Anyone have any feelings about Koh Lipe?

[Razzler1973]

Fancy heading down late this month, I know it's sort of off-season but been many a Thai island in off-season and still get sun with rain and cloud so not a big deal

Anyone done the Nok Air/Air Asia combo thingy?

Accommodation seems more expensive than elsewhere for what you get but kind of fancy checking it out

Anyone been, thoughts, experiences, recommendations?

[Misterwhisper]

Lipe has unfortunately pretty much gone down the same road as other assorted islands when Thai developers from the mainland "discovered" a few years ago that a lot of money can be made there and started building up their resorts and restaurants and nightlife venues.

[rajyindee]

Lipe has unfortunately pretty much gone down the same road as other assorted islands when Thai developers from the mainland "discovered" a few years ago that a lot of money can be made there and started building up their resorts and restaurants and nightlife venues.

What nightlife "venues" are you talking about?

[dgiraud]

Nightlife venues...?? Am I dreaming..??

[cnx355]

Nightlife venues...?? Am I dreaming..??

One of the Beach is named Pattaya Beach ( no joking and no walking street there) ) the others Sunrise and Sunset Beach.

Sunrise Beah seem to be the one with more foreigners,

Pattaya Beach mostly Thai.

Had feedback from a foreigner friend and a Thai friends that went in the last year. Both liked the place. Nice beaches.

Both were as couple . so they enjoyed the restaurants. No information about "night venues" from them.

The Thai used Air Asia fly and boat ticket. No problem to report.

The farang went with a group ( with his Thai wife ) so they had their own minibus and boat ready.

[craigt3365]

If you do go, please let us know how it went! I'd love to know.

[craigt3365]

A good source of info.

http://tezza-thailandbeachesandislands.blogspot.com/

[JulesMad]

Koh Lipe is a beautiful island :-) I worked there for 4 months in 2001, the pre-internet time on the island.... Nice and very quiet! Went back in 2006, and things had already drastically changed; much more shops and development..... All for the tourists....

I am sure it is still beautiful, no chance for the big hotels due to the sea gypsies ;-) I am sure you have a good time :-)

[Rimbuman]

Polluted, trash everywhere. Rotting matrasses, plastic molded and mutated food in the bushes, floating in the sea. Quite unbelievable but real.

[thailandforumaddict]

Lipe is dead and actually you might not be able to cross during this season, the sea is rough and not enough passengers.

[gonefish]

5 years ago it was the 2nd last unspoilt part of thailand apart from the surins which is on the norhtern border of the andamans.

it had one concrete road and a handfull of motorbikes. no atm,7/11 etc.

now has roads everywhere, cars, 7/11 with prices 3 times on the mainland.

take plenty of baht, no cow pad under 150 baht !!

another real shame in thailand

[kev78]

Check out Sunny's blog on youtube. He has 10 video blogs about getting there and the island itself. Looks pretty nice to me.

[Razzler1973]

Lipe is dead and actually you might not be able to cross during this season, the sea is rough and not enough passengers.

I saw from ferry site that ferries go all year round

Also, various sources mentioned the low season is not too bad. I have rarely had a low season on an island but absolutely torrential in my 20 years of being around Thailand to be honest

I don't mind a bit of rain, heavy rain here and there. Koh Chang is always listed as one of the 'most rainfall' places but been many times in low season and had blazing sun mixed with heavy rain later on ... then cloudy for a bit, then ok again

I don't mind that

The fact Nok Air/Air Asia fly and do the boat combo makes me think there is a reasonable stream of visitors, no?

[Razzler1973]

Check out Sunny's blog on youtube. He has 10 video blogs about getting there and the island itself. Looks pretty nice to me.

Seems like he uploaded those recently, any idea if he's actually there recently or just managed to upload now?

[tw25rw]

Check out Sunny's blog on youtube. He has 10 video blogs about getting there and the island itself. Looks pretty nice to me.

Seems like he uploaded those recently, any idea if he's actually there recently or just managed to upload now?

He was there in the last few days. I watch all his vlogs.

[Razzler1973]

I watched them too, weather looked fine

I think for sure I'll head over, thanks

Just deciding whether to book something or wait until I get there. These days I like to plan ahead, no messing about, some good deals on Agoda but wondering if I can get them lower boots on the ground ... hmmmmm!

[craigt3365]

You might try contacting the resorts directly. Sometimes you get better deals that way, and sometimes better rooms.

[howerde]

Koh lipe is great, but this is low season a lot of places will be closed closed can be rainy, this churns up the sea, the local boats don't run so if you don't mind been stuck inside, There is Pattaya beach and walking street! ! so it should be cheaper at this time, there were lots of malaysian and chinese there last feb when i went was quite a good mix of people mostly in 20-30 age group, plenty of bars but low key, but it is almost on the verge of becoming ruined by the amount of tourists, i had some of the best food in Thailand there. Langkawi can be reached by ferry (not sure if it runs this time of year)

[flossiebear]

Same as Ko phi phi, beautiful but smaller, flatter just as beautiful, overdeveloped. Not sure about services as compared to say boats to Ko phi phi which is usually accessible during the monsoon, the waters around Ko Lipe are very dangerous during monsoon season and not sure you can get a boat. There is no pier to disembark on Ko lipe. Check the boat situation first. The gulf islands have much better weather at this time of year. I think Ko Tao is lovely and not that different from Ko lipe.

