Muslim Culture
Koh Lanta’s population consists of about 80% Muslim people, making it the largest ethnical group on the island. They arrived about 300 years ago from the south and from places across the Malay peninsular such as Sai Buri and Nakhorn Si Thammarat. Most of these people were initially involved in fishing before moving into other trades and businesses as the island developed, such as oil and rubber tree plantations.
These settlers referred to themselves as ‘Orang Lon-Ta’ and on old Malay maps the island is named ‘Pulau Lonta’. It’s quite unclear if this is where the name Koh Lanta originated from, as other sources claim Thailand’s third largest island was named after the Javanese word ‘lantas’, meaning ‘fish grill’. Koh Lanta’s original name was Pulau Satak, which is another word from Malay-Muslim derivation and means ‘long beach island’.
Also the local cuisine has much of its origins in Malay and Indian food. Favourite dishes from the south include Indian-style Muslim curry (massaman), rice noodles in fish curry sauce (Khanom Jeen) and chicken birayani (chicken on yellow curried rice).
Today the local Thai Muslims on the island practice a moderate version of Islam. Unlike the deep south of Thailand, this area does not suffer from any religious tension and the different ethnic groups exhibit a show case of harmonious and peaceful intercultural living. Most of the folk speak with a thick Southern dialect which is difficult for even other Thais to understand.
