JUST 15 minutes from Chalong Pier by longtail lies one of Phuket's true tourism surprises, Koh Lon.

It's a surprise because the island appears to be moving slowly in reverse, against the prevailing economic current, in the opposite direction to Phuket.

As the big island continues its rush to develop resorts, villas and retail outlets of all kinds, Koh Lon has actually shrunk in population over the past few years, from about 70 families to 50 families. About 270 people live on the island.

To visit Koh Lon is to encounter a world where walking trails replace roads, and where virtually every house has solar power panels to supplement the local generator.

Yet what was once seen as backward in many respects has now become the ideal kind of life, in the eyes of many.

Reverse is the new top gear. And Koh Lon's future as a haven from the greed and gridlock world seems relatively assured.

This is a place without consumerism, and probably without reality tv, a hideaway with birds in the trees, and fish in the ponds, but very little concrete and only a wall or two.

Through a gap in the forest looms the local school, where just 14 children and two teachers enjoy a break from class at lunchtime by kicking around a football.

Nearby, in the shadow of a small mosque, about a dozen Koh Lon women are learning to cook. They are being taught to appeal to international tastebuds, using local ingredients, and the results are excellent, as a meal on the verandah of the mosque proves.

On the longtail today, as a once a month passenger, comes Montip Dudpayak, head of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

The Koh Lon community is being supported in its bid to become a homestay destination for visitors from around the world. The food comes straight out of the forests and the seafood is mostly hand-picked from coastal rocks or caught by locals.

People here are now being taught a new-fangled idea: how to put aside savings for a rainy day.

The savings have been used for the cooking lessons from Linda Suttiwaja, director of Baan Sabaithai and Spa, and will be used next for English language lessons.

Already there's a small local co-operative shop on a walking track, a way of saving the islanders from having to make too many shopping trips to Phuket.

However, there is no plan for Koh Lon to change any faster than it wishes, even though outsiders are now also coming occasionally and making offers for parcels of land.

The people of Koh Lon, content with their lot, have mostly said No. They are relatively self-sufficient, and they plan on becoming even more reliant only on each other.

The economy is certainly where Phuket must once have been . . . in a village-style community where everyone knows everybody else.

The island's chief, Manid Yotharat, welcomes the selfless involvement of the bank. He hopes the families remain committed to protecting the island's community structure.

''We are happy to stay here because we enjoy it,'' Khun Manid said. ''Others are welcome to visit to see what we have, and why we don't want it to change.''

He says life may change eventually. But for now, Koh Lon is content, moving in reverse.

Would-be visitors to the island should call Khun Songsit on 085 4290021. The rate is 900 baht for two days and one night, and half that for children under 10. Diving on three islands, night fishing, jungle tours take the price to 1500 baht, and that's for a minimum of four people. The food is excellent, and getting better.