Welcome to kohlantakolanta.com!
This website has been designed for the sole purpose of archiving of Koh Lanta's amazing aspects of local life on koh lanta yai and koh lanta noi.
From History of Ko Lanta island, to old Folk tales, local traditions and pastimes - stories and interviews with interesting, prominent or needy local people.Kohlanta-Kolanta Forums are in the process of being developed for Koh Lanta people, both Locals and Foreigners, to discuss all sorts of Koh Lanta related matters. Picures of Koh Lanta and scenes from Ko Lanta's many events will be displayed in the Gallery sections of kohlanta kolanta dot com.
Koh Lanta archipelago is composed of two main islands, or "Koh, alternatively spelled Ko, or Kho" in Thai ; KOH LANTA YAI (large Lanta) and KOHLANTA NOI (small Lanta)
Koh Lanta - Past and Present
Before Tourism
Tourism has become the main source of income on the island of
Koh Lanta Yai,
Ko
Lanta Noi is still a protected area and life still
continues with the local Muslim
population the same as it did when
their fathers were still young men.
Koh Lanta,
or, Ko
Lanta, (Koh being the officially used spelling for
the English transliteration of this word, meaning 'island', thus Koh
Lanta being the correct spelling, but Ko Lanta
remains the more common
spelling that is used.
How did it get the name Kohlanta? well i know of 2 different stories, the official one, and the one my local friends and their families tell me. Originally, Koh Lanta was not known as Koh Lanta it was known as "Pulau Satak", a Malay word meaning "island with long beach". The origins of how it came to be named "Lanta" is unclear, but it is supposed to be a distorted version of the Javanese word "Lantas" , which is a traditional kind of wooden fish grill, with a square top. This was supposed to have given the island the name "lantas", which, in 1917, when the archipelago of 53 islands were officially appointed a part of Krabi Province, was changed to be "Koh Lanta" .
The other version speaks nothing of Lanta once having been called Pulau Satak. It says that Lanta used to be called "Koh Namdtaa", meaning "island of tears". But that when people started to come from the mainland, locals changed the name to Lanta, so that the newcomers (both tourists, merchants and investors) would not be frightened away. The term "Koh Namdtaa" is also mentioned in a local muslim prophecy.
Local legends;
There is a legend with the local muslim islanders, that when people appear and walk upon the beaches naked (tourists in bikinis might fit this legend), then the island will not be Koh Lanta, rather "Koh Namdtaa" (island of tears). This has a kind of significance, if you think about the repercussions of tourism on the religious and cultural life of the local islanders. Before the advent of tourism, they led an extremely simple, but hard life on the island with no roads, cars or electricity (electricity was first introduced to the island in 1996!!!). They were extremely devout in their religious practise, and had none of the corruption that can be found so widespread in mainland Thailand. y friend Baw tells me that as he was a young boy, there were no roads, (he tells me there were only about 4 pickup trucks on the island and no ferry), just a dirt path, which he had to walk 5 miles to school every day, avoiding snakes and other dangerous animals on the way (there are still a lot of snakes on lanta, i have seen lots of cobras crossing the road in the time i have known Lanta, which if you think to the time when there were no cars, noise or roads, then you must conclude that there used to be a lot more snakes than there are these days). it used to take 3 day journey just to get to Klong Thom, the first large village on the mainland after the ferry station of Hua Hin. This was when there was no real ferry and the locals used to go with a longtail boat. These days you can go to Klong Thom and back in half a day, most of which is spent sitting on the ferry, or waiting to get on it in a queue of vehicles.
Before Tourism
What kind of importance had Koh Lanta before the Advent of Tourism?
Before tourism arrived and became the main source of income, Koh Lanta served as a stopping/trading port for some merchant ships, some of which traded between Kantang and Pukhet. Apart from that it was basically just an obscure island who most Thais had never heard of, with local muslim fishermen living from meager earnings gained from fishing and rubber harvest. As a main highway was built between Krabi and Trang cities, the trade routes changed from sea to land, and Lanta was forced to turn to other possible sources of income. Luckily, since the emid to late eighties, tourists had started to trickle in, and so the islanders began to build bungalow shacks, some investors opened luxury bungalows and resorts, and the boom started. Since then, Lanta has developed touristically and is now in full boom. Luckily, things change real slow on Lanta, so the place has still not lost it's original charm. The island still does not seem overcrowded, the resorts are spread far apart from each other, and it is still possible to find a beach where you can sit alone on. Between the now main port of Ban Saladan up to about the halfway point of the island (Pra Ae), is almost completely developed and full with resorts and hotels.Kaw Kwang, Lanta Villa, Lanta Sea House, Relax Bay Tropicana, Dream Team and Waterfall Bay Resort have been established on Lanta since the end of the 1980s, and now the empty strips between the large resorts have been filled with smaller budget bungalow operations.
After that, the Southern half the island (from about Klong Khong onwards) is more spread out, and less developed. The Southern most part is reserved as National Park, but has luxury resorts and villas along the beachside areas - inside the island is pure national park rain forest.
The coming of the Ferry
The island was without mainland electricity and ferry boat until 1996.
Now the ferry has increased the number of boats to 2 boats per
crossing, making the wait less long than it used to be, as they only
had a single boat.
The municipal distric office (town hall), was loacated in "Ban Sri Raya" on the southeast side of the island (Ampher Gao - Old Town), a small port of Chinese settlers, close to the sea gypsy village of Ban Sang Ka U. In 1998, it was relocated to a new edifice located on the tip of Koh Lanta Noi (small Lanta island), directly across the shallow water channel that separates the new main port of Lanta Yai (Ban Saladan), and Lanta Noi island.
