Luxury Thai resort committed to sustainable food practices

Pimalai Resort & Spa, the luxury resort surrounded by nature on Koh Lanta, is inviting guests to combine their desire for fresh seafood with their passion for sustainability at Rak Talay, the property’s stunning seafront restaurant. 

Nestled on the pristine shores of the Andaman Sea, Rak Talay is the resort’s beach bar and restaurant, where highly skilled chefs maximise flavours of food offerings while minimising the impact of guests’ food consumption on the environment. In fact, Pimalai is now focused on sourcing the freshest and most sustainable seafood. The resort’s chefs purchase delicacies such as prawns, crabs, groupers, snappers and sea bass fishes directly from fishermen in Koh Lanta and southern Thailand. This not only ensures that the chefs procure the highest quality ingredients, but it also creates benefits for local communities and reduces transport-related CO2 emissions.

The chefs also use aromatic herbs grown onsite in Pimalai’s own organic garden, including kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, hot basil and sweet basil. Other herbs, vegetables and fruits are sourced directly from a farm run by Anurat Tiyaphorn, the owner of Pimalai, who believes passionately in organic production.

Franck de Lestapis, Pimalai’s general manager, said: “At Pimalai, we fully understand that we have a responsibility to protect our environment, and we are deeply committed to operating in an eco-sensitive manner. We also believe that this can be achieved while enhancing our guest experiences. At Rak Talay, we offer the most sublime locally-sourced seafood as part of our weekly seafront surf & turf barbecue. In doing so, we are helping to preserve seafood stocks, benefiting the community and enhancing the flavour of our cuisine - it is win-win-win situation.”

The resort’s sustainable seafood programme forms part of a wider commitment to responsible operations. Pimalai has set itself a series of ambitious five-year environmental targets, including reducing its electricity consumption by 15%, daily water use by 10%, carbon footprint by 10%, and waste by 5%. It also works with leading marine biologists on clownfish release and coral propagation programmes, to help conserve marine ecosystems.