Tourists pack Pattaya’s Koh Larn, hotels 100% occupied

Hotels on Koh Larn, and island off Pattaya, are 100% occupied today, according to a hotel operator there. The operator says that tourists who couldn’t find rooms had to return to the mainland after enjoying their day of fun. Thousands of tourists are crowding the island, marking the first night of the 4 day long weekend (public service holiday today and Visaka Bucha Buddhist holiday on Sunday with public holiday substitute on Monday).

The operator, Kanchananop Sukkhee, told the Bangkok Post there were 2,000 rooms on the island, and over 10,000 visitors. A video from Thai media shows the eager vacationers packed into ferries making their way to Koh Larn from the mainland today.

Large crowds also swarmed to Koh Larn last month. Officials on the island suspected that large crowds of Thais gathered there to get a bit of R & R before the new school semester begins.

Koh Larn reopened to visitors in September 2021 after being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The island had gone into lockdown in January 2021, and about 100 tourists vacationing there were sent back to mainland Pattaya. Under the lockdown measures, boat services between the island and the mainland were suspended, with the exception of boats making essential deliveries like food and drinking water.

Residents were not allowed to leave the island unless the trip was urgent. Those travelling to and from the island had to get permission from the pier’s Covid-19 centre.

In pre-Covid days, the island got so many tourists that it sometimes overwhelmed facilities there. In 2018, Koh Larn had 1,567 hotel rooms and attracted an average of 10,000 visitors a day, with that number more than doubling in high season and on holidays.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post