This is my third time on the island and as I was there I was reminded how much I dislike it. I hate Ko Phi Phi. It’s one of the most overrated islands in all of Thailand. I spent the last four days there with some friends of mine from Bangkok. Originally, we were going to go to nearby Krabi but when it was too quiet for them, we moved to Ko Phi Phi.
Ko Phi Phi is one of the most famous of all of Thailand’s islands and during the high season, it is flooded with people. The island was a tragic victim of the 2005 Tsunami and more than 2,000 people were killed here but the island has been so rebuilt that you would never known such a tragedy took place. Everything is right back where it was beforehand, there’s a brand new and bigger pier, and even more hotels on the island. It’s obvious nothing was learned from the tragedy.
For the life of me I can’t figure out what people see in the island. It’s only good for one thing: partying. Since it sees so many young travelers, the alcohol and music flow continuously, even during the low season. Yet people swear by the beauty of island and I don’t know why.
For starters, it’s overpriced. You pay double what you would anywhere else in Thailand. During the low season, a beach bungalow is 800 baht, double what I paid during the high season on Ko Phangan. A bucket of booze (the quintessential Thailand drink of choice) is 400 baht, double what it is in Bangkok and a bit more than double what it is on most other islands. A cheap Thai meal is around a 100 baht, triple the price of Bangkok. The only thing that costs the same are the bootleg movies.
Then there are the beaches and the water. This is where Ko Phi Phi is supposed to shine. But it doesn’t. From afar the blue water and white sand beaches looks like paradise. Yet when you look closer, you realize that looks are deceiving. One of the beaches is used by all the boats so it’s a no go. There there is the main one in the bay opposite that at lot of people go to but when the tide goes out the water recedes out until the ocean and all that is left is dead coral, boats, and ankle deep water, which wouldn’t be bad if it didn’t happen during the day! This leaves the most popular beach, Long beach, which is a 15 minute walk from town. There you’ll find it packed with people vying for the decent spot of beach.
Yet unless you are on the private resorts on the north end of the island, you can’t be saved from the one thing that truly kills this island: the mass of long tail boats. There are simply too many boats and too many engines choking the water. The worst is on the beach with the pier and the best is Long Beach, but even that beach can’t escape and the fact it’s the “best,” doesn’t really say much. Yet no matter where you go, you’ll notice that the water has a funky smell to it. Or that white foamy bubbles of waste and chemicals from too many boats and engines float on the surface. Or maybe you will notice the oil slicks and the weird brown stuff in the water. Whatever you notice, you’ll notice that the water up close, just isn’t as good as it was far away and suddenly, the cool dip in that blue tropical water just doesn’t seem like such a good idea.
Ko Phi Phi, like many Thai islands, suffers from mass over development. It’s simply too small to handle all the people brought to it. Hotels are thrown up, boats brought in, and ferries arrive to fill as many rooms as possible all while coral reefs are dynamited and overfished and as many tourists as possible are brought to gawk and feed the wild monkeys and take their photo where Leonardo Di Capri filmed “The Beach“. And since the tourists don’t complain, nothing gets changed.
I can’t figure out why anyone would consider this paradise when there are hundreds of uptapped and unspoiled islands all over Thailand. Good marketing, pretty pictures, and a reputation for a good party keeps Ko Phi Phi alive but you want beautiful and unspoiled tropical islands, Ko Phi Phi is not the place for you.
Matt,
Great article. I have heard nothing but amazing things about Ko Phi Phi, so to hear someone else’s honest opinion is refreshing. I am hoping to travel to Thailand next year. Your thoughts have made me rethink the places that I HAVE to see. Do you have any recommendations for islands that DO live up to their reputation? Or better yet, some place you like that is not as well known?
Sean
Ko Lanta, the north of Ko Phanagn, Ko Samet, Ko Jum, Surin Islands, Ko Tarauto
I did a daytrip to Ko Phi Phi when I was in Krabi last year, and was left with a very different impression. Most of the day was spent out on the water in the inlets and cliffs, swimming and snorkeling. The areas we visited weren’t polluted and crowded, so I guess I didn’t go to the insanely popular beach. We stayed in the Ao Nan beach area in Krabi, which had great rockclimbing. My blog post about Krabi: http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2008/05/08/ko-phi-phi-and-monkeys/
I felt like that about a lot of SE Asia though. Although I am a backpacker, I found that the “backpacker scene” destinations are usually the places I don’t want to be.
Cheers!
First time i hear something bad on koh phi phi, but you’re right. It’s really overpriced and polluted on the beach with all the boats. I found the landscapes of phi phi pretty great though. it was a bit too touristy for my taste.
