We had a family gathering in Phi Phi island which include seven children, tweens and teens. The intention was to unwind for a week by the beach, read good books and allow the young ones to let loose for a week. It turned out that Koh Phi Phi was the perfect location. It was fairly safe for a group of 7 cousins to roam around even at night. There were no cars but only bicycles and motor bikes. Halal food was easy to get. I will talk about this in a while. There are a lot of activities in and around Phi Phi for them like snorkeling, hiking to view point, swimming all day at the pool and kayaking. At night Phi Phi is alive with beach bars. Some of the bars are a bit appalling to children but there are beach shows organized by bars alongside beach like fire show. You need to walk down to Loh Dalum beach at night to catch a fire dance show. A group of dancers with sticks of fire were doing all sort of acts. I got a shock that Amanda came back at night showing me a video of drunken woman who tried to participate in the fire show and burned her hair but was still laughing, probably of too much of Singha beer.
The vacation was organized by my brother, who frequent all nearby islands to satiate his addiction in scuba diving. I used to dive around Malaysian water but have decided to hang my licence on the wall and opt for a much simpler activity, which is snorkeling.
We stayed at Charlie Beach Resort which conveniently located right close to Loh Dalum beach and just besides Ton Sai Village shopping areas ( or town?). The resort is an affordable basic room with air condition, tv, coffe making facilities and fridge. My top of the list requirements which is cleanliness was fulfilled so I have no complaint about the resort. Kids had a blast at the infinity swimming pool overlooking Loh Dalum bay. My sister in law and I was amused with the rows and rows of shops outside Charlie.
Halal Stalls in Ton Sai Village Wet Market
One top secret that was disclosed by my brother is about a row of halal stalls at fruit/wet market in the middle of Tonsai village. This has kept our budget at bay during our one week stay. Besides dining together at night at seafood restaurants, breakfast and lunch and tea were mostly spent at the stalls. Price of food at beach restaurants can be pretty steep and may not taste better than stall food. The stall food price was very reasonable starting from 15 baht for skewer of veges, meat or fish. Most stalls located at the wet market are halal. Just look out for Bismillah or halal logo or hijab clad women attending the stalls. For a 100 baht you can get prepacked lunch of mixed rice with 3 dishes.
The stalls open during breakfast and throughout the day until diner.
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| Phi Phi Island Map. Circled in red is Ton Sai wet market and Al Aslah Mosque |
How to get there? It is a bit tricky but don't worry as you will not get lost in Ton Sai Village. You will need to walk through the shopping alleys (see map) and just ask locals where is talad (market).
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| Walk pass this alley to reach wet market |
Our favorite breakfast is sticky rice eaten with fried chicken and Khanom Cheen (or thai laksa). Khanom Cheen is fish based green curry with thin rice noodle and garnished with lots of thai salad.
Menu is hardly in English as the stalls are meant for locals. The sellers do not speak English or very little English. However, there were few bigger stalls with english menu and proper dining area. Once we tried to order food with an stall and almost gave up when a waiter appeared at the stall, happily taking order in english for eight people. He then carefully translated our orders to the cook and turned back at us and said, "anyway, I don't work here , I am a boat kapitan (captain) and I want to eat too."
I tried green curry paste with rice and ice tea that cost me less than 400 baht. The food was yummy and fulfilling. A tray of delicious local fruits sold at 30baht per tray. My favorite fruit was exotic sweet and sour pomelo which cost 30baht/tray.
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| tweens & teens waiting for food |
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| menu for lunch and diner |
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| Depilated stall but yummy food |
Ready packed rice cost from 70 to 100 baht is useful for snorkeling trips on nearby island. We booked a private boat for snorkeling and swimming which was worthy as they took us at a secret spot for swimming in between the cliffs and rock formation. We had a blast swimming in the emerald green water.
For a complete list of halal food around Krabi, Phuket and Southern Thailand please refer to
Halal Ebook, click here
