The history of Koh Lipe
The island
Koh Lipe is a small island at the mouth of the Strait of Malacca, set within the Butang archipelago. Today it belongs to Tarutao National Park and its 51 islands.
Covered in primeval rainforest, it remained uninhabited and unnoticed by humankind for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Pirates and their traces
In the age of the Portuguese seafarers, the Strait of Malacca was one of the most notorious areas for piracy.
Some theories draw on this to explain where the wild boar and mouse deer on the large surrounding islands came from: pirates are said to have released the animals there.
That way, alongside fresh water, which is available in inexhaustible quantities, they could always take meat on board their boats too.
The first people: the Urak Lawoi
The first people, so the story goes, came here from Indonesia by way of Malaysia. Their leader, chief and captain was called To Kiri. He reached the islands with his family and his brothers.
They sailed on to what is now Koh Lanta, where his two brothers stayed. He himself came back and founded the first community here. That was around 1910, a good 115 years ago.
The Urak Lawoi, as they call themselves in their own language (in Thai Chao Leh, “the people of the sea”), settled on Lipe and the surrounding islands.
They have their own language and religion, fundamentally different from Thai language and culture. Both are still cherished today: in songs, at gatherings and in the everyday speech of the locals.
Far from world history
For decades the Urak Lawoi were noticed by neither the Thai nor the Malaysian state. The colonial dealings of England and France hardly touched them either.
The First and the Second World War passed them by without their knowing. A plane crash was their only experience of the entire conflict.
The neighbouring island of Tarutao served as a political prison shortly before and during the Second World War, but was abandoned in the chaos of the war. Inmates and guards alike turned to piracy, until the British navy put an end to it.
In 1974 the Thai state declared the area a marine national park, one of the first in the country, with Tarutao as its main island. In 1990 the park was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but in 1991 its inscription was deferred.
All this passed the Urak Lawoi by. They lived in a small community of a few hundred people on Lipe and the surrounding islands.
The beginnings of tourism
In 1990 the first small resort opened, run by Thais. Tourism was tiny, limited to a handful of people.
There were no boat connections. You had to come out on a fishing boat, and that only worked if one happened to be heading this way.
Our arrival
We came to Lipe in 2000, also on a fishing boat. We spent two months on a beach, in the hammock and in a little tent.
We caught fish, grilled them, and that is how we got to know the local people. It grew into a deep friendship that lasts to this day.
One of the locals became an especially good friend. He offered us the plot of land where Café Lipe stands today.
How Café Lipe came about
We built the main building and started planting trees. That is how Café Lipe came into being, slowly, slowly.
Two or three years later, a few simple bungalows were added. Back then there was no electricity and no boats bringing materials.
We had to bring everything here and build it ourselves. What you see today is the work of our own hands.
The big change
Over the years tourism grew, and more and more people came to the island. The big change came about 15 years ago, when a private company brought electricity to the island.
That led to a huge tourism boom, with good and bad sides.
The locals were not prepared for it. Their traditional way of life is being pushed aside: by large resorts and hotel complexes taking over land, and by overfishing.
The national park, too, is enforcing its laws ever more strictly. As a result, the nomadic life on the surrounding islands is increasingly restricted.
At the same time, the hospital, healthcare, food and clothing, which now reach the island much more easily, make life easier for the locals.
Some of them have seized the opportunity and built their own resorts. The income allows them to send their children to school on the mainland. It is a story with two sides.
Lipe today
For us, after 26 years, Lipe is still a beautiful island that has changed, for better and for worse. The friendship with the locals has remained.
The uninhabited neighbouring islands of Koh Adang, Koh Rawi, Koh Dong, Koh Yang, Koh Hin Ngam, Koh Lek and many smaller ones are still untouched and incredibly beautiful.
Every time we head out by boat, it takes our breath away: the nature, the coral reefs, the fish, the life in the sea.