I’ll be travelling to SE asia and would like to get my padi open water, probably in thailand. I know Ko Tao is THE cheap spot for diving but i heard it is a quiet island. I’m not a party girl but sometimes it’s nice to have a drink at the bar to chill out…
Would you have nice islands to suggest in thailand (not only for diving)? What are your favorites?
Ko Tao is really nice! I recommend it!
My favorite is Ko Lipe but it’s ruined now…so i need to find some new place
Ko Lipe is ruined? Sad. I was there 5 years ago and loved it.
It’s very sad! I loved it when I went 3 years ago
Hi Matt,
The more you go somewhere the more you pick holes in it. I remember the first time I went to NYC I was blown away but after my second visit I began to dislike it and after a third trip I vowed never to go again!
I agree with much of what you say about Ko Phi Phi, Maya Bay (“The Beach”) is far from a paradise destination but I imagine it was before Leonardo Di Caprio vacationed there (damn that Robert Carlisle for giving him the map!). I’m back in Thailand later this year and hope to see many more places.
Great blog – I’ve added you to my Blogroll on my own.
Andy
My accountsof Krabi: http://bit.ly/5rOPH http://bit.ly/17ZG4D
Well, I always thought that this island was quiet and serene compared to Phuket and other touristy destinations..thanks for this post , would have continued with the perception
Great advice Matt. I always value the traveler’s word over a guidebook’s. I think when I head back to Thailand I will have to avoid Kho Phi Phi.
I agree. I haven’t been there since before the Tsunami. I thought that they would keep it from over development. Too bad, pulling up on the boat, it is beautiful, but I hated it while I was there and only lasted 2 days. Ko Lanta, Ko Lipe were my Islands of choice. I did enjoy Raleigh even though it was starting to get pretty over developed as well, but at the time, not near as much. Cheers.
Ko Lipe is the new phi phi now…its ruined dave and deb! totally ruined!
I’m glad you wrote this post becuase I agree with you on being over rated. sometimes people go to these places because everyone they know has raved about it. The reality is it’s just another overcrowded, pricy place to stay.
Hmm – tell us how you really feel
Looking forward to seeing pics about where you WOULD go if it were up to you.
Well the place does look pretty from your pictures. Water looks calm, may be a great place for swimming too?
Nice to see some honesty about a place like that. Note’s taken, and thanks for highlighting it.
So I guess you are talking about phi phi don and I’ll just say I wasn’t that impressed eigther. Phi hi leh on the other hand was stunning. I disagree an koh lanta though it was dead when I was there and the beaches completely average. I despise kits in Bali in the say way you do phi phi, it’s stinks is a rip off and polluted
Nice of the author of this article to mention the people whose lives were destroyed in the Tsunami. Given your comments about Phi Phi only being good for partying, I assume you are young yourself and equally immature. Maybe if you didn’t have a hangover every day you could take a longtail boat out to the many places where you can find peaceful paradise you talk about.
The fact is you chose to stay in the busy tow centre because you were on a budget. However, there are still great budget resorts which get missed by the 18-30s sheep that all follow lonely planet straight to the town. I bet you went directly to the full moon party, or came from there.
You talk of high prices and being busy. Isn’t that contradictory. If the prices were high, wouldn’t it be quiet, supply and demand etc… The reason it is expensive is becuase if you just spend a little bit of money on taxi boats and get out of the town, the Phi Phi islands are some of the best protected waters and above water scenery Thailand has to offer. Krabi is impressive, but Phi Phi is the only island with hundred metre cliffs coming straight out the water, with lagoons and hidden beaches.
Appreciate everyone has got an opinion, but mine is that you should maybe explore a bit deeper instead of following the rest of the budget sheep arseholes who don’t really give a f**k about the people who depend on the tourism after rebuilding their lives.
Also, I see you’ve got some really nice photos of Longbeach. What’s wrong with that? Beautiful !!! I can see hundreds of metres of sand with very few people. Oh and as for the bad pictures of the pier and the beach, firstly how do you expect people to get here – air drop? Bigger pier to cope with the popularity, also maybe it will survive another Tsunami (all buildings now must conform to higher construction standards). And the beach is taken at extreme low tide, at the only point where treated sewage inevitably goes in the see.
My advice is don’t go swimming next to the towns water treatment centre, go find a coral reef instead – perhaps Longbeach, or Runtee Bay. Also, why go to paradise and spend all the time partying, much better take a diving course or go on a shark spotting tour. Open your mind. You can drink and play pool back at the student union in Hull.
Phi Phi is not busy all year round. Some of the best experiences are at beginning and tail end of “high” season in April and September. These are also Whale Shark seasons due to coral spawning. Weather can be changeable, but usually you will get blue skies and sunshine all day, with some impressive storms late evening, followed by blue skies again the next day.
