Located on one of Asia’s best unspoiled beaches, Pimalai Resort & Spa has been redefining luxurious hospitality on the Andaman Island since its opening nearly 20 years ago. The award-winning eco-conscious property, situated on the laid-back southern tip of the famed south-east Asian country, cascades through 100 acres of tropical jungles easing its way towards one of Thailand’s best beaches: Kantiang Bay.
It is on this sunkissed shore that guests lounge for hours catching a tan or spend action-packed afternoons out in the cerulean sea scuba diving, snorkeling or simply relaxing on a sunset cruise. A smattering of local bars and restaurants line the beach, but its Pimalai’s onsite eateries that tend to steal the show.
The legendary Rak Talay beachfront bar and restaurant is as loved for the sumptuous Thai-style seafood as it is its sunset setting, while nestled in the resort’s jungle interior, Seven Seas serves up Michelin-chef-conceived menus throughout the evening. Guests can also indulge in an array of onsite wellness experiences, ranging from traditional Muay Thai classes to early evening tennis matches and pampered afternoons at the signature Pimalai Spa.
With no immediate neighbors, the 121-room resort is a serene sanctuary where guests can feel completely at peace in their private surroundings. From Hillside Ocean Pool Villas that command vistas of the stunning scenery through to the Beachside Villas, situated only a few short steps away from the shoreline, rooms at Pimalai cater to all tastes with spacious layouts and designs that seamlessly integrate with the natural surroundings.
In keeping with this philosophy, the Pimalai Resort & Spa has set itself a series of environmental targets for the next five years in order to preserve its pristine surroundings. With an aim to cut the island’s carbon footprint, improve the marine environment and eliminate waste on the beautiful island by 2029, the owners and staff are joining forces with the local community to introduce new initiatives and implement programs to preserve the fragile ecosystem and ensure a sustainable future for the entire island.
Famed for its lush greenery and turquoise waters, the luxury resort encourages guests to take part in their efforts. A Coral Propagation Programme has been introduced at Pimalai’s very own onsite dive centre Scuba Fish, specially curated by leading marine biologists, allowing guests to rebuild the reefs which have been badly damaged by global warming and human activity.
The resort also participates in “Community Trash Free Days” encouraging local residents and business owners to team up with the hotel to collect trash from the shoreline. With these initiatives in place and many more to be rolled out, Pimalai believes that zero waste on the island is achievable within the next 10 years.
In a bid to get the whole island involved, Pimalai is also working with local authorities and 15 schools to pioneer a waste management system on Koh Lanta. This teaches children to separate their waste and devise ways of managing it, including recycling initiatives. The resort has also recently launched the Koh Lanta Community Compost Station, enabling locals to turn waste into compost, which they can then sell – a mutually beneficial scheme which further ensures no matter how big or small, everyone can make some sort of difference to Koh Lanta’s future.
Five-year targets include:
- Reducing energy consumption by 15%
- Cutting daily water use by 10%
- Reducing the carbon footprint by 10%
- Lowering the amount of waste produced waste by 5%
In order to succeed in these targets, a series of onsite measures have been taken, from switching to LED lighting and installing efficient boilers and new water meters to installing a Biogas Plant, which processes 200kg of kitchen waste a day, converting the methane gas produced to fuel, in order to power parts of the resort. Whilst the measures all vary in extent, they all share one common goal – to preserve the island’s undisturbed natural environment.
To find out more about the hotel and its eco-conscious efforts, visit their website.
Images © Pimalai Resort & Spa