Paradise Lost

Back in the nineties, the Koh Phi Phi archipelago was an almost untouched pearl in the island ensamble off the west Thailand coast. With a little luck and advice, backpackers traveling the country at that time, had the adventure of hitchhiking on one of the cargo boats that went there from Krabi. That’s how an older traveler I met in Ko Lanta, a nearby island, told me anybody got there. At the time, he pointed to the island, which looked extremely inviting on the horizon, with its many limestone cliffs rising steeply into the air. But several tourists and locals on Ko Lanta affirmed to me that since the Hollywood movie “The Beach,” little of the former serenity remains. Since the movie aired, curious tourists from all over the world have flocked to the paradise, gradually destroying it. On the populated island of Koh Phi Phi Don, countless resorts were built, as well as bars, discos and restaurants for the masses. However, the uninhabited side island, where up to 7000 tourists land daily to admire Maya Bay, famous from the film, suffered even more. The corals were damaged, the wildlife disappeared and a lot of plastic waste littered the dreamlike spot. After hearing this about Ko Phi Phi, I decided to leave it at the beautiful sillouette from afar and to continue traveling north …

Koh Lanta (Thailand), October 2013