Krabi: restaurants, bars and nightlife

FOOD in Krabi is cheap, plentiful and available 24 hours a day. Thai people love to eat and you'll find tasty street food, or hawker stalls on every corner, selling everything from pancakes to fried chicken. Hygiene standards are high here, so there is very little risk involved in eating in the road.

Seafood is probably Krabi's biggest attraction, food-wise: the province's coastal location means supply is fresh and inexpensive. Preparation tends to be simple: whether steamed, barbecued or fried in garlic, the crabs, lobster, whole seaperch and king prawns taste fantastic. Shellfish is also readily available - you'll find giant oysters, as well as the Krabi native hawy chakteen, famous in Thailand.

In the tourist centre of Ao Nang, many expats have set up shop and there is a pretty good variety of restaurants on offer: Italian, Japanese, Tex-Mex, steakhouses, Swiss, German, Indian and even English pub grub. Prices are higher than Thai food, but still much cheaper - and often better - than the equivalent back home.

The influx of 'foreign food' has meant, though, that the Thai food has suffered somewhat and it is increasingly hard to find good quality and good value Thai cuisine in the restaurants on the main beach road. For a real taste of Thailand, you must take a trip to a local market, or to Krabi Town, a real foodie's paradise.

Krabi Town boasts the region's best Thai restaurants (the exquisite Ruen Mai, Ruen Tip and Jao Sua), as well as countless small, cheap local eateries, food stands and the famous night market. It is also home to two Krabi expat institutions: Viva Ristorante, with arguably the best pizza on the mainland; and Cafe Europa, a Scandinavian restaurant, which doubles as a friendly meeting point and mine of (free) tourist information from the owners.

For reviews of specific Krabi restaurants, or to find a restaurant by category, check out the archive of Flyer magazine's Good eating guides. We've also recently (May 2009) updated a page of restaurant reviews specifically for Ao Nang Beach. For recommended restaurants in Ko Lanta and Ko Phi Phi, please see the individual sites (click on the links provided). The Your Krabi guidebook also has a complete restaurant review section.

BARS & NIGHTLIFE

Railay and Ton Sai, being cut off from the rest of the mainland with a captive market, do not offer anything special in the way of food, but they do make up for it in nightlife. Ton Sai beach hosts regular all-night beach parties for the full moon and new moon during high season and Railay is well known for its wild parties in the east side bars.

Krabi Town offers a more local nightlife experience with hundreds of karaoke bars and a few 'nightclubs' playing loud Thai pop music, often with a stage show. It's definitely an interesting experience for the few foreigners who venture inside, as you can see above. Good live music pubs - playing a mix of Thai and western covers - include Kwan Fang and Room 69. There are also a few small bars for westerners, mainly concentrated around the old Chao Fah pier and along Utarakit Rd.

Ao Nang beach is the main party place for tourists on holiday here. Bars are concentrated along the main beach road, in noisy 'plazas' like Center Point, and Luna Bar, though there are also stand alone places like the Irish Rover pub, or Full Moon Bar. For a quieter, more sophisticated evening, visit the excellent Last Fisherman Bar, at the far end of Soi 17 on the beachfront. Drinks generally are the same price or cheaper than in the West: around 70 baht for a small bottle of beer and 160 baht for a basic cocktail. In Ao Nang's only after-hours nightclub, the recently-opened Ibark, prices are around 50% higher than this.

Entertainment can be found in Ao Nang in the form of live music on offer at The Irish Rover during high season, as well as dinner - shows at some big hotels. Sports fans can relax: you won't miss a single Premiership match or Grand Prix, as most bars will show them live.

Those in search of a quiet life will find it in Klong Muang (no nightlife to speak of), as well as in certain corners of Ao Nang and Railay, where it is still possible simply to sit on the beach and watch the stars.