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Anyone who has island-hopped around Thailand has heard the myth before – islands made up of empty beaches, hammocks in palm trees, fresh fish cooked on open fires on the beach, basic beach huts etc. Years ago, Ko Phangan, Ko Phi Phi and Ko Samui were certainly being sold this way, and to the gullible still very much are. There’s no doubting their beauty, but they have been rampantly developed, and you’re more likely to find a Pizza Hut than a basic beach hut these days. That’s not to say that they’re not a lot of fun – if you’re after sun, sea, sex and Singha then you’re in for a great time (as tens of thousands who pour into Phangan for the overwhelming and over hyped Full Moon Party will tell you).
As someone who wanted to find a small island that was far quieter and less developed than those mentioned above, but still with places to eat, maybe some beach shacks for a drink and plenty of crystal clear waters to snorkel in, I was left scratching my head somewhat. Even trawling through the normally ultra reliable Lonely Planet came up short, until someone told me about Ko Lipe. It’s a small island nestled in the middle of the Tarutao National Marine Park at the far South of Thailand’s Andaman coast. In fact it’s so far South that you’re closer to Langkawi in Malaysia than any of the other touristed Thai islands. Perhaps this distance from Bangkok and the bigger Thai island playgrounds is one reason that Lipe remains fairly unknown, the other probably being that the Lonely Planet actively discourages travellers from visiting to stop it becoming spoilt. More on that pertinent point later.
Unless you’re in Langkawi or already on an Andaman island, Lipe is quite a journey. If you’re in Bangkok, then you’re looking at an overnight bus/train journey to one of the southern transport hubs, followed by a couple of hours on a small ferry. Even if you fly south you still have the bus and boat to contend with – Lipe is far too small to have an airport (see this page for a guide to getting there). Perhaps it’s this relative isolation that adds to its charm and has prevented the high rises and bar girls from reaching its shores.
We first visited in late 2008 and fell in love straight away. To my eyes, Lipe was jaw droppingly beautiful. Since there is no pier (let alone an airport), you embark from the small ferry and are taken to your chosen side of the island on a long-tail boat. And whichever side you choose, you will be blown away – it’s all the Thai island paradise clichés you could ever want: White sands? Check. Crystal clear water? Check. Laid back beach shacks? Check. No cars? Check. And it’s still possible to find a bungalow on the beach for around 500B, which can be a rarity in the islands these days. You can walk clear across the island from Pattaya beach (the more sheltered and touristy one) to Sunrise beach in about 10 minutes, and the smal road("Walking Street") between contains a number of little shops, massage places, eateries and dive schools, with local houses set back from the paths. Very laid back, low key, and nothing over a storey high. The sea is shallow, clear and warm – perfect for a swim and with some pretty good snorkelling should you get far enough out (though you’ll still struggle to get past shoulder high without a concerted effort!). There are also some lovely paths across the island linking the various beaches, and these are great for running if you have the energy.
There’s not a great deal to do other than laze on the perfect beaches, eat at some of the islands restaurants (which are good but not great generally) or head out on scuba diving trips. Nightlife is fairly quiet, though you will always find a beach bar to serve you well into the night – no thumping baselines or flouro-clad revellers here. Life is laid back, much like the sea-gypsy chao-lay families that inhabit the island and run a lot of the businesses. Unlike some of the more touristed Thai islands, it seems that resentment of tourists is low and certainly back in 2008 there was little intrusion into every day island life – an example of this came when we were walking along Walking Street and were dragged off by a group of locals to join in some wedding celebrations – the Singha flowed like erm, wine, the karaoke pumped out and Thais and tourists alike seemed to be having a great (if slightly bemusing) time. It’s fair to say that after a good week we had fallen hard for this gem of an island.
