Globalista

Fresh, tropical, glittering: here is where to go to find all those marvellous vistas of Thailand that everybody wants to seek out. The scaled-back city of Krabi is the capital of Krabi province, which stretches along the west coast of Thailand more or less opposite Phuket. The metropolitan side of things can be pretty much sidestepped, but the rest of the area should not be ignored. Krabi ignites all the traditional glorious lotus-eating images of Thailand’s natural beauty. Its myriad limestone karsts – a magnet for rock climbers and photographers – rear up like petrified giants and its beaches are powder perfection: Alex Garland put The Beach on the map, specifically the stretch of sand on Phi Phi Leh, Krabi’s best known island (known simply as Phi Phi), and smaller neighbour to Phi Phi Don. Less in the limelight, but bathed in sunlight, Koh Lanta is Krabi’s Next Big Thing, with boutique hotels flourishing away from busier parts of the province. Plus there are over 150 stunning islands off the coast that require lazy exploration. Quieter than Phuket, more dramatic than Koh Samui, Krabi is wonderfully unspoilt. Don’t write it off as a backpacker's destination, it makes a perfect sideline to Phuket.