Koh Phi Phi, Thailand – Then and Now
I received an interesting email from my well-traveled uncle the other day. Attached in this email was the above photo, a shocking comparison that illustrates the phenomenal growth in Koh Phi Phi over the past 25 years. It’s a sobering image to say the least.
As a 10 year old boy, I remember hearing tales about my globe trotting uncle. He captured the photo on the left in 1987 when he was backpacking around Southeast Asia. Yes, this was in the era before smart phones, email, WiFi, ATM’s and debit cards.
Though I do love the fact that travel to Thailand has become easier and more accessible, part of me is super disappointed that such a beautiful slice of paradise has completely transformed to meet the world’s appetite for sandy beaches and clear blue water.
Nevertheless, I’m thankful to my uncle for sharing his photo and allowing me to share it with you.
Have you revisited a destination several years later, only to find that it’s nothing like how you remember? Share your experience in the comments section below and feel free to share some links, we’d love to read about it.
In this age of twitter and text shorthand, it may be tough to read long passages- but those who enjoy a good read will want to read this romp through the Thai islands in 1987!
Note- none of the names have been changed as the guilty do not need protection!
http://walkerpub.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/1987-thailand-in-search-of-the-perfect-beach-hut/
I often feel the same way and wonder what it would’ve been like if I started backpacking 10 years earlier. I have the feeling the real travel experiences are dying out quickly.
Great picture though, I’ve been there.
Hey Neil, thanks for the comment.
Yes, there is certainly a fear that mass tourism is squashing the world’s best kept secrets. Yet another reason to get out there right now! 🙂
I was in Koh Phi Phi 30 years ago and it is exactly what it looked like. I am back here today and was shocked how this incredible paradise has been lost. I will not return again. So sad.
Nycole from Canada in Koh Phi Phi, November 14, 2019
I’ve heard that Thailand is a backpacker’s paradise these days…
And I went to Russia in 2005. When we went, we were told that Russia is constantly changing, so it was good to go when we did before it changed too much. I am planning a trip to do the Trans-Siberian next summer, so it will be interesting to see if and how much it has changed since then…
Sounds like it will be an interesting adventure for you Colleen!
Revisiting a destination years later always brings up nostalgic feelings. We revisited SE Asia 5 years after our first visit to the region and found ourselves constantly pointing out places we remembered. It doesn’t pack the same punch as visiting a place for the first time, but it’s a different kind of fun.
What a difference! I know I would have loved to be able to see it myself before all the development had been done.
It’s shocking, isn’t it?!
Wow, that actually saddens me. It stinks to think that the world is becoming so much less mysterious than it once was. Good and bad, I guess.
Yup, gotta take the good with the bad. On the one hand, remote places have become more accessible (which is great) but it’s often at the expense of keeping a good secret a secret.
I went there in 1992 and I’m there again now in 2023…. No comparison can be made…. It was a village of fisherman with some bungalow, now half of the front beach terrain is occupy by big hotel. It’s anyway a nice play, but it’s a Dicentia kind of holiday
How I wish I could have seen Koh Phi Phi in the 1980s or earlier! Fortunately there are still beautiful, authentic places, even if they may more work to get to. In Hawaii, where I’m from, I always recommend the Big Island and Molokai to people, because parts of both of those islands are like going back in time, unlike the more touristy areas of Maui or of course Waikiki on Oahu.
This is so true. The world is a very big place and there are many secret spots that need to be discovered! 🙂
I visited Koh Phi Phi in 1992 and it still looked more like the photo from 1987 than now. But don’t forget that much of Koh Phi Phi also took a hard hit from the infamous Boxing Day tsunami, too so to me, both pictures warm my heart for different reasons.
Great point Tamar. There have been many new developments directly related to the rebuild, which has been very positive for the community.
In the mid-seventies, I was on two climbing expeditions to the Fitzroy Range in Patagonia. The road into the mountains was just being turned from a rough track (really, rough track) into a road that was a full days drive from anywhere. At the road head, there was one abandoned building and a small house for one Park Ranger.
Nearby was one sheep herder who lived by himself with a couple of dogs. There were fewer than 30 visitors to the Park that year.
Almost 40 years later, there is a town with multiple hotels and pizza places and you can actually get there with public transportation. I haven’t yet returned…. but plan to. Don’t know how I will react as our initial trip there was very special.
Just left Phi Phi this afternoon. First time back in 12 years and I was so sad to see what has happened to the place, 7/11’s, Irish theme bar, 3D simulator rides and development going up all over the place (including towards viewpoint). The village has expanded by many many many times and the one day scuba dive day I had revealed a barren ocean where the coral has mostly gone as has the bulk of the marine life. The water was filthy.
Loh Dalam bay is now the main beach for evening entertainment, as the sun sets it is still beautiful… and then they roll out the same fire acts at every single bar, the same thing over and over at every bar every night with gallon upon gallon of fuel being burnt sending plumes of smoke upwards and fuel spilled into the sand that goes into the sea. Drunk tourists queue up to jump a fire skipping rope. The exact same thing happening at every beachside bar. Absolutely no originality from one to the next and no thought for the impact on the environment.
When they rebuilt Phi Phi after the Tsunami the village lost all it’s old appeal and could be any Thai street now. So incredibly sad and undoubtedly my last visit to Thailand.
Wow, that is an unbelievable difference! Would have loved to visit back before it just became another spot on a well beaten path, such a shame!
I know it’s sad. I can’t deny it. But I also can’t help saying, “I’d like to stay there.”