[fish fingers]

Lipe is probably really nice compared to other ruined islands, the beaches are still pretty good

but having been there in 2005/06 before there were any concrete roads, street lighting, noisy generators, rubbish and also before the middle of the island had been cleared and was still a forest.. anyway you get the picture

[Razzler1973]

So, I went to Koh Lipe for 6 days middle of July and it was fantastic

Any talk of it being 'ruined' are nonsense. I don't know what it used to be like in the past but I guess it's definitely changed a lot, like all other islands in Thailand. I also can't speak to how it is in high season either

How it was in low season though was great. Firstly, yes, a lot of stuff was closed for low season, no idea why though as still a reasonable amount of people around although would class it as quiet. A lot of Malaysian tourists for end of Ramadan and Chinese tourists too for the resorts there

Few bars still open, good places to hang out. Off Walking Street but close around midnight-ish but place on beach open until 3am or later

Weather was amazing for 2 days, bright sunshine. 3 days of bit cloudy but hot and humid, no problem for swimming and being out. 1 day it sort of drizzled most of the day. Had some early morning rain a couple of times but had cleared by late morning. Had some rain after 5pm or 6pm for an hour as well but all in all no problems with the weather at all

Water was as clear as I have seen water in Thailand for years. Can see fish swimming around. I think you don't get as much for your money in terms of rooms but electric is expensive. Can get good price fan rooms but that's not for me. A wise choice as mossies were brutal there! Fan stuff on the beach is still 1000-ish

Air con stuff near the beach is 1400 and upwards and probably better value in places like Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Chang, etc. Bit of a gap in air con rooms from 800-1200, I reckon, no idea how much in high season

Very small place, can stroll around, no need for bikes at all. Beaches are lovely, swimming is great. Pattaya Beach side is nicer, for me. Sunrise is also good but down the end away from where longtail boats arrive. There are also longtails 'parked' there although you can swim I prefered Pattaya Beach, which is where I was anyway

Sunset Beach was pretty much closed. Resorts and shops, food, bars closed for the season. Nice beach though, sand a little more coarse but nice sea. Some rocks nearer the surface

A lot of places seem further away than they are. You drive for a bit but when you arrive realise you can walk 3 or 4 minutes down the beach and be at one end of Walking Street and it's all very close. Deceptive from some places but more or less easy to get to Walking Street (central point)

[Razzler1973]

Lipe is dead and actually you might not be able to cross during this season, the sea is rough and not enough passengers.

This isn't true either. There is a boat every day around 11am-12am, maybe even two boats but they go. I heard some horror stories of crossing in a speedboat this time of year and it being very rough but for me it was fine. One guy said they cancelled his boat and went in the morning (better weather) but that seemed extreme

Generally, there's a scheduled boat and it's no problem. Even in poor weather they still go, people talked of getting wet (wasn't my experience) but they only don't go in mega extreme situations. Everything on the island is being brought over too so if you're planning to go don't sweat the schedules

Can't go to Langkawi though although Pak Bara boats were still off to Koh Lanta/Krabi, pier was still pretty busy

[Razzler1973]

Polluted, trash everywhere. Rotting matrasses, plastic molded and mutated food in the bushes, floating in the sea. Quite unbelievable but real.

This is nonsense, didn't see anything like this at all. Beautiful island

See a lot more garbage and smell sewage, for instance, on other, more well known islands

Edited August 9, 2015 by Razzler1973

[Razzler1973]

5 years ago it was the 2nd last unspoilt part of thailand apart from the surins which is on the norhtern border of the andamans.

it had one concrete road and a handfull of motorbikes. no atm,7/11 etc.

now has roads everywhere, cars, 7/11 with prices 3 times on the mainland.

take plenty of baht, no cow pad under 150 baht !!

another real shame in thailand

Again, largely hyperbolic rubbish

Of course islands will pave roads, for starters. I remember Koh Pha Ngan before the roads were paved. Is it 'ruined' now? Nope, it's a lot better, thanks. There aren't 'roads everywhere' as there isn't the space!

It was the paved 'Walking Street' which is coloured blue. It extends a bit around some corners. I saw maybe 2 or 3 actual cars the whole time I was there. Delivering stuff to restaurants/bars. It wasn't in the way or represent 'traffic' at all. It was all motorbike transport and those bikes with sidecars for luggage. If you're thinking this has changed and is full of cars now you couldn't be more wrong ... again, this is low season, no idea about high season but I'd struggle to believe it's full of cars cause there's not many roads to actually drive on!

There is one 7/11 ... yep, one. The prices are slightly higher than mainland. You can go to the several mini-marts on Walking Street and buy from them and they're cheaper than 7/11. You work this out in 5 minutes of being there. Advantage being 7/11 is open late, of course. Example, can of Singha is 57 baht in 7/11, if I recall and in mini-mart it's 50

It may be 37 or so mainland? Everything is transported over though so it's gonna be higher. The few bars open were selling small bottles of Chang for 60, Leo 70. Beach place looking at sea was about the same, maybe 10 baht more.

I pay that near the beach on Koh Pha Ngan a lot of the time, no issue with it

As for 'no khao pad under 150 baht' ... not true. Some of the sea facing resorts, perhaps. A few others on the beach maybe 100 but I'd say the 'normal' price for Khao Pad, Pad See Ew, Grapao, Noodle Soup is 70 baht, maybe 80. This is average. Som Tum 70 baht but found a place that did it for 50 and Num Dtok for 100, Laap for 80, sticky rice 10 baht ... nothing unusual really

Simple western food was 100 upwards, things like spring rolls at 100, baguettes were 80 baht to 100 baht. Other curries 100 or 120 maybe. Slightly higher but nothing alarming. Pancakes were 60, 70, 80 baht depending what's in them

Didn't see a lot of money changers in low season but were ATMs around. Wifi is everywhere and pretty decent. Very, very nice island and would go again and I'd definitely go again in low season

I wouldn't say I really burned through a lot of money either. Great place