Paved Roads
Lanta also now enjoys the luxury of a concrete road that strestches along the western side of the island all the way from ban Saladan on the northernmost point of Koh Lanta, right up to the Sea Gypsy village, Ban san Ka U on the southeastern tip (the road crosses the mountain range in the middle of the island to cross to the east side).
From where the road turns away from the west coast and crosses the mountains, there has also been another road constructed to continue along the western coastline, throught the national park, up to the lighthouse (nearly), on the southernmost point of west lanta. Other roads on the inner island are still unpaved (take some goggles if you plan to tour the island on a motorbike, as it gets real dusty!).
Telephone lines
State telephone lines were installed on Koh Lanta at the beginning of 2001. Mobile phone antennae came shortly afterwards (i can remember though, that at first, there was just one place in Klong Khong village where i could get my mobile to work (next to the fruit shop across from Buhlan Garden; If i walked 3 steps left or right, the connection would cut off, so i had to stand still in one place as i talked, which is difficult for me). Now though, most beaches have reception for gsm phones from most service providers (except for hutch, they have reception, but you can't buy the refill cards on the island).
Centenary Lanta!
In December 2001, Koh Lanta district became 100 years old. The Official Centenary was celebrated with a carnival-like processions of cars and trucks decorated in style, which drove in convoy from Saladan Village to Si Raya (Ampher Gao). They performed a ceremony of releasing shrimp into the Andaman Ocean, followed by a Gala banquet, attended by all the local high ranking officials and Civil servants. In Lanta Old town, a massive scenario was set, using an old sailing ship as the stage, parked on the edge of the pier. Local customs and traditions were shown in form of dance, music traditional arts and costumes. Sports and games were arranged and played with visitors invited from the surrounding provinces.
Mayor's speech
At the end, the "Naay Ampher" (mayor) gave a talk about what the future of Koh Lanta shold be - which i personally found so enchanting that i went to see him later to thank him for his ideas. He said that Lanta should not develop into a tourist trap with all the same attractions as phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya. he said that Lanta locals should not fall into the panic to do business that others have fallen into in other areas of Thailand. This has caused places to turn into "coney island" tourist hells. He said that on Lanta, we should try to think of alternative things to offer, like eco tourism, fishing, jungle huts, tree houses, agricultural tours etc.
Foresight
I think this is a wonderful thing that Thais are able to see the past and use it to see the future. So many charming location in the past have been turned into "Macdonalds" because of the almost unavoidavle sequence of events that cause a place to be "cute and visitable", then "popular because of it's cuteness", then "ruined because of all the people who came because they heard it was cute and visitable".
1.The first tourists/money sources arrive. 2. the locals react by trying to give them what they think the tourist wants (burgers, pizza, hot water etc).3. All of a sudden the things you came for aren't there anymore! (we dont have fried chilli and basil, we only have mexican food - "Oh i thought i was in Thailand, must have got on the wrong plane").
Listening to the Mayor of Lanta speak, with his foresight to what might happen if we don't take the future direction of Lanta's development into our own hands, then it may just become yet another Phuket or Koh samui.
We already have plenty of those alternatives, so let's keep Lanta the way it was and have a genuine alternative to commercial package tourism!
For this reason, i would like to ask people who visit lanta to try to support this idea and not look for or support such activities that might ruin the wonderful unchangedness of the island. Dont come looking for beer bars and discos. You should come lookin got either relax anbd switch off from the world, or , much better, to experience the charm and genuine pure-heartedness of Koh Lanta's people. To get a taste of their culture, beliefs, lives and pastimes. To know what they do in the monsoon when you are all gone..to know how hard their lives were, before tourism arrived (and still are with many people when the rains come)... Try to get to know the real Lanta and it's people. Respect them and show an interest in their island and their culture. It is, after all, their island, they were there before we casme, and whether we bring money or not, the locals do feel that money or no money, their isl;and, religion and customs, should be respected by all visitors. I find this to be the minimum that anyone could expect from any visitor to any country. So please don't go topless on the beaches or indulge in noisy parties etc. A noisy pary is also something that is by no means imposible, but must be done in theright place at the right time. The Locals are very open and flexible people, but one must always try to respect their ways; island people are very particular in their morals and ethics. He who understands this can stay on an island for a long time. He who does not understand this may not.
I personally don't like parties and don't live here because of the beaches or the girls (but maybe because of the food), so for me the most interesting aspects of Thailand is not a beach (although i love the scenic wonders of riley,the mountains around ao nang, ao leuk and krabi). I am totally fascinated with so many wonderful things that we westerners hardly get to know of in any depth. Thailand has so many treasures and knowledge that have never been translated or penetrated by westerners. I find so many things interesting and wish to document them in English on the www for you all. such as the sdhadow puppet theater of South Thailand, the way they weave their silk, insect farming, how a prawn farm is run, hunting methods, jungle herbs and medicines...the list is endless..the ways they fish, the things they eat, how they cook it...unfortunately i have only 2 hands and one keyboard and only 24 hours in a day, also i have 20 websites and blogs to run all by myself so it is hard to write lots of content quickly on all sites! (yes i have rings under my eyes - there's a donation button somewhere on the site if anyone feels sorry for me...).
Anywhow, this "about Koh lanta" / "history of Lanta" page will be changed and re-edited/added to in a couple of months so check back to see the updates. Look on the navbar on the homepage too! you will see that there is a new link (and it works too!) that says "sea gypsies". This is the next page to be developed and added to, so have a look..before end of july 2008 it will have some real interesting stuff about sea gypsies and their ceremony to baptize a new boat.