EAT
In general. Southern Thai food is renowned for its spiciness. Much of the cuisine has its origins in Malay, Indonesian and Indian food. Favourite dishes from the South include Indian-style Muslim curry (massaman), rice noodles in fish curry sauce (khanom jeen) and chicken with yellow rice. If you’re looking for a professionally cooked Thai meal in charming surroundings you have to try in Tonsai Village. With a striking orange colour theme, Pum is part of a three-brance cooking school business and serves top quality Thai cuisine. Those seeking western based options should consider visiting Tonsai’s French restaurant Le Grand Bleu located towards the pier, which offers an eclectic variety of Thai and French cuisine along with a 15-label wine list, and is reputed to be the best stand-alone restaurant on the island.
PLAY
Increasingly popular with the young backpacking crowd but without the sleaze factor you get elsewhere, Koh Phi Phi is certainly not short of options for a good night out. The island’s many pubs and bars are centrally located and easy to find. At 2.00am the music stops but bars generally stay open for as long as they have customers. One of Tonsai Bay’s resident institutions is the Carpe Diem, by day the restaurant for the Phi Phi Village resort, by night a spiritual home for party goers who congregate here to have fun by the surf. For a more chilled out experience, visit Deco, located close to the pier, where you can enjoy a conversation uninterrupted by decibel bursting music, along with a good selection of wines, beers and spirits.
