Pimalai Resort & Spa
A hundred acres of forest above nine hundred metres of bay, divided into an upper house and a lower one.
Pimalai holds a hundred acres of forest on the south-western side of Koh Lanta, running down to nine hundred metres of sand on Kantiang Bay. The estate is two settlements on one holding: a beachside resort at the waterline and a hillside of pool villas set high in the canopy above it, each with its own pool, joined by the estate's own road through the trees. A hundred and twenty-one rooms, suites and villas are distributed across that vertical distance, which is the unusual thing here. The ground is not a strip behind a beach but a slope, and the slope is what the house bought.
Kantiang Bay lies a long way down the island from the ferry piers, and the house brings most guests by its own speedboat around the southern coast after about two hours of road from Krabi, rather than by the road that now runs the length of Koh Lanta. Nine hundred metres of frontage is the figure the estate publishes and a hundred acres of forest is the figure behind it; whether that frontage is held exclusively or faced is not stated in the material consulted here, and no claim is made for it. What is not in doubt is the depth, from sand into rainforest.
The slope is the holding. A hundred acres of forest above a bay gives this estate its boundary in the vertical. What separates the house is the ground above the beach, not the distance along the shore.
Arrival is by the estate's boat. Koh Lanta has a road down its length, and Pimalai still runs a speedboat from the Krabi side. The approach is a decision about who turns up rather than a necessity.
Who it is not for
Pimalai is wrong for anyone who wants a short transfer, since the arrival is two hours of road and then a boat. It is wrong for travellers who cannot manage a slope, because much of the estate is hillside and the villas at the top sit high above the water. It is wrong for anyone who needs the frontage settled, as nine hundred metres is the house's own figure and no source states exclusive tenure. For a held Thai peninsula on record, Rayavadee keeps twenty-six acres at Railay.
Sources
- The property's own site - nestled within a hundred acres of tropical forest and boasting nine hundred metres of beachfront on the Andaman Sea; beachside resort pool and a separate hillside infinity pool; road access and a complimentary Krabi airport transfer; temporary maintenance closures only, no seasonal closure
- Trade press - a hundred acres of tropical rainforest; a hundred and twenty-one rooms, suites and private pool villas; nine hundred metres of white sand on Kantiang Bay; private transfer from Krabi airport of about two hours by road, then a speedboat around the southern coast; hillside pool villas perched above the bay with views across the jungle canopy; on Koh Lanta's southern end
- The opening year is not published in the material consulted here and no figure is carried. The founder and the present owner are likewise unstated; no name is given in this record.
Verification
- Official source
- Not yet checked
- Property confirmation
- Pending
- Last verified
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Booking
Private Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the resort and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.
Request a proposalClassified by The Resort Collection House · The Register · Edition 2026 · LHL-E-319
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