My advice is do your research better before you go somewhere. Unfortunately if you just turn up and expect to wander from the pier through the town, up the mountain, down the other side with your girlfriend and two bags each, your’e gonna get about as far as the sewage treatment plant before doing what this Nomadic Mat bloke obviously did and as a result felt cheated in someway. The photo are not misleading. The photos are photos. What you see is what you get. Ask more questions and maybe you won’t make mistakes like going in middle of rainy seasons or swimming on the wrong beach.
wow. Thanks for stereotyping me because I did none of the things you said I did. For starters, this was an article about the current state of Phi Phi not the tsunami, which was a tragedy. However, I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about Phi Phi NOW.
I have explored the island. I’ve taken day trips out to other islands. I’ve don’t the longboat tours. I’ve rented them on my own. (I don’t dive so I can’t speak for the diving) and you know what I still don’t like Phi Phi.
Longbeach looks nice and it’s a nice looking beach but you still end up covered in longboat filth when you go into the water. Why should I do that when there are about 100 other nicer and cleaner islands to go to in Thailand?
As for “sheep”, you strike me as one of those holier than thou, “I don’t use a guidebook so I’m a better traveler than you” so I’ll say this: you aren’t. I mention that the north side of the island with its private beaches and resorts will give you a respite from all those negative things but those places are hard to get too and not for everyone. So just because you avoided “the sheep” in the town, doesn’t mean you found some secluded place that no one else has found. Convenience and price are a big factor for people when they travel. Me? I’d simply go somewhere else in Thailand.
Phi Phi is not currently in the middle of the rainy season. I’ve lived in Thailand many years. I know the seasons. I know its the low season. I know its cloudier. I can still hope for sun.
So your comment about not being sheep, and just drinking, is pretty much making tons of assumptions about me and my stay in Ko Phi Phi and my experience traveling. You can gloss over everything but it doesn’t change the fact that the beaches are dirty and water covered in a nice filthy film.
But what do I know. I’m just a sheep. Apparently, you are the expert, and an expert who wrote a fake email address. I guess you weren’t too interested in the conversation huh?
I see what you’re saying, but have to disagree. We stayed on the north end (Phi Phi Island Village) and yes, it was a little more expensive, but we had a private beach, and it was quieter. If you go into the town center, it’s crowded. If you didn’t go there to party, you shouldn’t be staying in the town center. It’s as simple as that. If anything, Phi Phi Lay was way overcrowded, but it didn’t take away from the beauty at all. It sounds like you had some bad timing, or something else went on to ruin your trip.
As I said, if you go to the north part of the island you can escape this madness. However, not everyone can afford it because as you said, it is more expensive.
Last year a friend convinced me to go to Phi Phi with them …. i wish i had n’t gone.
My first visit was in 1995, when it was paradise. Next trip was a couple of years later, it’s fame had spread, and prices had gone up as quickly as the new buildings. “never go back” I said to myself.
I had hoped people would make the most of the post tsunami reconstruction but I was disappointed. I saw rubbish on land, rubbish in the water, over-built constructions in case of a tsunami that will never happen again in 1000 years.
Ko Phi Phi …… paradise no more.
Lots of thoughtful comments spurred from this post. Since 2008 marked my first trip to Thailand, I spent about 7 weeks visiting 6 different islands so I could figure out where I’d want to return. I found them all to be equally beautiful (even Koh Phayam in a low season, completely deserted, rain-driven kind of way).
The longboat ride to Koh Phi Phi Don and “the beach” in the early morning was great – no crowds, just a few people that had spent the night there. We then toured the rest of the island, swimming in secluded bays and snorkeling. It lived up to my expectations of paradise. Koh Phi Phi Leh is certainly commercial, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend someone visit.
When the tide went out, and the water receded, I actually enjoyed walking around the uncovered sand at sunset. I liked seeing people play soccer where people were swimming a few hours earlier.
Here’s one of my photos from that time: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/2799567900_3a847326e8.jpg?v=0
I’m glad I went in the 80’s, when there were just a couple of places to stay, and there were few westerners.
Great post Matt, thinking about a trip to Thailand soon and haven’t been for a long time so it’s great to have an update.
I also think thai Phi Phi island now is so cantaminated.
I was there around April and found that it was disappointing. When I began taking a speed boat, I saw that there are many islands which are still natural. But when I stepped down to those, everythought was changed. There were a lot of a long-tailed boat, rubbish, and overrated tourists.
I did a snorkling at Phi Phi Le island which is nearby Phi Phi Don island and saw only ruined caral with fish that already lost their natural instinct. Then, I took the boat to the Phi Phi Don and was felt so sad that everything turned into business purposes. The local people have to escape themselves from big resorts and lose their own properties such as their lands, and beaches. They already lost their own culture, own way of life.
The environment there is being destroyed by us who only think that the travel is just a chance to spoil everything. Thus, it make a negative results to something outside our bodies. However, we cannot deny that we can avoid such spoiling. But, at least, if we rethink it with our conscience, maybe we all, as tourists, can rebuild that beautiful places to came back again.
