Our trip from Bangkok took 22 hours, by train that was comfortable and 3 buses that were very uncomfortable. I don't want to travel in Asia by buses any more, it's awful. I spent more than a year travelling by buses in South America but it's a huge difference, in SA the buses are very comfortable and drivers are caring. Anyway, we arrived at the hotel that is right on the beach. We are staying in a spacious bungalow by the beach and with a nice swimming pool as well, for £12 a night.

We are close to a town called Saladan and everything is cheaper here than it was in Bangkok. Yesterday we went to a nice restaurant by the beach, then I had a massage and when we came back to the bungalow, we spent a long time cleaning our suitcases smelling of fish.

The beach in Koh Lanta is beautiful but dirty. There is rubbish right on the beach that takes away part of the beauty, although the water seems to be very clean. Apparently some of the rubbish came from India. We spoke about it with the owner of our hotel and Fausto understood (from her Thai English) that all the hotels pay 5000 Thai Baht = £91 a month to the government for cleaning the beaches from time to time. I understood that she doesn't want to pay 5000 THB because it's too much and she cleans the beach herself from time to time (although there was no evidence of it).
In the pictures: on the beach in Koh Lanta.