Quote:
Originally Posted by Stitchawl
...In '91, there may have been 150 people partying on the beach. But this area was (and still is) a popular Mecca for Backpack tourists, and they started coming to the party. And it grew. And grew. And grew... These days, perhaps 5,000-7,000 people, all tourists, arrive on the island just for the party. The locals from the outlying islands don't go any more.
Today, Koh Tao has three villages, two car rental agencies, two dozen (or more) bars with loud music, not one single bamboo bungalow, several large modern cement hotels with swimming pools, and the diving sucks. My last trip there was in 2004, and no desire to go back. No... I do NOT count the days until the full moon, nor do any of my Thai friends... but we used to! 
P.S. If you read 'The Beach,' or saw the Leonardo DiCaprio movie by the same name, the island they were supposed to be on was in this area. In the book, they take a small motorboat for an hour's ride to Koh Phanghan. The ONLY island close enough to do that is Koh Tao. However, the movie was actually filmed on the other side of Thailand near Koh Phiphi as the Koh Phanghan area has become over-developed and crowded.
Stitchawl |
Never saw or read
The Beach, but living very close to Virginia Beach, I can identity with what you say about the locals leaving the party to the tourists. It kind of reminds me of that quote attributed to Yogi Berra about the restaurant no one goes to anymore because
it' stood IT'S TOO, IPAD AUTOCORRECT!!!
It kind of reminds me of that quote attributed to Yogi Berra about the restaurant no one goes to anymore because it's too crowded. Of course, the Virginia Beach oceanfront crowd has made it plain for several years that locals aren't welcome.
DAMN AUTOCORRECT! It took several tries to convince it that I DIDN'T want to write, "it' stood crowded."
The "tuk-tuks" mentioned in that article reminded me of the three-wheel Lambrettas that used to be ubiquitous in Saigon in the early 70s. Outside of military vehicles, Lambrettas, scooters, and bicycles were about the only things on the streets.