JUST BACK: PIMALAI RESORT AND SPA A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN MAKING A HUGE IMPACT FOR GOOD
BY LAUREN RAPS
“It’s what Phuket was 30 years ago,” remarks Charintip Tiyaphorn, owner and representative of Pimalai Resort and Spa, as we sat peacefully listening to the waves lap onto the shore of Pimalai’s sandy beach. Pimalai Resort was built by Charintip’s family nearly 30 years ago, when her father, Anurat Tiyaphorn, discovered this part of Thailand while on a business trip in Krabi. He met a few local people who introduced him to Koh Lanta and rented a longtail boat to explore beaches on Koh Lanta and found Ba Kan Tiang beach, where Pimalai is today. Its name in English means, “a little slice of heaven,” and what the Tiyaphorn family has created in this beautiful cove on Koh Lanta Island is exactly that. Charintip was a child when her family bought the land, and she remembers all five of them sleeping at the construction site, in temporary housing, as they spent all of her school holidays overseeing the creation 38 LIVING IN SINGAPORE
of Pimalai and laying the foundation for what has become one of Thailand’s best resorts, and also one of its most sustainable. While creating a sustainable resort was paramount to the family as they created Pimalai, designing a luxurious and intimate experience for guests was as important. With beautifully
Excursions include diving, snorkeling, and kayaking around the gorgeous limestone mountain islands that dot the sea, a mangrove tour on an authentic long-tail boat , or a sunset boat ride. appointed and sizable state rooms and villas, quality dining establishments and bars, and the kindest, most attentive staff, it is a treat to stay at such a resort while also knowing its positive impact on its local environment and community.
villas dot the coastline and then the resort climbs vertically up the mountain. It’s built in a way so that it blends in with its natural surroundings with infinity saltwater pools and numerous, tucked-away areas to lounge the day away staring out at the sea.
Pimalai’s footprint on the island is not large. Its beach
It’s a resort that ticks all of the boxes people seek for a