Amazing difference. We were in Phi Phi a few months ago and while it is still beautiful it is one of the busier places. Much easier to find yourself getting drunk with Irish guys than relaxing on the beach.
What an incredible difference. Wish I could have visited the place back in the day.
That is amazing how its changed. I wish I had been traveling back when your uncle was to be able to see that place without all the development.
Wow that is quite a significant change! I like it better the way it looked in 1987!
I visited Phi Phi in 2009 and did not at all like it. To me, the over-development ruined the place. I much preferred Koh Jum and Koh Libong further south in the Andaman Sea.
My partner & I stayed at the Phi Phi Palm Tree for 2 nights in March 2010. This was the first stop on our trip after travelling overnight from Bangkok.
I’ve been there 3 times and they’ve totally ruined the place, I wrote my own posting on it and you see the same before/after photos.
http://bbqboy.net/phi-phi-thailand/
What a shame!!
Frank (bbqboy)
Thanks for the post. It’s pretty sad just how much it has changed. What use to be a tropical paradise is just a tourist trap.
What a shame a marked difference! I was out there the same year as your Uncle and it was simply beautiful! nothing but a few huts and a well to wash from – it WAS paradise!!
Thanks for posting – who knows I may even have met your uncle!!
Thanks! – Michele
I’ve been living in Phuket since 2006. I’ve been to Phi Phi numerous times during the time I’ve been in Phuket. I’ve gotta say that it is ruined a lot in time. Now it is a crazy young people’s party island. The place is filthy and packed everyday. Not my cup of tea.
Hey,
very interesting,thank you very much for sharing this pic!
Do you have some more?
I feel exactly the same as you;on the one hand its such a shame to destroy this beautiful landscape for tourism/capitalism,on the other hand WE little tourists are having our benefits from this trend.
I visited Phi Phi last year in May.You MUST close your eyes upon crappy stuff like this “3D horror theatre” and this whole party-events.Get yourself a hotel at Leamtong beach and try to enjoy silence and landscape.
Greetings from Germany,
Chris
I have a photo from my first trip to phi phi as a backpacker in 2001 and the place still has a special memory as it as was the most perfect island that nature has created… made fun by lots of respectful backpackers who came to visit Thailand for its thainess. Now it is shocking and sad to see what has happened here and is as much the fault of the local government for allowing the overdevelopment as the trashy tourists who come here. I don’t think I could bear to go back without feeling really sad and hope that this pattern is not repeated across the world as I still love backpacking and discovering nature’s most beautiful islands (without changing them)
I visited Koh Phi Phi, back in 1989 as a backpacker and what a tranquil, beautiful island it was. Stayed in a very basic hut set back off the beach and for very little money. Lovely friendly people, who were very honest when I dropped my camera walking back from the village one night, and a local found it early the next morning and handed it in to the police. I was so thankful, called at the hut where the man who found it lived, to thank him. Will always have fond memories of Koh Phi Phi from ’89, will be very different now :(.
I visited Phi Phi for a month in April 1989 and it was paradise on earth. I revisited the islands several times, in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2008. I couldn’t stay a whole month again on this ruined island. Just passing by to get to the still beautiful islands in the aera.
It would been fun if some of the good people we met there in April 1989 replyed here! Don’t have their addresses or names anymore.
Still no one from the days in April 1989 who remember those fantastic weeks?
I too visited Phi Phi in 1992, took my wife and daughter there last week, (January 2016) what a disappointment. Capitalism…..Everything is for Sale
Hi, I stayed on Phi Phi island in 1985 , as a 18 year old lad it was the most magical place I had ever seen or experienced. I returned in 2002 and was absolutely gutted to see what had happened to this special place. I will have to dig out my old photos !
Hi Sean, I must have just missed you! I went in the late 80’s backpacking, scuba diving, staying in huts, making new friends & loving every minute. I visited Phi Phi another 5 times, most recently in 2001 & was horrified to see what it had become. So sad but I’m still very, very grateful to have enjoyed Phi Phi when it was paradise & so very special. I have fantastic memories too! We were very lucky!!!
We are there just now. Leaving for Phuket after 2 nights stop over from Koh Lanta. Heartbreaking to see what’s become of this small island paradise since last/first visit in ’92. So much so I didn’t even bother with any tours. I can’t help thinking we are all responsible for this tourist monster. I wish now I hadn’t revisted this place but on the other hand it has opened my eyes to what is happening and what is wrong.
Well, come to think of it, the World population increased from 5.7 to 7.8 Billion during the timeframe of these pictures as well as increased popularity of the island.
Just glad that the government kept certain areas in Thailand as protected parks not to be developed.
I lived in Thailand on an off the beaten track island in 2003. I have not been back since. I wish to remember those old school and charming times as they were back then. Amazing memories. Thank you and goodnight.
I traveled around Asia a lot in my 20’s & your uncle’s photo reminded me of the real Phi Phi Island I loved so much!
I first visited Phi Phi 30 years ago when there were no hotels, only backpackers (not tourists). I had the most amazing adventures – scuba diving, island hopping, making friends (Thai, European, Aussies, people from everywhere). I went 5 more times to Phi Phi (last time 2001) but would never go again. It’s been ruined now but I’m so very grateful to feel the pure joy of an undeveloped paradise with all the wonderful people back then.
I think the further you travel, the more adventurous you are, the more willing you are to abandon tech, AC, guide book recommendations etc, the more you will be rewarded!
Don’t follow the herd. Forge your own path!