Ko Lipe
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Koh Lipe (Thai: เกาะหลีเป๊ะ) is an island in the Adang-Rawi Archipelago in the Satun Province of Thailand.
Koh Lipe is a tiny island in the Andaman Sea located 70 km off the southwest coast of Thailand near the Malaysian border. The Thai name is transliterated many different ways into English. The most common names in English are Koh Lipe, Koh Lipeh, Ko Lipey and Ko Lipe. Koh Lipe is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park and is directly south of the larger islands Ko Adang and Ko Rawi and about 50 km from the island of Tarutao. It was settled by a band of sea gypsies originally from Malaysia, known as the 'Chao Lei' people or also known as Urak Lawoi. This island has three main beaches: Sunset beach, Sunrise beach and Pattaya beach. Accommodation from grass huts to air-conditioned bungalows can be found on these beaches. It is possible to walk around the entire island in little over an hour.
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[edit] Traveling to Koh Lipe
In high season (November to May) there are several locations from which you can take a ferry or speedboat to Koh Lipe, including: Pak Bara, Langkawi, Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, and Trang.
In low season (May to October) the only way to get to Koh Lipe is by speedboat from Pak Bara at around 11:30hrs.
From Langkawi, Malaysia there are two speedboats per day (from November until May): one at 9:45 am costing 128 Malaysian Ringit and one at 2:30 pm, costing 118 Malaysian Ringit; alternatively. These boats dock at the south end of Pattaya Beach.
Other ferries are met by longtail boats offering transfers to anywhere on Ko Lipe for an additional 50 baht/person.
[edit] Things to do on the island
There are many great sites for scuba diving and snorkeling around Koh Lipe and its neighbouring islands. On Koh Lipe there are many dive shops and resorts that rent out snorkel gear or arrange boat trips.
The calm, clear water makes the Koh Lipe area ideal for snorkeling, with 25% of the world's tropical fish species found in the area. There are large varieties of fish around the coral just just a few meters deep straight off all of the beaches.
People are fast realising that the coral and sea life around Koh Lipe is one of the best in Thailand many dive schools are still setting up to accommodate the large volume of travellers wishing to scuba dive.
[edit] Environmental Concerns
Koh Lipe is outside of the Tarutao National Park jurisdiction, and as such is exempt from the laws and legislation that protects the rest of the national park. The island is rapidly growing to meet the demands of increase in tourism, and is facing quite a few issues with rubbish and animal conservation. There are projects currently in place to keep Koh Lipe clean.
[edit] References
- Thiro, Roaslyn. DK Eyewitness travel guides Thailand. Dorling Kindersley Limited,2004.
- Williams, China,Anderson Aaron, Atkinson, Brett. Lonely Planet Thailand. 2007