Which is why, when we travelled again in the region this year, we had to think long and hard about whether to return to ‘our’ little paradise. In the end we couldn’t resist. But though it is still as stunning as ever, increased awareness of the island has without doubt changed little Lipe, and faster than we might have thought possible. Whether that change is for the better or worse depends on your personal opinion. Thanks to the global recession, visitor numbers seemed to be slightly down on our previous visit, but the most striking thing is that this doesn’t seem to have stopped the developers from coming in and building more hotels, increasingly upmarket and increasingly pervasive on the ‘skyline’ of the island. There were visibly fewer bungalows and a greater number of resorts, though this should be taken in context – we had just come from rampantly developed Phi Phi, and Lipe’s building work was small-fish compared to what the money-men have done to that place! The most striking change though was the amount of rubbish strewn about the place – bricks and mortar from abandoned building projects, piles of plastics and other non-biodegradables lying around on the paths, drains struggling to deal with the increased amount of waste water. The locals not directly involved with the tourist community seem to have shrunken away behind the scenes, replaced by their flashier, more tourist-savvy colleagues from Phi Phi and Phangan. Part of the problem is the chao lay themselves sadly – they are simply not used to dealing with tourists in ever-increasing numbers, and the majority seem to have no concept of dealing with their rubbish in an environmentally friendly way – leaving it in piles beside the paths and invoking the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality. It seems that the Lonely Planet had an excellent point when they kept coverage of this stunning island to a minimum in their guides and actually implored travellers not to go. We laughed at their attitude on our first visit; not so much on our second.
All of the above seems to be corroborated by a report by the Sustainable Tourism Network, stating that the island is is faced with numerous environmental problems, including destruction of wetlands, waste disposal, and water shortages. But all is not lost it seems: A growing number of the locals (lead it seems by the personable Mr Pooh of Pooh’s Bungalows) are aware of the problems they have caused (greed and desire for Baht outweighed sensible development for a while and the consequences are there for all to see), and are finally trying to raise awareness of the issues and do something about them. There are plenty of ‘Save Ko Lipe’ banners about the island, particularly on ‘Walking Street’, and things actually seem to be happening to improve the situation – there is now a regular garbage service that comes to the island to take away the ever increasing amount of rubbish, as well as proper recycling bins throughout the island. Water management issues are finally being addressed, and the realisation seems to have sunk in that something must be done, and fast.
The easy answer is a dramatic one – to force the Thai government to add Lipe to the Turutao National Park and therefore limit the number of visitors, as with the other island protected by National Park status. But who are we to decide this? It is arrogant and remiss of us to decide what the Thai Government should do. We should also remember that by removing tourism altogether we are denying the islanders an income far higher than they could expect from their traditional fishing enterprises.
We think that you should decide for yourself whether to visit. The reality is that unless some serious rethinking is done by the Thai business owners, that no matter how well intentioned the rather amateurish clean attempts have been, the tiny island will be totally destroyed within a few years as it struggles and fails to deal with the havoc that mass tourism is causing on its ecosystem.
Those that do still visit need to choose businesses that actually care about their environmental footprint, forcing those that don’t to either change their ways or go out of business. Ask questions of business owners about their sustainabilty policies and what they do with waste, and do your bit as a visitor to do the following:
· Reuse your water bottles - support local business that offer refills and recycling (if you have to get rid of them then please use the recycling bins)
· Avoid taking long showers and leaving the taps running
· Do not throw paper or other sanitary objects into the toilets
· Avoid using the toilets near the beaches. Sewage will eventually filter through the sand and into the ocean where it is attacked by parasites and becomes living, leading to toxins ingested by fish as well as an unsafe and ugly ocean and beach
· Support business that are aware and take care
· Unwrap items on the Thai mainland, leave plastic wrappings and unneccessary bags behind
· Leave anything that will eventually be discarded on the mainland. I.e. sacks, and other plastics
· Keep your used batteries and return them to the mainland
· We would also like to remind you, out of respect to the chao lay community and Thai culture, please dress appropriately when walking around the island
Conclusion
In short, don't therefore arrive expecting an untouched paradise - you're years too late. The island is still a stunningly beautiful place, and it’s still a wonderfully different experience to visiting Samui or Phi Phi. But bear in mind that your mere presence could be helping to destroy its ecosystem: unless we force the businesses into adopting more sustainable tourism, Ko Lipe could well be destroyed within a decade. What a tragedy that would be for one of the most beautiful islands in South East Asia, if not the world.
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