Koh Lanta is a lovely place but for me at least, was never really as nice as Phuket or many other beaches that are in Krabi. The fact that the place was so huge and not anywhere near as populated as some of the other parts of the country are a big reason why people like it there though. While Phuket has crowded streets and honestly way too many people and Phi-Phi and RayLay have much nicer sand and water, both of these places are complicated to get to as well as really expensive.
Lanta Island (Koh Lanta) is a beach bum on a budget's dream come true because they have it all there and it is as cheap as you want it to be.
Small and basic bungalows like these ones can be acquired all over the island of Lanta for less than $20 a night right on the beach and right now with tourism basically totally gone, you can get them for less than half that if the place is open at all.
That's the thing though: If you have a method of getting to Koh Lanta, which isn't easy especially if you don't live in Thailand, the island is basically completely open with no Covid closures of any sort.
More than a year ago when the entire world was freaking out if they found any Covid at all the island was shut after a mere 4 cases were found....these days, no one even tests for it any more. As silly as it sounds, a fantastic way to stop having covid cases is to stop testing everyone for it.
While I am not a Lanta expert by any means, I have been there a few times and I really got the impression that the island, which operates almost entirely on tourism (there are a few farms, but that's it) kind of does its own thing and the laws of the outside world don't really seem to apply there or if they do, only very loosely so. People openly smoke weed in front of everyone, the speed limits are basically "whatever" and bars stay open as late as they want provided they aren't bothering anyone. All of this just kind of works too outside from the occasional foreigners who tries to "drive like a local" and ends up getting horrible road rash.
My friend who has been living there for the past year has told me that he very rarely sees anyone with a mask on, everything that can be open due to staff and / or lack of customers is open, and there is no distancing measures or curfews or anything like that. There also isn't a hospital overflowing with Covid death either.
Lanta just seems to have moved on and will deal with a problem if it happens and honestly, I think that is what the rest of the world is going to have to admit they have to do as well at some point.
I envy my pal down there, but then again he is independently wealthy and doesn't really need to work and Lanta is one of those places that doesn't really have any jobs so you have to be a pretty select individual to even qualify to live there.