On my last night in Phi Phi, as I was wandering in the streets, colored with drunk old teenagers and careless young adults, I asked myself if the places you decide to go while traveling could influence the person you are…

I felt so different from the people surrounding me but I liked observing them, nearly in a scientific way. Their attitude regarding parties were so different than what I considered a nice time that I felt like an alien on the island. Age has nothing to do with the way you decide to travel. I’ve met these past few weeks some 18year old kids who were more mature and responsible travelers than some thirty something guys. 

Koh Phi Phi was for me, a bit of hell in the end and I’m glad I could have stayed around some “locals” while passing my open water this week. I was definitely not into the party vibe going on there and felt pretty sad when I realized that some people where staying for one week and were doing exactly the same thing every night: getting ridiculously drunk, pretend to enjoy the shitty music and then making out with some other kids, as fucked up as themself. And then, of course, regretting as soon as the sun rose up few hours later. Did these people left home in order to be fucked up every night with other people like themself or did they become like that as soon as they stepped on the island?

I have nothing against partying while traveling and even if I look really judgy, I love going out myself and when you are surrounded by cool people, if the music if ok, it’s always incredible to spend the nice dancing on a beach at the other side of the world. What I don’t understand is the exces and why some people say that they are backpackers and travelers but in the end finish by exploring only the beach at night…

Maybe the answer is that you decide to go to certain places to meet people like you… I explained how Myanmar was full of “experimented” and mature travelers compares to South Thailand, full of young backpackers… I personally chose my destinations after talking to some backpackers on the road, it means obviously that I’m going to pay attention of what a person like me experienced in some places and it will or not give me the desire to touch a bit of a vibe of a place.

Koh Phi Phi was “always more”. People were loosing things on the way… Sometimes it was keys, sometimes it was dignity. I have to admit that I’ve lost a small piece of skin in the water there so I’ve been part of this game too (it’s a long story implicating a foot in the sea, at night, few beers and a rock…)

The streets were the windows of some sin actions: half naked people walking from a bar to another, tattooed kids drinking vodka in some dark opened tattoo saloon, desperate foreigners paid to drink too much and invite you to consume buckets in front of each clubs… 

I had a quick conversation with one of them. Let’s call him Dude. He was “forced” to drink every night and “couldn’t” leave the island as he had “no choice” because it was the only way he found to have money. I pitied him so much… He put himself in this situation which looked paradisiac for him at first but revealed the dark side of being a backpacker in South East Asia after few days.

Could I imagine seeing this guy one day in Myanmar, in a cold and dirty bus? I tried to gave my tips to some travelers on the way but I realized that some people hear in what you say, just what they want to hear. A country can change your mind and your spirit? Imagine that you force Dude to go in Mandalay or Lopburi… Will he find a way to get drunk anyway or will he start to change deeply his mind about life?

I left Koh Phi Phi in the morning, grateful for what the island gave me: a reflexion about how it is to party in South Thailand and how paradise can turn into hell if you stay long enough to admire the dark side of humanity, and the discovery of a new world: the immensely and amazing underwater world.