the bars and restaurants as much as they have in the past. Retail is dismal. Those retail shops that are doing a decent business complain that the customers are bargaining to the point of obnoxiousness. Those folks who do go out to eat tend to look for the cheapest items on the menu. Lots of folks walking around with 7-11 bags full of Chang in the can.

Can't complain really, it's all to be expected in this economy I suppose.

I'm sure business will pick up soon, what with us being touted on the internet as a 'tourist trap'.

Cheers Semper, always nice to have somebody talking bollocky trash about where you live and work.

Edited January 3, 201214 yr by Cowboyshoe

always nice to have somebody talking bollocky trash

Don't see the "bollocky trash" part of my reply? I just expressed my personal thoughts about Lanta. If you invested on the wrong island, well what can I say. Lanta has alway been a "backpacker" style of place to visit compared to Phuket, Ao Nang and the like. Unfortunately they are trying to copy those places and Lanta has lost it's "charm".

Seriously? You don't see how your opinion could be offensive to those of us living and working on Lanta?

I'm sorry that your idealized backpacker paradise no longer exists (if it ever did) but that does not translate automatically into a 'tourist trap'.

Now the island's residents and visitors have the benefits of safer roads, cleaner water, reliable electricity, improved schools and an expanded healthcare system to name but a few of the advancements of the last few years. If that means fewer bamboo huts where gap-year travelers can pass out after spending 300 baht on booze and 40 baht on fried rice, well, apparently that's just fine with the Thais who live here.

Obviously your last visit to Lanta left you longing, but just because the island didn't live up to your ideals does not mean Lanta is no longer charming. Nor does it mean Lanta is turning into Ao Nang or Phuket. As a former backpacker myself who's lived here for six years I can tell you without hesitation that Lanta has changed for the better and continues to do so. If you don't agree, don't come here. We'll save that room for someone who actually wants it. Just don't think you can talk smack about someone else's home and not get called on it.

Thanks Cowboyshoe.

Well we love Lanta and will be going back in Feb!.

Many of the top picks on tripadvisor appear to be full so I'd expect it to be fairly busy.

Seriously? You don't see how your opinion could be offensive to those of us living and working on Lanta?

No, seriously I can't see that. Maybe I should have used the word overdeveloped instead of "tourist trap". I still think Lanta had more "charm" years ago and yes, that include the unpaved roads.

I think how busy high season is depends on where you live on the island.. It was a really strange start to the high season period at least in my town.. October/Start Nov was ridiculously busy - speaking to tourists, I think it was due to the floods so they came down to South Thailand instead.. Then end Nov/Most Dec was almost low-season-like.. my guess is all the coverage on the international news about the floods (at least from what my friends have heard and what i have seen) put a lot of people off visiting ALL of thailand, despite lanta not really being affected.. But since Christmas arrived it has been more like high season has been in the past - busy busy - bars full, restaurants often full.. but I agree, many people buying chang from 7-11.. in fact many times i've been told recently of people going into local bars to ask for a bucket or ice, or their beer opened while they sit infront of the bar.. or worse still in the bar all night!!

We had a tourist stay here in october who used our pick-up service for guests to go up to saladan every day as he saved 10 baht on things he wanted to buy - but unknown to the driver, he was sitting in the back with the newly picked up tourists telling them why they should only eat their food from 7-11 and drink their food from there too - saying that the bars and restaurants make enough money, rip everyone off, and are not right... Hmmmm. They stopped giving him lifts in the end.

Koh Lanta is hands down my least favorite island in the Andaman. My interactions with the local people are either decent - or really bad. One thing sure, outside of the fixed price products and services, everyone wants a piece of you. A BIG piece!

The only genuinely nice people I find are 7/11 girls, food stall owners and the guys that work the tour boat to KR. Even tiny GH managers/owners are hit or miss in Saladan.

Had a real nightmare of a mafia tale happen to me well over a decade back. Won't step foot on the island unless it's to get out to Koh Rork.

The most money grubbing people I have ever encountered in Thailand

Poorest value for food and bungalows

Some of the worst beaches in the Andaman

Shoreline on any and every beach is NOT pretty.

Huge mafia transport issues to get you on. off and around the island

It's really not even an island - you could practically swim from the mainland.

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by bangkokburning

Koh Lanta is hands down my least favorite island in the Andaman. My interactions with the local people are either decent - or really bad. One thing sure, outside of the fixed price products and services, everyone wants a piece of you. A BIG piece!

The only genuinely nice people I find are 7/11 girls, food stall owners and the guys that work the tour boat to KR. Even tiny GH managers/owners are hit or miss in Saladan.

Had a real nightmare of a mafia tale happen to me well over a decade back. Won't step foot on the island unless it's to get out to Koh Rork.

The most money grubbing people I have ever encountered in Thailand

Poorest value for food and bungalows

Some of the worst beaches in the Andaman

Shoreline on any and every beach is NOT pretty.

Huge mafia transport issues to get you on. off and around the island

It's really not even an island - you could practically swim from the mainland.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion bangkokburning but are you saying the last time you spent time in Lanta was ten years ago?

Completely wrong regarding the beaches. During high season when the sand is in, Prae Ae and Kantiang along with some others are as nice as the nicest beaches in all of Thailand. Low season sure, sea takes the sand away.

Food? Although a bit expensive the seafood restaurants over the water in Saladan town are extremely enjoyable. Red Snapper is one of the best restaurants in the whole region.

Don't know where you stayed but there are all kinds of places for the backpacker budget 350 or so AND near the beach.

Swim to Lanta Yai? Would you take a rest at Lanta Noi? Silly.........................