Houses on stilts
Old timber over the water.
Stefan Fussan — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Stefan Fussan — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Stefan Fussan — CC BY-SA 3.0
An old trading port on Ko Lanta's quiet east coast, for centuries a stop for Chinese, Arab and Malay ships between Penang and Singapore, where Chinese merchants, Muslims and sea gypsies lived side by side. What remains is a long street of old wooden houses and shops on stilts over the water, with doors and balconies from a century ago. Many of the houses are now cafés, restaurants and small craft shops whose back terraces look out to sea and the little islands opposite. At the end of the street a small, colourful Chinese temple stands on a wooden jetty over the water, and the town has mosques and halal restaurants, as most of Ko Lanta's people are Muslim. It is far quieter than the tourist beaches of the west coast. Entry is free and the shops open from morning to evening. It is loveliest early in the morning or just before sunset, when the heat eases and the sea is calm. The best season is November to April; from May to October the monsoon makes the Andaman Sea rough and many trips stop. It is about half an hour by car or scooter from the west-coast beaches, so make it half a day: stroll the street, lunch on a terrace over the water, then head to the national park at the island's southern tip.
Old timber over the water.
On a jetty over the sea.
Chinese, Muslims and sea gypsies.
Si Raya, quiet east coast of Ko Lanta Yai, Krabi province
Yes: most islanders are Muslim, and the old town and elsewhere have mosques and many halal restaurants.