Andrew Drummond

Bea the hippy princess raves at the full moon

Link to Mail on Sunday

By ANDREW DRUMMOND
 

Princess Beatrice has been enjoying a backpacker-style break in Thailand - drinking the local whisky and dancing on the beach into the early hours.

The 19-year-old flew into Phuket two weeks ago and headed for the picturesque island of Phi Phi with a group of 15 girlfriends and two armed guards.

Her party hired a block of 12 rooms at the £48-a-night Phi Phi Villa Resort, close to beautiful TonsaiBeach.

Each day she swam with her chums in the local bay and partied on the sands.

Last Saturday night, Beatrice’s group headed to Koh Phagnan to enjoy one of the island’s notorious “Full Moon” raves.

A tourist was stabbed to death at that party, although it is not known if Beatrice was aware of this.

The parties attract thousands of young travellers each full moon and have been the subject of Foreign Office warnings following a series of rapes and deaths.

Left: Princess Beatrice - file picture
Back on Phi Phi, the Princess’s favourite spots included the British-owned Tiger Bar and a Thai-run beach bar called Hippies, where backpackers dance under candlelight on the beach.

Philip Osman, 26, of the Tiger Bar said: “Beatrice certainly knew how to party. She was up there dancing and encouraging others to join in.

Picture - Dancing at Hippies’ Bar (Andrew Chant)

“She was drinking by the bucketful. She bought a bucket which she filled with Thai whisky, Red Bull, ice and coke. But I did not see her drunk.”

Princess Beatrice’s trip comes at a time when the country’s tourist authorities have expressed concern over attacks on tourists and have even come up with a plan to issue female tourists with whistles.

Recently a 27-yr-old Swedish woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight on Khao Mai Beach on the holiday island of Phuket.

At Hippies bar on Koh Phi Phim frequented by Princess Beatrice,  a DJ currently faces a charged of murdering a Belgian tourist as he walked home. The tourist is alleged to have insulted a Thai woman.

A spokesman for Beatrice said she would not comment on a private trip.

Selling booze by the bucket on Koh Phi Phi (Andrew Chant)

Philip Osman, from Swansea, and Toby Collingwood, from Hull, co-owners ‘Tiger Bar’  Phi Phi Island