I read your post with great regret and with even greater sadness I will note that it is not the first such and it will hardly be the last. I struggle with conflicting feelings myself. This year I celebrated 30 years since my first visit to the island and I remember with great nostalgia those years when tourists arrived by plane and there were dozens of times less cars on the island. As you called them - the good old British, Germans, Dutch... and my countrymen were counted on the fingers. Here is the place to note that I am Bulgarian. For me Thassos has always been heaven on earth, but with great sadness we have to admit that the situation with overpopulation with tourists from the Balkans is getting out of control and more and more of the "old" lovers of the island are looking for more peaceful and preserved destinations. My Greek friends say "it's good for business". And I tell them - no, it's not good - look at what happened in Bulgaria - many years of concreting the coast, endless growing in bed'snumbers, growth in the number of tourists and suddenly - boom! This year down 30 percent because it has become dirty, overcrowded and lacking the peace one needs to rest. These are only some of the negatives of overpopulation, overbuilding and changing the tourist profile. How I struggle - I decided to become more of a local than a tourist. We bought a house, old traditional, not new construction. During the peak season we try to ignore the crowd and the rest of the time we enjoy the island. We love the island forever!

Hi Amy. I'm so happy your family has had 25 years of bliss on Thassos.
It seems such a shame to turn your back on it all because of one or two people.

It must be difficult for "foreigners" like you and others to integrate into Thassian life though, if after 25 years you still talk of yourselves as "on holiday" and the locals as "locals". I would have hoped after 25 years you would be at least "half local"!

Do locals not accept outsiders (as you wont accepts Romanians)?
These are tongue in cheek questions - please accept them with the humour they are intended :-)

The "locals" can't up root and walk away like you can. I doubt they even want to. They will stand firm against anything. I've seen the local Yayas batter an indecently exposed man with sticks. There is a true sense of justice on this island which I love. No need to call the police - sticks + battering + shame = justice!! A young man humiliated by Grandmothers - perfect hierarchy. It was rather funny! His "stick" beaten with sticks. Never seen him since.

They didn't turn away. They confronted the problem.
I'm not suggesting we use sticks on people that ask for money.

I work in London. In the 2 miles between train station and office at least 8 beggars everyday ask for money. And on the way back. At night that turns into 20.

I don't know where you are going to once you've left Thassos behind, but I fear you might be "out of the frying pan, into the fire".

Stay a while longer.
Stay forever.

Stick it out ;-)
Ed.