Garbage Monkeys

Upon arriving  at the main pier at Ko Phi Phi, visitors are immediately herded through a impromptu toll booth where the government extracts 20 baht (~70 cents USD)  per person. The justification for this is to keep Ko Phi Phi clean. Having seen otherwise beautiful beaches and tropical paradises ruined by litter in other areas of the world, we were OK with paying this fee. Nonetheless, knowing how government bureaucracies work, we were a bit skeptical as we passed our crumpled and damp bills to the uniformed official.

The moment we needed to throw something out, we realized that our incredulity was not unfounded.