Koh Phi Phi
Thailand
Limestone walls straight out of the sea, a village with no cars in it, and the loudest beach in Thailand
Photo by Evan Krause on Unsplash
Photos by Sebastian Pichler, Yannick Apollon, Jakob Owens and Tohozi on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Thailand
November to April — the monsoon covers the other half of the year and the crossing gets rough with it
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 320mm in Sep
Where it is
7.74°N, 98.77°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Climb the viewpoint before seven, when it is cool and empty
- Take an early boat to Maya Bay and be first through the gate
- Dive or snorkel the Bida islands rather than the sites everybody queues for
- Walk to Long Beach for the sunset and take a boat back
- Go to Bamboo Island for a day and swim off the sand bar
Koh Phi Phi travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Thailand
Mid-rangeCash island. The resorts and the dive shops take cards, the bars and the boat men do not, and the machines here charge more than anywhere on the mainland.
ATMs & cards
Every machine on the island charges the standard 220 baht foreign-card fee and there is no bank branch to avoid it at. Draw what you need in Phuket or Krabi before the ferry.
Avoid these
- every machine on the island — all of them charge the 220 baht foreign-card fee and there is no bank to avoid it at
Use these instead
- Kasikorn
- SCB or Bangkok Bank, in Phuket or Krabi before the ferry
An island where almost everything is cash: the bars, the longtail boats, the night market. Draw on the mainland, because every withdrawal here costs the same fee whatever the amount.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Thailand
SafeThe island is safe and the hazards are its own. Drink spiking and buckets of unmeasured spirits are the standing complaint on Loh Dalum, fire shows put burns on people who join in, longtails have propellers and swimmers get hurt by them, and there is no hospital — anything serious is a boat to Phuket.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (10 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the buckets on Loh Dalum — unmeasured spirits, often not what the label says, and drink spiking is the island’s standing complaint
- the fire shows — the skipping ropes are alight and the burns happen to the people who join in
- swimming where the longtails come in — the propellers sit on a long shaft at the surface and swimmers are hurt by them every season
- the viewpoint path after rain — steep concrete steps with no rail, and it is the way everybody comes down in the dark
- anything serious happening at all — there is no hospital on the island — a real injury is a two-hour boat to Phuket
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Thailand visa rules
No visa neededup to 60 days
Extendable once by 30 days at an immigration office inside the country. You may be asked for onward travel.
Other passports
Visa on arrivalup to 15 days2,000 THB
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Nothing to arrange in advance for visa-free entry. Everyone must file the online arrival card (TDAC) shortly before travelling.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: the arrival card
Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC)RequiredFree
In the three days before you arrive. Submitted earlier than that, it is rejected.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- flight number
- the full address of your first night
- your onward or return flight date
The official page puts "No Fees Required" in its own title, because a trade in charging for this exists.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Thailand
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies if you will be near animals or staying a while
- Japanese encephalitis for long rural stays
Getting treated
One of the best places in the world to have an accident. Private hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai are excellent, fast, English-speaking and cheap by Western standards — a consultation runs a few tens of euros. They expect payment or an insurance guarantee up front.
Dengue is present year-round and worse in the rainy season; there is no prophylaxis, so repellent is the defence. Rabies is present in street dogs and monkeys — any bite or scratch means a clinic the same day.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodEverything is shipped in, so the prices are Bangkok’s with a boat ride added. The night market behind Tonsai is where the island eats — grilled fish by the kilo, pad thai, and roti with condensed milk after.
Nightlife
One bay, several sound systems, buckets of spirits and fire on the sand — the most concentrated night in Thailand and not a subtle one.
- Loh Dalum beach — the whole of it, and where the fire shows are
- Slinky Beach Bar — the one everybody ends up at
- Carlito’s and Stones Bar — the other two on the same sand
- Tonsai village — the smaller bars, for a drink that is a drink
Closing: The beach bars run to 02:00 by ordinance and the after-hours places on the hill go until the light comes up.
A beer in a bar: ฿100–180
Buckets are unmeasured and frequently not the spirit on the label; the island’s clinic sees the results of both every night.
Getting around
Limited- UberNot here
- From the airport
- Phuket or Krabi, then a minibus to the pier and two hours on the ferry
There is nothing to hail. The island is walked, and a longtail boat is the taxi — agreed by the trip before you step in, not metered. A transfer from the pier to a resort beach is arranged by the hotel and is often the only way to reach it.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Bangkok — 11 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 22:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 22:00–06:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Thailand
Why these are Thailand's numbers and not Koh Phi Phi's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 2.3× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Good. Maps, calls and streaming, and enough to tether a laptop for an afternoon. Mobile runs at 1.2× the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Koh Phi Phi, so these are medians for all of Thailand. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Thailand, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Thai
- Helloสวัสดี — Sawatdeesa-wat-DEE khrap/kha
- Pleaseกรุณา — Karunaka-roo-NA
- Thank youขอบคุณ — Khop khunkop-KOON khrap/kha
- Yes / Noใช่ / ไม่ — Chai / Maichai / my
4 more phrases
- Excuse meขอโทษ — Kho thotkor-TOAST
- How much is it?เท่าไหร่ — Tao rai?tow-RYE
- The bill, pleaseเช็คบิล — Check binchek bin
- Cheers!ไชโย — Chai yo!chai YO
End sentences with khrap if you are male and kha if female — it is what makes a sentence polite rather than blunt.
Religion
Theravada Buddhist
About 93% Buddhist, and it governs a lot of daily etiquette. Monks may not be touched by women. Never point your feet at a Buddha image or climb on one — people have been prosecuted for it.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Return the wai greeting — palms together, a slight bow — when someone offers it first
- Remove shoes before entering temples and homes
- Cover shoulders and knees at temples, including for men
- Keep your cool; visible anger loses you the argument and the respect
Don't
- Do not touch anyone’s head, including children — it is the most sacred part of the body
- Do not point your feet at people or at Buddha images, and never step over someone
- Do not say anything critical of the royal family; lèse-majesté carries prison sentences and is enforced
- Do not climb on Buddha statues for photographs
Where to stay in Koh Phi Phi
No Holistay rentals in Koh Phi Phi yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Koh Phi Phi on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Phuket HKT
2hfrom the airport· 65 km as the crow flies
2h — an hour to the pier, then the ferry.
Also worth pricing: Krabi KBV — the same two hours from the other side.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
