TL;DR: Koh Lanta Old Town, also called Ban Si Raya, is the island’s original trading port on the east coast, a single waterfront street of century-old wooden stilt houses and shophouses built by Chinese, Thai Muslim and Urak Lawoi sea gypsy communities. It’s quieter and far less developed than the west-coast beach strip (Klong Dao, Long Beach/Phra Ae, Klong Nin), with no beach of its own but a working pier, a handful of seafood restaurants built out over the water, and a weekend street market. Most visitors reach it by scooter (roughly ฿200-300 / ~US$6-9 a day to rent) or songthaew (roughly ฿50-100 / ~US$1.50-3 per person) in 15-30 minutes from the west-coast beaches, with Klong Nin the closest. Budget at least 1-1.5 hours to walk the street, longer if you stay for a seafood dinner around sunset. All prices ฿33 = US$1 (July 2026).
If the west coast of Koh Lanta is all beach clubs, resorts and sunset bars, Koh Lanta Old Town is the other half of the island’s personality: a narrow strip of wooden stilt houses along the east-coast shoreline, built by traders long before tourism arrived. It’s officially Ban Si Raya, though most visitors and drivers just call it Old Town, and it functions less as an attraction with a ticket booth and more as a neighbourhood you walk through, eat in and photograph at dusk. This guide covers the history and architecture, where to eat, how it compares to the west-coast beaches, how to get there, and how long to actually spend there. Every fact below is checked against current 2026 travel and heritage sources, listed at the end.
What is Koh Lanta Old Town?
Old Town is the original settlement on Koh Lanta Yai, sitting on the island’s east coast facing the channel towards Koh Lanta Noi and the mainland rather than the open Andaman Sea. Long before the west-coast beaches had a single resort, this was the working port, and its single main street still runs along the water, backed by wooden shophouses that have been repurposed into cafes, guesthouses, souvenir shops and seafood restaurants. There’s no beach here, so it’s not a place to swim or sunbathe; it’s a place to walk, eat and look at a part of Koh Lanta that predates the tourist strip by generations.
A port shaped by three communities
The area was first settled by the Urak Lawoi, an indigenous sea gypsy people who lived much of their lives on the water, before it developed into a trading port used by Chinese merchants and Thai Muslim traders moving goods along the Andaman coast. That mix, Chinese, Thai Muslim and Urak Lawoi, is still visible today in the shrines, shophouse architecture and community make-up of the street, and a small community museum in Old Town covers the history in more depth for anyone who wants it. It’s a genuinely different heritage story from the resort-driven west coast, and it’s the reason Old Town gets called the “real” or “original” Koh Lanta in a lot of travel writing.
The stilt houses and wooden shophouses
The single defining image of Old Town is its row of wooden buildings raised on stilts directly over the water. Many of the stilt houses along the shoreline are commonly described as around a century old, built that way specifically to cope with tidal flooding rather than for aesthetic effect, and a lot of them are now cafes, guesthouses or shops rather than private homes. That said, the current row of shophouses reflects a fair amount of rebuilding that took place through the 1960s, so “century-old” is more true of the building tradition and some individual structures than of every plank on the street. Wooden shutters, tiled roofs, Chinese lanterns and a shrine or two give the street a distinct look you won’t find on the beach side of the island.
Old Town’s pier and the sunset
The pier is the natural end point of a walk through Old Town: a wooden jetty stretching out over the water near a Chinese shrine, still used by local fishing boats rather than built purely for tourists. Because Old Town faces the channel towards Koh Lanta Noi and the mangrove-lined mainland rather than open sea, the sunset here is a softer, more muted affair than the sea-facing sunsets on the west-coast beaches, more about golden light on moored longtail boats and stilt houses than a dramatic drop into the horizon. It’s still a popular time to visit, and pairing a late-afternoon walk with dinner at one of the waterfront restaurants is the most common way people time a visit.
Where to eat: seafood in Old Town
Old Town is still a working fishing village, and its seafood restaurants trade on that. A handful of places along the main road, including Old Town Sea Food, Sawasdee Restaurant, Fresh Restaurant and Beautiful Restaurant, are built out over the water on the same style of stilts as the houses around them, with views across to the mangroves and neighbouring islands. Most serve the standard Thai coastal repertoire: grilled or steamed whole fish, stir-fried squid, prawns and crab, generally priced in line with other mid-range seafood spots elsewhere on Koh Lanta rather than at a steep premium. It’s a quieter, more local dining scene than the beach-facing restaurants on the west coast, with fewer tables and earlier closing times on weeknights.
