Pic: Sunrise Beach at Koh Lipe in Thailand (Jan 2015)

Pic: Thai Airways Royal Silk Business Class B777-300ER
Back in January, I booked a last minute side trip from Australia to Thailand. I used 80K LifeMiles to book Brisbane – Bangkok roundtrip in Thai Airways Royal Silk Business Class for a total cost of €1092. Revenue tickets started at €2800.

Pic: Rooftop Pool at Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road
For my stays in Bangkok, I booked two brand new IHG hotels. Before heading to Koh Lipe, I spent 3 nights at Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 (room) at €43 per night. Upon my return from the island, I stayed two nights at Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road at €101 per night. Stays which earned me valuable credits for the IHG Set Your Sights promo.

Pic: King Deluxe Room at Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road

Pic: Rooftop pool at night, Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road

Pic: Idyllic Concept Resort at Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe
Koh Lipe is located 70km off the west coast of Thailand’s most southwestern province Satun with Malaysian island Langkawi only 40km away. Getting to Koh Lipe is fairly easy these days, both AirAsia and NokAir offer tickets which combine flights, harbor transfers and ferries. I used NokAir (€84) to get to the island and AirAsia (€76) to return to Bangkok. Note: AirAsia and Nokair use different airports and harbors to get to Koh Lipe.

Pic: Longtail boat to Ko Adang Koh Lipe Thailand
Located just outside Tarutao National Marine Park, Koh Lipe is surrounded by uninhabited islands which you can visit by long-tail boat.

Pic: Beach at Ko Adang near Koh Lipe

Pic: Enjoying Ko Adang near Koh Lipe
Koh Lipe is easily circumnavigated by foot in less than an hour. There are no cars, only motorbike taxis which can take you to most places on the island for 50THB (€1,4). The island has 3 main beaches: Pattaya Beach in the south, Sunrise Beach in the east and Sunset Beach in the west. (Koh Lipe Map)

Pic: Pattaya Beach at Ko Lipe
I booked my accommodation on the island via Airbnb and stayed at Time To Chill. My recommendation would be, except for extreme high season, to only book your first night and shop around once you’re on the island. You can see the accommodation yourself and negotiate better rates by cutting the middleman.

Pic: Happy Vibe Beach Bar at Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe

Pic: Lunch spot at Happy Vibe Beach Bar, Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe
Ko Lipe is a destination to chill. Main activities are enjoying the beach, snorkeling / diving and visiting nearby islands.

Pic: Tiny people at Sunrise Beach, Koh Lipe

Pic: Serendipity Beach Resort Koh Lipe
Koh Lipe is another example of why I love Thailand so much. It’s an affordable, easy to travel to and incredibly beautiful vacation destination!

Pic: Sunset at Sunset Beach, Koh Lipe
Pictures: Sony DSC-RX100 MI & GoPro HERO4