The Dangerous Island Region In Thailand You Might Want To Skip On Your Vacation

For enthusiasts of culture, nature, and stunning beaches, Thailand is an absolute dream, with so many islands you should have on your travel wish list. But there is also a region you should put on your "maybe not" list: Koh Phi Phi. Also known as just the Phi Phi Islands, this popular Thai setting is made up of two bigger islands, Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Le, and four smaller spots as well. This destination is known as much for its incredible natural beauty as the exciting nightlife, but it comes with concerns. 

Between the two big islands, Koh Phi Phi Don is inhabited while Le isn't, which is why it was such an ideal setting for Leonardo DiCaprio's 2000 film "The Beach." It is secluded (minus visitors) to say the least. The popularity of these islands aside, there are safety considerations that visitors need to understand before coming here, and travel insurance is always a good idea here.

For example, many beaches on the Phi Phi Islands are home to resident jellyfish. But these aren't just any jellyfish — poisonous box jellyfish live in the waters and travelers have noted a lack of warning signs on any of the beaches where they reside. These little jellies are no laughing matter, as they have some of the deadliest venom in the world. However, box jellies are merely one example of the serious hazards to be found on these islands.

Overtourism can break a destination. For Nomadic Matt, Koh Phi Phi exists among the broken. On his blog, he wrote how tourism had polluted the waters and made the islands unbearable to him. He even described them as being "filled with drunk tourists," which is actually a reason why this destination is considered so dangerous. The danger here is namely a drink called the Thai Bucket, which is notorious for being too strong and landing travelers in bad situations. 

Beyond just typical drunken shenanigans, which around a beach or fire can be dangerous on its own, the drinks themselves have been known to be deadly. A mixture of booze and soda, among other things, these literal buckets have even led to tourist deaths through the years. Two female Canadian tourists died in 2012 after drinking a bucket that was made with "cough syrup, Coke, DEET and ground up kratom leaves, which are a mild narcotic indigenous to Thailand," according to the CBC.

Other travelers have talked about not just the potency of the buckets but of them being unsafe to consume at all. In a reddit thread about the infamous Thai Bucket, one Redditor advised others not to trust premixed buckets, adding: "Sometimes during full moon party or when your too drunk to notice they may switch your booze with ethanol or rubbing alcohol to save a buck, they tried that s*** with me, so if it doesn't taste right, don't buy!" 

There are some places, like a majestic remote mountain town in Japan, where monkeys and people can peacefully coexist. The Koh Phi Phi islands are not one of them. Per the Bankok Post, there were 600 people treated in hospitals in 2012 for monkey bites at Phi Phi Island Hospital — the majority of them were tourists. By March of 2013, when the Post's article was published, 50 visitors had already been attacked by monkeys. Here's the problem: In popular areas like Monkey Beach, visitors have been encouraged to feed and interact with the monkeys.

So, when the monkeys, who are used to lots of snacks, aren't given any, they get upset. It isn't uncommon for the monkeys to steal food or bite and scratch to take your food if you don't hand it over willingly. These monkeys are especially problematic for tourists' children. In March 2023, a dad from Australia had to fight back when a group of monkeys went after his 5-year-old son.

Although adorable, monkey bites make up between two and 21% of animal bite injuries, according to the World Health Organization. Although they aren't always serious, monkey bites can lead to "rabies, simian retroviruses, herpes B virus, and mpox infections, as well as bacterial infections related to salmonella and campylobacter species," per the organization. It's best to leave them be.