Old Town vs the west-coast beaches
| Lanta Old Town | West-coast beach strip (Klong Dao, Long Beach, Klong Nin) | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | East coast, facing the channel and mangroves | West coast, facing the open Andaman Sea |
| What it’s for | Heritage, architecture, seafood, pier walks | Swimming, sunbathing, beach bars, resorts |
| Development | One low-rise street, limited nightlife | Highest concentration of resorts and restaurants |
| Crowd level | Quiet, especially on weekdays | Busiest around Klong Dao and Long Beach |
| Sunset | Muted, over the mangrove channel | Direct sea-facing sunset |
| Best for | A half-day or evening trip | Where most visitors actually stay |
Klong Dao is the closest west-coast beach to the ferry pier at Saladan and the most developed for families and resorts, Long Beach (Phra Ae) is the longest and widest stretch with beachfront restaurants, and Klong Nin further south has a quieter, more laid-back scene with a smaller village behind it. None of them look or feel anything like Old Town, which is exactly the point of visiting both.
Getting to Old Town from the west-coast beaches
Renting a scooter is the most common way to reach Old Town, and Klong Nin is the closest beach to start from. A scooter runs roughly ฿200-300 (~US$6-9) a day, and the drive from most west-coast accommodation takes somewhere in the 15-30 minute range, with the trip from Long Beach or the Kantiang Bay area typically cited at the higher end of that, around 20-30 minutes. If you’d rather not drive, a songthaew (a shared pickup-truck taxi that runs along the island’s main road) costs roughly ฿50-100 (~US$1.50-3) per person, or you can book a private taxi for roughly ฿200-500 (~US$6-15) depending on distance. Once you’re there, park up and walk; the street is short, and driving through it defeats the point of a place built for wandering. For the fuller rundown of each beach and where to base yourself, see our Koh Lanta beaches guide and where to stay on Koh Lanta.
How long to spend, and the best time of day
Budget a minimum of an hour to an hour and a half for a proper walk through Old Town, and consider a half-day if you’re eating there too. The street itself is short, well under a kilometre, so a fast walk-through takes only 20 minutes or so, but most of the value is in slowing down: browsing the shops, reading the museum’s history panels, and sitting down for a seafood meal rather than treating it as a photo stop. Late afternoon into early evening is the time most guides recommend, both for the softer light on the water and because it sets you up naturally for dinner at one of the pier-side restaurants. If you want the added layer of a weekend market, Old Town runs one along its main road on Saturdays and Sundays, roughly from 11am to 10pm. For more on timing a visit around what else is happening on the island, check what’s on in Koh Lanta and our broader things to do in Koh Lanta guide.
Honest downsides
- No beach. If swimming or sunbathing is the goal, Old Town isn’t it; you’re trading sand for architecture and seafood.
- You need your own transport. Without a scooter or a taxi, getting to and from Old Town on public songthaews takes more planning than a five-minute stroll from your resort.
- Quiet after dark on weekdays. Nightlife here is limited compared with the west-coast beach bars, and some shops and restaurants close early outside the weekend market.
- The sunset isn’t the classic sea view. Because Old Town faces the mangrove channel rather than open water, don’t expect the same dramatic horizon sunset you’d get on the west-coast beaches.
- It’s small. The main street is short, and a fast visit can feel over quickly if you don’t slow down to eat or browse.
Sources
- Amazing Lanta: Koh Lanta Old Town: history, stilt-house architecture, atmosphere, attractions
- Banana Leaf Travel: Is Koh Lanta Old Town Worth Visiting?: Urak Lawoi and trading-port history, stilt-house age, time needed, comparison to the west coast, travel time from accommodation
- CleverThai: Guide to Koh Lanta Old Town: Chinese/Muslim/Urak Lawoi heritage, architecture, weekend market hours, travel time from Long Beach and Kantiang Bay
- Treasures of Thailand: Koh Lanta Old Town: sea gypsy and Chinese-trader history, 1960s shophouse rebuilding, minimum time recommendation, weekend market timing
- Ferry Samui: Koh Lanta Old Town Pier: pier history and architecture, working-fisherman’s-pier character, sunset atmosphere
- Amazing Lanta: Best Places to Eat in Koh Lanta Old Town: named Old Town restaurants, stilt-built dining, fresh-catch seafood
- Amazing Lanta: Koh Lanta’s Best Seafood Restaurants: general Koh Lanta seafood dining context
- Koh Lanta Tours: Complete Guide to Getting Around Koh Lanta: scooter rental prices, songthaew and taxi fares, west-coast beach distances
- Amazing Lanta: Klong Nin Beach Koh Lanta: confirms Klong Nin as the closest west-coast beach to Old Town