Performances include Shadow Puppet Theater (Nang Talung), Traditional Thai Dance and Sea Gypsy Folk Music (Rong Ngeng) Enjoy great and affordable Thai & Western food, beer, coffee and many local Arts & Crafts exhibits. Get away from the crowds and become a part of a real Thai Fishing and Cultural Community!

December 26 & 27th, 2009

4pm until midnight

The LANTA OLD TOWN ARTIST WALKING STREET will be held on December 26th and 27th, 2009 on the main waterfront street in charming Lanta Old Town. Local and Foreign Artists and their crafts with a fine selection of Jewelry, Batik, Leather, Watercolors, Clothing and much more. Authentic food with an abundant choice of delicious snacks and meals available through out both evenings. Local Bars + Restaurants  will offer dinner and drink specials. Starts nightly at 4pm until 12 midnight.

Thai number for booking booths: 081 970 5972 or 085 884 9459.

Don’t Miss Out!

Floating Flower Arrangement for Loy Krathong

The local authorities here in Old Town have just announced a ‘Loy Krathong’ festival. Loy Krathong is an annual event celebrated in the whole of Thailand which allows you to appease the spirits and to get rid of your bad luck all at the same time!

To do this you must set adrift a ‘Krathong’ which is an ornately decorated float made from a piece of banana tree (actually it’s not a tree, it’s a plant, hence banana plantation) this is then decorated with flowers, incense, money, bits of hair, fingernails, candles and stuff like that. The idea is that the ‘Krathong’ drifts with the wind or current and disappears along with all your bad luck! It is a very beautiful festival and this year, as a promotion of Thai culture and traditions, the powers that be are making a special event in Old Town, for Thais and tourists alike.

Loy Krathong Festival Goers

On November 2nd, starting around 4pm, there will be a parade through old town with displays of magnificent Krathongs and beautiful Thai ladies! this will be followed by a beauty pageant, a competition for the best Krathong, a competition for the best ideas for promotion and preserving this kind of Thai tradition, stage shows and, of course the launching of the krathongs.

Best Krathong Competition

In true ‘Old Town’ fashion, we expect this to be a really great event and we invite all of you to come along, with your ‘krathongs’ (no Styrofoam please!) and enjoy it with us.

OCT, 4th & 5th 2009.  Traditional Chao Ley Festival (literally translated: ‘Boat Day’) celebrated with food, music and dance in Hua Laem 2, Lanta Old Town. From Sunset to Sunrise

original watercolor by local artist

Art cooperative starting in Ko Lanta!
We are a group of eclectic artists and are dedicated to promoting visual arts and handicrafts in Lanta Old Town, Ko Lanta, Krabi, Thailand. We are looking for a few more Artists to join our cooperative. Our goal is to create, show and sell our work  together.  Must volunteer 1 day a week to work in our shop.  Come be apart of  this charming village.

Contact Susanna for more info.

The free visas are available from all Thai embassies and consulates around the world and apply to the 60 day, single entry, visa (extendable for 1 month at 1900 THB).

All other visa types remain unchanged.

Laanta Lanta Festival is an evening event that attracts people from all over the island and beyond, creating a party atmosphere throughout the whole town, an absolute ‘must do’.

Firewalking in Lanta Old Town

On October 11- 13, 2008 we celebrated the annual Vegetarian Festival with the local Chinese-Thai community. All local residents of Chinese ancestry observed a 3-day strictly vegetarian diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit making. Vegetarian food was prepared and eaten communally 3 times a day in a tent in front of the Chinese Temple. Everyone was invited to refrain from eating meat and join in the vegetarian meals for three days. On the last day, processions of worshippers paraded down the main road playing their drums and chanting. Later in the evening, worshippers engaged in a spiritual trance and walked barefoot over hot coals in front of the temple.

On the full moon night of Oct 14, 2008 we celebrated Loy Rua or also know as “Setting Adrift of the Chao Lay Boat”. This bi-annual animist festival takes place on Ko Lanta during full moon of the sixth and eleventh month in

Dance floor at Loy Rua

the lunar calendar. This religious rite is performed by the Sea Gypsies (Chao Ley), who gather on the beach near Hua Laem in Lanta Old Town and Saladan. Two main music areas were set up. One with a large PA system featuring popular Thai music for dancing and the second under a “sala” where the Chao Lay men played traditional instruments and sang. We danced with the other partygoers to their famous “rong ngeng” Traditional Chao Ley folk music around the communally built boat to be set adrift at the first break of day.