Hacker Beach Episode 14

Location: Koh Lanta, Thailand

We'll be gathering on the island paradise of Koh Lanta in the south of Thailand.

Date: January 2026

As always, we'll be hanging out somewhere on the island the whole month of January. You can drop by anytime in January and someone else should be there already (at least from a few days after NYE onwards). Some people join only for a week, others for two or even the whole month. Whatever floats your boat.

What to Expect

https://kosmos.social/@hackerbeach/101187541935745175:

• Hacking, not cracking
• FOSS creation and contribution galore (non-programmers welcome)
• Exchange ideas and knowledge, demo your projects, have workshop or hackday sessions
• Also get your day job done if you want/must
• Fantastic weather (i.e. no freezing winter)
• Outdoor activity options like e.g. hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, surfing, and floating down the nearby river
• Explore the wider region, esp. before/after your time at the official location
• Whatever you want to make it. Hacker Beach is just people.

Getting There

• The nearest airport is Krabi (KBV). See Wikipedia for direct routes. Connections via BKK, KUL, SIN for example.
• From KBV, many shuttles (from 400THB) or private taxis (from 2500THB) are available to take you anywhere on the island. There is a short water crossing, but very minimal compared to the Phuket option.
• You can take a speed boat from Phuket (big intl. airport) to Koh Lanta (around 4 hours). If rough weather and seas is predicted (as it is to the months leading up to January), an alternate method is recommended.
• ...

There are a few good travel wikis which cover more detailed info:

• https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ko_Lanta
• https://wikitravel.org/en/Ko_Lanta

Visa & Arrival Card

Citizens of 93 countries are exempt from having to get a visa, and visa on arrival is available for many more countries at the arrival port with no fee. For other countries there is a 3000THB fee associated with an e-visa. Typical periods to stay are 30 to 60 days.

Full list and info: https://image.mfa.go.th/mfa/0/RzaiZWKBzF/consular/Visa/Visa_Exemption__Visa_on_Arrival.pdf

Payable by US dollars, Euros, or Thai baht (THB) at the immigration counter

Digital arrival card

All tourists are now required to submit a digital arrival card (replacing paper arrival cards) before they can enter Thailand. It's recommended to do this online before landing, because otherwise you may have to wait in a long queue to fill it in at a kiosk before immigration:

https://tdac.immigration.go.th/arrival-card/

Vaccination requirements

If you are traveling from a country with high risk of Yellow Fever infection, you may be required to show a proof of vaccination against it (i.e. an entry in your little yellow booklet). There was absolutely no validation or check of anything for the people that already arrived.

Getting Around

Most places on Koh Lanta Yai can be reached via the main road stretching about 20 km from Sala Dan (where the pier is) in the north to Koh Lanta “Old town” in the south.

The different neighborhoods are named after the beaches, e.g. Klong Dao, Phra Ae, Klong Khong, Klong Nin, Nui, Klong Hin, Kantiang, etc.

Many people rent a scooter (Honda Click type) with prices ranging around 250-350 THB per day these days. There are discounts for longer rentals that can be negotiated. The rental places will ask for a passport or other id as a deposit during the rental which should be avoided. A cash deposit is usually possible as an alternative.

Wearing a helmet is mandatory and highly recommended even though it’s not always enforced by police. Many locals usually don’t wear one. But please be safe and do. There are many road accidents every year, some fatal. Due to the remote location, an ambulance may take a while to get to you.

You can also rent e-bikes or normal bicycles. The latter can be a challenge though, esp. towards the south of the island where it gets a bit hilly.

Taking a tuktuk is easy and safe. You can hail them on the main road. Be sure to negotiate a price before the trip. Should be in the 50-100 THB range for trips within a neighborhood, or 150-250 THB for trips to the next beach over.

Renting a car is very uncommon. Thailand is driving on the left.

Accommodations

You can coordinate sharing on the XMPP channel, if you're not already planning to join with a small group.

Some people in the group have expressed a preference for the Phra Ae (aka “Long Beach”) area for accommodation and gatherings. Previous non-hackerbeach episodes usually centered around this area. It has a popular coworking space (kohub) which is good for concentrated work and socializing and a ton of nice beach bars/restaurants to spend the day with a laptop, such as the funky fish.

There are plenty of options to stay in Phra Ae and it’s easily reachable by scooter (which is the preferred mode of transport for many) from Klong Dao beach to the north and Klong Kong beach to the south which are two alternative favourable areas for accommodation.

Power sockets

US 2-prong outlets are common throughout Thailand, as are hybrid sockets for other types: https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/thailand/

Internet

LTE and 5G internet access is available throughout the island. Someone might also bring a Starlink terminal. The island does not have fiber internet except as backhaul (AFAIK)

SIM cards

The popular cell carriers provide eSIM packages online.

There are also international eSIMs available online for Thailand. The usual vendors of those should have you covered. Topups for all providers are available on Bitrefill as well.

ATMs

ATMs are available at convenience stores and are safe to use but will add a small fixed surcharge for withdrawals making it more economical to withdraw higher amounts.

Credit cards are accepted in many places but cash is still preferred in the smaller restaurants and food stalls.

Currency is Baht (THB) which is widely used. Some places will accept $ or € but it’s not as common as in other places.

Invite-only XMPP chat for participants

We have a more private communications channel for people who actually want to drop by in January. It's an XMPP channel at hackerbeach@kosmos.chat. Please ask someone to invite you, in case you don't have access yet (e.g. on IRC, or DM us on the fediverse).

As a mobile chat client, we can recommend Conversations for Android, and Monal for iOS.

Participants

As an unorganized, informal gathering, there's nothing to register or RSVP for. However, it would be much appreciated if you entered some kind of name (ideally your IRC or XMPP nick, but can also just be anon) in the following list, in case you plan to join us. You can also add a timeframe, so we know who to expect when.

• bkero
• jansh
• raucao
• hcs0
• (your name/alias here)