The Phi Phi Islands are located in Thailand, between the large island of Phuket
and the western Andaman Sea coast of the mainland. Phi Phi Don,
the larger and principal of the two Phi Phi islands.
Both Phi Phi Don, and Phi Phi Leh, the smaller, are administratively part
of Krabi province, most of which is on the mainland.
Ko Phi Phi Don ("ko" (Thai: @20) meaning "island" in the Thai language)
is the largest island of the group, and is the only island with
permanent inhabitants, although the beaches of the second largest
island, Ko Phi Phi Lee (or "Ko Phi Phi Leh"), are visited by many people as well.
There are no accommodation facilities on this island, but it is just a short boat
ride from Ko Phi Phi Don. The rest of the islands in the group,
including Bida Nok, Bida Noi, and Bamboo Island, are not much more than
large limestone rocks jutting out of the sea.
Phi Phi Don was initially populated by Muslim fishermen during the
late 1940s, and later became a coconut plantation. The Thai population
of Phi Phi Don remains more than 80% Muslim.But the actual population
if counting laborers, especially from the north-east, from the mainland
is much more Buddhist these days.
Ko Phi Phi Leh was the backdrop for the 2000 movie The Beach.
Phi Phi Leh also houses the 'Viking Cave', from which there is a
thriving bird's nest soup industry.
There was criticism during filming of 'The Beach' that the
permission granted to the film company to physically alter the
environment inside Phi Phi Islands National Park was illegal.
The controversy cooled down however, when it was discovered that the
producers had done such a decent job of restoring the place that it
finally looked better than it had done before.
Following the release of The Beach, tourism on Phi Phi Don
increased dramatically, and with it the population of the island. Many
buildings were constructed without planning permission.
Ko Phi Phi was devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December
2004, when nearly all of the island's infrastructure was wiped out.
Redevelopment has, however, been swift, and services like electricity,
water, Internet access and ATMs are up and running again, but waste
handling has been slower to come back online.
read full wikipedia reference about Phi Phi Island, Thailand
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