Koh Lanta…or, “Oh, that’s what they meant by ‘family friendly’!”

We’d read that Koh Lanta was less commercialized than most of the Thai islands, so after having our fill of over-the-top Phuket, we decided to hit the ferry once again. We planned a week at Red Snapper, a low key resort and acclaimed restaurant owned by a Dutch couple.

We embarked on the most incredible ferry ride ever (I mean beyond your wildest imagination gorgeousness! – click here if you don’t believe me), stopping on Koh Phi Phi en route.

We arrived on Koh Lanta to find it wasn’t quite as untouched as we’d hoped…it seemed to have been invaded by Swedes, but it was pleasant enough. Red Snapper was pretty secluded and there seemed to only be one or two other guests! We got settled and headed down to the beach to catch the sunset. We took a dip and then found a nice bar from which to view the sun’s last rays.

Just as we were enjoying our drinks, we saw a sight that I had never even experienced while living in baby-laden Bucktown…dads & babies on parade…on the beach! I then remembered that I had read somewhere that Koh Lanta was family friendly. When I’d read that I didn’t really think much of it, but in the days to come we would see people pushing strollers down poorly light streets with no sidewalk or shoulder and Swedish fathers driving their entire family around in a rented tuk tuk (that I presume they had no training or qualifications to be operating!). I will never think of the term”family friendly” in quite the same way again!