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By *olmey OP Man
52 weeks ago
Koh Lanta |
As the title says, Christmas greetings from the tropical paradise island of Koh Lanta in Southern Thailand. This is my second Christmas on Lanta, so I thought I’d post a bit of a catch up 
Christmas has been great, (if tourist quiet this year), with a great party at the Horizon Beach bar, (one of my locals), on Christmas Eve that was still banging when I left at 2.30am to go enjoy some horizontal pleasures with a long time lady friend with benefits who'd just closed her bar on the beach and messaged me an invite to come join her for some fun. Yesterday, (Christmas day), started off at Dee’s, one of my English neighbours whose Bloody Mary Christmas Breakfast’s seems to have become a Christmas institution for the ex pats of Klong Nin, (our village), before we all moved onto another Brit friends in the evening who was hosting a Christmas dinner and party at her beautiful small Klong side homestay resort in the village It’s 10am Boxing Day here, (we are 7 hours in front of the UK here), and a mild 27 degrees C as I sit and type this sat on the porch of my little Thai house that’s on the edge of the jungle, yet only 100 yards away from one of the best beaches on Koh Lanta
As I’ve said above, this Christmas, (the start of our short tourist season), Koh Lanta is very quiet, (even quieter than last year that was hit by really high from Europe air fares), with this not being good for the islands economy that is almost totally reliant on tourism, the bars and resorts here only having around 100 days to make enough money to last them through to next season. I hope the tourism picks up soon, I had some great fun with a few attractive tourists last year, (I punched well above my weight ), and am looking forward to more of the same, especially in February when I have a Swedish lady friend I met last year coming to stay with me for the month
From keeping up with the UK news online and speaking to some of the visitors we have had here from all over Europe my guess is that the lack of tourists is down to the economies of the UK and Europe being so bad and air fares, (although lower), being so high that this year people just can’t afford long distance holidays and are opting for something cheaper closer to home.
As for living out here? I’ve no doubts at all that leaving the UK and coming to live out here on Koh Lanta was the best move I’ve ever made, not only on a cost of living basis, (the total outgoings for my air conditioned bungalow including rent, electricity, high speed fibre internet and water are less than £100 a month), but also on lifestyle, you can’t beat beach living on a tropical island
If anybody is considering leaving the UK and thinking of coming to live in Thailand, feel free to hit me with any questions you may have, I’ve been here 18 months now and am quite familiar with local costs and any visa issues you may have, with me having a retirement visa, (that UK citizens can get from 50 years old), that I only need to renew annually.
Anyway, must go, time for my daily swim in the sea and then breakfast in one of the bars. I can’t wait for The Horizon Bar New Years Eve Party, last years was fantastic with around 20 of us still tripping the light fantastic on the beach at 6am when the sun rose
I hope that you all had a great Christmas,
Holmey
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