Plot
Richard, a young American seeking adventure in Bangkok, stays in a drab travelers' hotel on Khao San Road where he meets a young French couple, Françoise and Étienne. He meets Daffy, who tells him of a pristine, uninhabited island in the Gulf of Thailand with a beautiful hidden beach. Daffy explains that he settled there in secret several years earlier, but difficulties arose and he left. Daffy commits suicide, leaving Richard a map to the island. Richard convinces Françoise and Étienne to accompany him to the island, and the three travel to Ko Samui. Richard meets two American surfers who have heard rumors of the island and gives them a copy of the map.
En route to the island, Richard becomes infatuated with Françoise. After swimming to the island from a neighboring one, they find a cannabis plantation guarded by armed Thai farmers. Avoiding detection, they make their way across the island and meet Keatey, who brings them to a community of travelers living on the island in secret. Sal, the community's English leader, explains that the farmers allow them to stay so long as they keep to themselves and do not allow any more travelers to come to the island. Richard lies that they have not shown the map to anyone else. The trio become integrated into the community.
One night, Françoise invites Richard to the beach where she tells him that she is falling in love with him and cheats on Étienne with Richard. Despite hoping to keep it secret, the community finds out. While angry, Étienne says he will not stand in their way if Françoise is happier with Richard.
Sal selects Richard to accompany her on a supply run to Ko Pha Ngan. They encounter the American surfers who are preparing to search for the island and mention Richard's map. Sal is upset but believes Richard when he says they have no map. In order to ensure that Sal will not tell the rest of the island about the map, Richard has sex with her at her order. On their return to the island, Richard lies to Françoise about having had sex with Sal.
When the surfers turn up on the neighboring island, Sal orders Richard to send them away and destroy their map. She tells everyone that she and Richard had sex, which leaves Françoise angry and heartbroken, causing her to return to Étienne. Isolated from the group, Richard begins to lose his sanity, imagining that he is conversing with the deceased Daffy.
Portrayal of Thailand
After the film premiered in Thailand in 2000, some Thai politicians were upset at the way Thailand was depicted in the film and called for it to be banned. The depiction of the drug culture was said to give Thailand a bad image and having a statue of Buddha in a bar was cited as