Basil is a wonderful pepper plant companion. Basil wards off thrips. Thrips are tiny, and can cause big trouble on pepper plants. Their damage causes a silver appearance on the leaves, flower buds, or fruits. They are so small that identifying them is a challenge. To deter thrips, plant basil nearby and aroud your pepper plants, which will help masking pepper plants from thrips.
The volatile chemicals released by basil plants mask those emitted from the pepper plants, making it difficult for the thrips to discover their pepper host.