Now up in Patrick Smith's column in Salon.com:

Heaven & Hell in the Phi Phi Islands. Can a stupefyingly beautiful Thai island be ruined by throngs of obnoxious tourists?

The story is here:

http://www.salon.com/technology/ask_...and/index.html


Entry to Salon.com is free.

I agree that it was a great article. I am going to move this thread to the Thailand Forum for discussion.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Anything can be ruined by throngs of tourists, obnoxious, young or otherwise.

Good article though.

Wow- very well-written article. It reminds me of why I should not aspire to be a travel writer and keep my day job- lots of other people do it better. (And this guy's day job is airline pilot!)

In 2003 when I was planning my wedding, I was on the knot.com a lot and Phi Phi was a popular destination. I can't imagine how so many people in their20s can afford to travel to the South Pacific on their honeymoon. We're not beach people and we spent a spectacular week in St. Petersburg, Russia instead.

Two reasons. It's cheap and credit cards.
A week at Ko Phi Phi is cheaper than a week in Mexico.

I would think St. Petersburg would be MUCH more expensive than Ko Phi Phi.

Maybe you shouldn't be a travel writer because your geography is a bit off. Fiji is in the south Pacific. Koh Phi Phi is on the Andaman Coast.

The article was well-written, but it struck me as sort of a "grouchy old man goes to well-known party spot and is surprised/annoyed by all the people partying there" type of vibe. It's no secret that tons of people in their 20's (like me) go to party in Thailand, with Phuket and surrounding area being the most popular spot of all.

And the glazed over, half-dead, "miserable" look that the young people have is not caused by some mysterious disease or mental affliction sweeping the young, but is instead the result of being viciously hungover from several days of staying up till 4 a.m. to "drink, and to party, ... and listen to hip-hop music out at the beach." Trust me, if you drank until you "passed out naked in the sand" and then went hiking the next day in the 35 degree and 80% humidity heat, you would feel and look like a zombie too.

I think the writer would right the same article if he went to Cancun or Ibiza or Las Vegas. Maybe he should go to the French countryside or Montana for his next vacation instead.

It's also because he was a grouchy old guy by the standards of the teens and 20-something people. What exactly did he expect in response by greeting a girl half his age walking alone?

Would anyone want their daughter to stop on the trail and converse with a random stranger in a foreign country while she was all alone?

Judging by his picture, I'd want any daughter of mine to keep walking.

Perhaps he'd gotten spoiled on Soi Bangla in Phuket

I've been to Phi Phi and generally agree w/ his assessment....lots of hipsters thinking they are taking a cultural plunge by backpacking thru Thailand and all they do is spend time around other white backpackers and eat pad thai and pineapple fried rice. Their mecca - Kao San Road is about as authentic as Fisherman's Wharf in S.F.