Koh Lipe (Thai: เกาะหลีเป๊ะ) is a small island in the Adang-Rawi Archipelago of the Andaman Sea, in the Satun Province of southwest Thailand, close to Malaysian border. The Thai name is transliterated in many different ways into English. The most common names are Koh Lipe, Koh Lipeh, Ko Lipey and Ko Lipe. Koh Lipe is on the border of the Tarutao National Marine Park and is directly south of the larger islands Ko Adang and Ko Rawi and about 50 km from the island of Ko Tarutao. It was originally settled by a group of sea gypsies (Chao Leh in Thai), originally from Malaysia, known as the Urak Lawoi people.
In high season (November to May) there are several locations from which you can take a ferry or speedboat to Koh Lipe, including: Pak Bara, Langkawi, Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, and Trang. In low season (May to October) the only way to get to Koh Lipe is by speedboat from Pak Bara at around 11:30hrs.
From Langkawi, Malaysia there are two speedboats per day (from November until May): one at 9:45 am costing 128 Malaysian Ringit and one at 2:30 pm, costing 118 Malaysian Ringit; alternatively. These boats dock at the south end of Pattaya Beach. Other ferries are met by longtail boats offering transfers to anywhere on Koh Lipe for an additional 50 baht/person.
Koh Lipe is outside of the Tarutao National Park jurisdiction, and as such is exempt from the laws and legislation that protects the rest of the national park. The island is rapidly growing to meet the demands of increase in tourism, and is facing quite a few issues with rubbish and animal conservation. There are projects currently in place to keep Koh Lipe clean.
