Krabi is a small city with a population of around 18,000. Located just upriver from the coast, it has no beaches and most visitors make a beeline for Had Yao, Ao Nang or Rai Leh (Railay). Nevertheless, Krabi is a relaxed place which is pleasant enough for travellers to spend a night or two and one can certainly better experience Thailand here than in Ao Nang or the other beach resorts.

Krabi, a coastal province, abounds with countless natural attractions that never fail to impress tourists. Such attractions include white sandy beaches, crystal clear water, fascinating coral reefs, caves and waterfalls, as well as, numerous islands. The distinguishing feature of both Krabi and neighboring Phang Nga is the massive limestone karsts, rising vertiginously out of the flat rice paddies on land and as islands from the sea.

Add in some gorgeous beaches and excellent scuba diving and rock climbing, and it's little wonder that tourism in the area has been booming. While less commercialized than neighboring Phuket, Krabi Province cannot be described as undiscovered: it receives two million visitors a year, and the major tourist areas cater extensively for foreigners.

Beaches in Krabi

Ao Nang - Formally Ao Phra Nang ("Princess Bay") although everybody uses the short form, Ao Nang is the most 'Westernized' beach in Krabi, originally a backpacker hotspot but now moving slowly upmarket as the airport brings in higher flyers. While not quite as scenic as Rai Leh, there is a good range of cheap accommodation, many good restaurants, easy transport and travel/tour agencies ready to cater to your every whim, making it a good base for exploring Krabi.

Orienting yourself in Ao Nang is easy: almost everything is located either along the beach, which runs west-east, or along the Airport Road (Highway 4203) which goes up north from the east end of the beach. Long-tails arrive on the beach near the junction of the two roads.

Rai Ley - Railay - also commonly known as Railay, is a tourist area located on the Andaman Coast of Thailand, in Krabi Province. Rai Leh is primarily known as a rock climbing hot spot, attracting climbers from all over the world to its superb towering limestone.

Ton Sai - Ton Sai is a beach near Krabi in Thailand, offering a combination of inexpensive accommodation and great rock climbing routes that make it popular with both backpackers and climbers alike. Compared to neighbouring Rai Leh and Ao Nang it's relatively rough around on the edges; in particular, the beach is unsuitable for swimming and becomes quite rocky as the tide goes out.

Haad Yai - (Long Beach) - the last untouched beach in Krabi Province, and perhaps the most spectacular with its views of Jum Mountain and Ao Nang's cliff walls.

Neighboring Islands

Koh Jum - is a small island between Ko Lanta and Krabi Town. While the south end of the island is known as Ko Jum (or Jam or Cham), the northern part is also called Ko Phu (or Pu), and local villagers take fierce pride in the two different names.

Koh Lanta - is an island district off the west coast of Thailand. Like many other destinations in Krabi Province it is known for its diving and long white beaches.

Koh Lanta consists of several islands, the two largest of which are Koh Lanta Noi ( "Small Lanta Island") and Koh Lanta Yai ("Big Lanta Island"). However, Koh Lanta Yai is where all the tourist action is, so this article will refer to it simply as "Koh Lanta".

Koh Lanta is popular with tourists seeking a holiday away from the parties. It's popular with a significantly older crowd than nearby Ko Phi Phi: more walking on the beach and watching the sunset than drinking and dancing. However, there are plenty of bars and the longer term stayers are friendly and know how to party! It is also popular with families with young children, and of course, with divers.

You could say that while Phi Phi is chicken barbecues and Mekong buckets, Lanta is chicken flesh and buckets and spades. But you'd be wrong. Ko Lanta can certainly provide a party if you know where to look. Koh Lanta is a little less well-known than Koh Phi Phi, which has become more commercialised and corporate, but it is hardly undiscovered: the several beaches on the west coast of Koh Lanta Yai are each strung with a line of resorts and bungalows, although the farther down the island you venture, the less this is true. And even when the island is at it fullest, there will be a quiet place for you to relax - the beaches are never full.

Koh Lanta is especially popular with Swedish tourists: although the "tourist language" is English as it is in most places in Thailand, and you will find menus and so on are translated into English, expect the poolside language to be Swedish much of the time. However, there are still many English and Irish bars and restaurants to visit.

Koh Phi Phi - is a small archipelago in Krabi Province.

The named islands are:

Koh Phi Phi Don, the largest and only populated island.

Koh Phi Phi Leh (also known as Ko Phi Phi Lai), a smaller island to the south, popularised when parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed there. Uninhabited apart from bird nest harvesters and a few Maya Bay wardens; expect plenty of tourists during daylight hours, especially in Maya Bay, the beach of the eponymous movie.

Koh Phai ('Bamboo Island'), a small low-lying islet to the north of Phi Phi Don with several good beaches.

Koh Yung (Yung Island) is north of Ko Phi Phi Don. The island has a stone beach in the east and small sandy beaches at the foot of the hills. It is teeming with various kinds of colourful coral reefs.

Bida Nok and Bida Nai, two small adjacent limestone karsts to the south of Phi Phi Leh, with near-vertical cliff walls rising from the sea.

Although rapidly becoming less and less attractive due to the masses of tourists as well as the construction on the island, it's still a very beautiful place to visit, and is one of those places everybody should go at least once in their lifetime.

Although the beaches are not the best in Thailand, the place has a good vibe and nightlife and there are 18 dive shops to choose from. Most of the (over)development of Phi Phi Don is situated in or around Tonsai village, which is on the low, sandy isthmus that joins the two hilly spurs that comprise the rest of the island.

There are also other, quieter resorts on Long Beach, Laem Thong, and at other less accessible areas of the island. Koh Phi Phi was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, when nearly all of the island's infrastructure was wiped out. Redevelopment has, however, been swift, and services like electricity, water, Internet access and ATMs are up and running again, but waste handling has been slower to come back online.

It should be noted that, while very laid back, many of the local islanders are Muslim. You will lose considerable respect if you walk around town in your skimpies (this applies to Buddhist areas of Thailand too!). While many tourists do in fact parade down Main Street in their Speedos or thong bikinis, to avoid offending your hosts, it's usually best just to throw on a pair of shorts or a sarong; similarly, topless on the beaches, while grudgingly tolerated by most locals, is also probably best avoided.

Koh Siboya - is off the regular tourist trail. Other than the island's three resorts, you will find only a few local stalls selling household supplies, snacks and petrol as you explore the local culture.

Koh Siboya is home to about a 1000 or so residents whose work is mainly in the rubber plantations or fishing. Dirt roads and foot paths connect the 4 or 5 small communities on this 3 x 10 km island. The lack of easy access to the island has limited transportation to either motorcycles or walking. A new community clinic is able to handle minor medical problems, but the medical staff is there only during daytime hours.

Koh Siboya escaped the destruction of the crushing tsunami of December 2004, as it was in the lee of Ko Jum, but did have to deal with the high water surge which devastated the island's fishing fleet.