The pontoon of Koh Phi Phi, where all travelers arrive. At the end, under the welcome sign, touts for hotels and guesthouses are waiting ...
The pontoon of Koh Phi Phi, where all travelers arrive. At the end, under the welcome sign, touts for hotels and guesthouses are waiting ...

Back to Koh Phi Phi...

  Thailand: Southern Islands - January 2007

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text: 


Koh Phi Phi is metamorphosed since my last visit in July 2005 (almost six months after the tsunami). The transformation is incredible.

Two years after the tsunami

After a first night Bangkoka plane ride with Air Asia to join Ao Nang (Krabi) in the South, then an hour and a half crossing by boat: here I am in Koh Phi Phi.

The island has changed a lot since I last visited, a year and a half ago, in July 2005, about six months after the tsunami of December 26, 2004. I was a little suspicious, but the transformation is truly incredible.

The pontoon of Koh Phi Phi, where all travelers arrive. At the end, under the welcome sign, touts for hotels and guesthouses are waiting ...
The pontoon of Koh Phi Phi, where all travelers arrive. At the end, under the welcome sign, touts for hotels and guesthouses are waiting ...

The reconstruction has continued at full speed, in a somewhat anarchic way, and it is still being done in every corner. Lots of hotels and shops are being built, and there is work going on everywhere.

I have a little trouble to find the big lonely banyan tree on the back beach, the only one left standing after the wave. Today, it shades the chairs and tables of a restaurant, installed in front of rows of umbrellas and skewers of tourists cooking in the sun, next to a large resort with an infinity pool ...

Return of tourists

The tourists are back, in great numbers. First difficulty, and not the least, when you arrive and you have not booked anything in advance: find a place to stay. Prices have soared and the simplest room is already going to cost 1000 baths, which is a lot of money for Thailand... But Koh Phi Phi is an ultra-touristy enclave which is different from the rest of the country.

After the arrival of the boat, I hurriedly left my cumbersome bags at the dive-shop with which I was going to dive the next day, to go around the guesthouses, almost running on the way, behind other travelers with backpacks to overtake them, in order to arrive first! Everywhere signs "Full", but I end up finding a roof anyway.

The island remains beautiful despite everything

Longtail-boats lined up on the beach. Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, January 2007.
Longtail-boats lined up on the beach. Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, January 2007. 

For this first day, lazing on the beach amid the spectacular scenery of Phi Phi, with its large cliffs in the sea, and registration at the diving center ... I will be able to release my new equipment tomorrow, finally!

The translucent water of Koh Phi Phi. Thailand, January 2007.
The translucent water of Koh Phi Phi. Thailand, January 2007.

You can find other pictures of Koh Phi Phi, that I put online on my very first website Notebooks of Southeast Asia into July 2005 and January 2007.

  Thailand: Southern Islands - January 2007

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. So far, so close ... Everything is said in the title ...

    Delighted to read you, we didn't expect news so soon, thank you. Once again, our thoughts turn to Asia, we've just read in "El Pais" about the catastrophic and deadly floods that have hit Malaysia, and you'll be smiling, Dad feels reassured, because he no longer confuses these two countries geographically!

    Here the news is marked by the NS media show, no need to elaborate, this is not the appropriate space! Have a good dive tomorrow, and a good vacation.
    Lydie

  2. Youpee! Finally news of our favorite rider.
    It must have felt strange to be back in those post-tsunami landscapes... Too bad about the inflation too, but hey... I guess you can't wait to test your new holder in the blue waters of Phi Phi. We're counting on you to make us dream with beautiful photos. May Poseidon be with you and have fun. And heck, you've got to go to work tomorrow...
    Lots of love.

  3. Thank you for your messages! It's so nice to read you... I've added a few photos to illustrate everything. The new regulator is working perfectly and I've already got a load of new underwater pictures from the two dives I did today!

    Good luck to the workers. See you soon.

  4. I just stumbled across this post. I went to Ko Phi Phi in 2001. Of all the corners of Asia I've visited, this island holds a special place. I still remember the sunsets from a little bungalow I rented in the mountains for a few baths, the magnificent beaches, the meals with fellow travelers and the joy of strolling through a car-free haven.

    1000 baths? Lots of tourists??? I'm sorry. As someone who dreams of going back, I'm thinking that maybe I should keep my paradise intact in my head...

  5. @ Marie-Julie:

    I must have been to Koh Phi Phi three or four times in all, every few years. Before and after the tsunami. I was happy to go back for a vacation in early 2007. I had good memories, too. I was curious to see how life had recovered after my previous visit in July 2005.

    But it seems to me that the double killer wave has only accelerated Phi Phi's transformation... I was stunned to discover, once there, the prices and the crowds. However, the beauty of the area makes up for it, and the cliffs and turquoise water remain the same.

    I intend to go back there one day, but I think I'll settle down on more isolated beaches in the north. Tonsai, the center between the two beaches that turn their backs on each other, is a little too crowded these days. Paradise isn't what it used to be...

    😕

Share
Tweet
Share