My friends and I have plans to go Krabi this November. We talked about breaking a night from Krabi Ao Nang. That takes us to decide whether its Phi Phi or Lanta. Everyone has their own point of view on Phi Phi. I’m wondering if anyone could provide some insights on Lanta? We just want a good beach and pristine sea, lay back and relax with a bottle (or maybe 2) of beer in hand.
Hi Matt,
Like you i’m a fellow traveler. I just recently visited Thailand this last winter. an specifically I returned to Phi Phi Island and was blown away by the tragedy that has happened on this beautiful island.
I ‘ve been making a documentary titled trouble in paradise. Here alink to the frist 2 episode.I would appreciated if you had a look , and let me know your honest opinion. I look forward to hearing back for you.
Travel On, Micahel
Episode 1, http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=7CCAB5AD3F3F64C0
Episode 2, http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=8A505311A58413B7
Both Joe Cummings and myself (Thailand Handbook from Moon Publications) have been complaining about the situation on Ko Phi Phi for over 15 years. The problem isn’t tourism, but the total lack of government management to take care of all the problems such as trash and water supply, not to mention infrastructure planning. It’s the old mai pen rai attitutde plus corruption and ineptitude. Quit blaming the tourists and travelers.
I’ve met Joe a few times. Good Guy.
While the complete greed and corruption of Thailand and the local mai pen rai attitude as well as the locals knowing they can make a quick buck and the tourism mindset of Thailand is “lots of money now, worry about the consequences later,” tourists consent to these practices with their dollars. If people didn’t go there to spend lots of money, then the locals would do something different. I wish there was a lot better government planning and management of Phi Phi (like I do all of Thailand’s islands) but there’s no way you give tourists a free pass on this one.
I’ve been to PP numerous times over the years including a week after the tsunami. As tragic as that event was, it presented Phi Phi with an incredible, once only opportunity, to reinvent itself — unfortunately it didn’t.
Sure there is a water treatment centre there now, but the island remains hopelessly overdeveloped, with nowhere near sufficient infrastructure to handle the volume of people it gets.
As Carl says, lack of planning, corruption play a part — as does very liberal interpretation of land title, greed and no shortage of travellers and tourists who don’t think about the problems their custom creates. A completely different resource set is required to support private pool villas as opposed to thatch huts with shared toilets out the back.
All in all it’s a microcosm of so many of the things that can be totally screwed up about Thai tourism — it’s just a shame it’s on a spot that was once so beautiful.
But are there good dj’s arround can’t wait to rave everynight
It’s interesting the way it’s changed over the years. My only trip there was in 1997 and it was still good value, DiCaprio’s movie hadn’t been released and I enjoyed the week or so I was there. That said, it didn’t wow me even then, and I’ve never had the desire to return. There are many other places in Thailand that I’ve made multiple trips to, but Phi Phi, nice as it was, didn’t entice me back.
Thailand has many, many, many islands that are far far better than Ko Phi Phi. People just fall for the hype.
You should read Ecotourism and Sustainable Development by Martha Honey. It’s not dull, I promise. I learned alot about how cruise ships and budget tour operators screw ecosystems and people. It’s only 4 bucks used on Amazon !
thanks for confirming why I have never been there … of course there are lots of places like this all over southern thailand ( and every tourist destination in the world) . however there are many great places too.
it all depends what you are wanting from travel .. many just want to travel and have a holiday, and thats fine for them. its all about the diff between travellers and tourists I guess .. i’m just glad they go to places that are diff to where i go – I go in the ‘off’ season
I don’t know of too many “unspoiled” islands in Thailand. So many are prey to the aggressive tourist industry: Ko Phi Phi, Ko Phangan, Ko Samui. Ko Tao is on the lighter side.
The islands near Malaysia are the best. They are the least developed.
Ko Phi Phi would be the perfect spring break destination. I was there in 2003 and indeed it sounds like nothing has changed. When will the international airport finally be built?
hi i really wanted to go to phi phi but have been put off now, me and my friend are travelling in june to bangkok then to krabi ao nang, which island would you recommend to go to for beauty and nice sea? how would we travel to the island? and what price ranges are there?
I think its normal if locals try to make a living from their popular tourism destination.
Most inns do cost more than 800b, but there are also the ones that cost 400b, or even, 250b.
Food there are gettin their “touristy” menu, but there are also small local restaurants, good ones, that would cost you only 30-40b for a big portion of rice, chicken/seafood and vegetables.
Basic rule applies everywhere, including here: Know where to look.
But I do agree with the pollution there. Damn long tail boats, they should make one exclusive pier just for the boats so other lazy sunny beaches are “safe” from their oil.