Lanta Old Town

Along the old street

Museum at the roundabout

The Koh Lanta Community Museum fills the old wooden district office at the roundabout where the Old Town road begins. It covers the island's Thai, Chinese and Urak Lawoi sea-nomad communities, and entry is free.

The shophouse street

A single street of wooden shophouses, many about a century old and built on stilts over the water. Most are now cafés, seafood restaurants and craft shops with terraces over the sea at the back.

Chinese shrine

The red-and-gold Maha Katyayana shrine, also called the Phra Sangkajai shrine, stands on the seafront with two golden dragons at the entrance.

The pier

A long pier runs out from the street and gives the view back over the stilt houses. Longtails leave from here for the small islands offshore.

Weekend market

Stalls set up along the street on Saturdays and Sundays, and a local morning market has run here on Sundays for years.

Lanta Old Town, the village of Ban Si Raya, was Koh Lanta's port and trading center long before the west-coast beaches had resorts. Today it's a single street of wooden shophouses on the east coast, many about a hundred years old and built on stilts over the water, looking across the strait to the mainland. It's about 20 km south of Saladan and roughly 25 minutes over the island from Klong Dao or Phra Ae.

An hour or two covers it. Start at the roundabout, where the old wooden district office is now the free Koh Lanta Community Museum, which tells the story of the island's Thai, Chinese and Urak Lawoi sea-nomad communities. Walk the street to the red-and-gold Chinese shrine on the seafront, then out along the long pier for the view back over the stilt houses. Longtails leave from the pier for Koh Por, Koh Bubu and Koh Talabeng if you agree a price with the boatman first.

The eating is the best reason to stay longer. The back of most shophouses is a café or seafood restaurant with a terrace over the sea, and prices tend to undercut the west-coast beach strips. The shops sell crafts, clothes and souvenirs and start to repeat after a few doors. On Saturdays and Sundays stalls set up along the street, and a local morning market has run here on Sundays for years, so a Sunday is the day to come.

Staying here suits a quiet few nights in a guesthouse with a sea view, but there's no swimming beach, so you'd ride to the west coast most days. Most people base themselves on a west-coast beach and come over for an afternoon.