I was glad to leave Phuket. It was like being in a different country outside of Thailand, the kind of country that I prefer to avoid. I wanted to find a real Thai tropical island to laze on the beach for a few days and although I knew that Phi Phi Island would be touristy and busy, I decided to make it my first stop on my quest.
As the ferry made it’s way to the island, the tall limestone karsts came into view, covered in jungle with turqoise waters and long stretches of beach below them. Scenically, the island looked naturally beautiful and as we pulled into the peir the water and the beach looked clean and uncrowded.
Tonsai Beach near the peir
When we got off the ferry we were surprised to to be greeted by someone from our guesthouse, who carried our packs in a cart and escorted us through Tonsai town to our bungalow. I had heard that the main town was something to avoid, loud, dirty and smelly. On first impression I couldn’t really see what people were talking about. Though quite developed, the town seemed very clean with plenty of shops, restaurants and guesthouses that all seemed quite inviting.
Our bungalow was located a little away from the center of town, meaning that we would avoid any noise that might cause problems later in the night, but still close enough to everything including the beach.
As we made our way to the famous Loh Dalum Beach, I was instantly hit by the scenic beauty of the bay, but as I began walking along the beach I was appalled. As I was dodging all of the sunbathing tourists I noticed that I was also dodging an endless line of rubbish where the water was gently lapping up the beach. When I looked closer I noticed that the tourists were all lying amongst this rubbish and when I looked out at the people swimming, once again, rubbish floating all amongst them. I was disgusted. Here we all were, in this amazingly beautiful tropical paradise, walking, sunbathing and swimming in rubbish!
We walked to the end of the beach where there were very few people and to no surprise, very little rubbish, so we got to enjoy the beach in the end but still, I couldn’t get the thought of that rubbish out of my mind. Is this what tourism does to a place? Do people just not care that they are ruining such a beautiful place? How could they not even care that they are lying and swimming IN RUBBISH?
The view from Loh Dalum Beach
Tonsai beach, on the other side of the village where the pier and most of the boats are located, was much cleaner, however you have to swim amongst the boats.
Long boats on Tonsai Beach
View of Tonsai village with Tonsai Beach on the left and Loh Dalum Beach on the right
The next day as we took another walk along Loh Dalum beach, my wife spotted our final straw, a used condom on the beach. We left first thing the next morning.
Koh Phi Phi is absolutely beautiful, a perfect island paradise, one that is being ruined by tourism. My visit there wasn’t what I was looking for, infact it was somewhat of a sad experience. Seeing all of that rubbish broke my heart. I hope that if I ever return, things will have changed to take care of the amazing environment that Phi Phi is set in. But the truth is, will people ever change?
View of Loh Dalum Beach at low tide from a beach bar
Have you been to Koh Phi Phi? What was your experience like?
6 comments
2 pings
Bodlagz
November 19, 2011 at 11:41 am (UTC 10)
Shame about the rubbish, saw much the same thing once Koh Chang, the southern beach, can’t remember the name, was covered in litter which washed up on the tide.
Hopefully these are one off incidents.
Bodlagz recently posted..Diver Meets Turtle
Dean Wickham
November 19, 2011 at 5:50 pm (UTC 10)
Yes I was hoping it was only bad timing, maybe the rubbish had been dumped off a ship or something. It is still quite horrible if that is the case. Thanks for stopping by!
Dean Wickham recently posted..Photos of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy
Kjell
November 19, 2011 at 6:02 pm (UTC 10)
People change…? Not very likely. There is always going to be someone messing things up. It is an eternal struggle. But what happened to the people cleaning up the mess? Surely there would be someone if ther work was appreciated.
Dean Wickham
November 19, 2011 at 6:12 pm (UTC 10)
Hi Kjell. When I first arrived on Phi Phi I had to pay a 20Baht “Clean up Phi Phi” fee. So yes I would have thought someone would be cleaning up the rubbish. In the short time that I was there I didn’t see any of it happening, but hopefully things will change. They have to for people to be able to enjoy these places in the future. Thanks for your comment.
Dean Wickham recently posted..Photos of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy
Claire @lakwatsera de primera
November 20, 2011 at 10:01 am (UTC 10)
I haven’t been to any beaches of Thailand but it had always been in my bucket list to check out their pristine tropical beaches. I hope it’s not too late yet.
Claire @lakwatsera de primera recently posted..A Scenic Drive and Camping at Wonga Beach
Dean Wickham
November 20, 2011 at 6:51 pm (UTC 10)
Hi Claire, there were a lot of really beautiful beaches in Thailand that were nice and clean. Our favourite was on Koh Phangan
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