Phuket, THAILAND

March 6 – 9, 2009

We had a meeting in Phuket, Thailand’s no. 1 tourists’ destination. We stayed at Baumanburi Hotel, located on Patong Beach, Phuket’s most famous beach. Our meeting was in Thara Patong Beach Resort & Spa, about 20 minutes walk from our hotel.

Our Meeting Group

My Idea of a Meeting Place

Patong is always crowded with tourists, particularly farangs (westerners). We could find scantily clad tourists almost everywhere. The beach was really crowded. If your idea of a holiday is to escape the crowd, then, Phuket is definitely the wrong place to be. The roads were congested with traffic: tuk tuk (small brightly coloured Daihatsu & Isuzu pickups with covered bench seats in the back, song taew ( small pickups and buses with benches along each side, picking up and dropping off passengers as they go), and motorbikes ( mostly rented & probably the most popular way of getting about in Phuket). Once, on the way to Thara Patong, I was almost knocked down by a turning motorbike.

Phuket's soon to open Hard Rock Cafe

Patong was the place to be in Phuket when night time came. It came alive with street vendors, tourists loitering around the brightly lit restaurants and bars. It was a common sight to see old farang men walking with local girls. Most of the girls were dark and not so good looking, by Thai or Asian standard. One local guy explained, the girls vying for the farangs’ dollars were local rejects. The old guys did not seem to bother much. I was beginning to think that Phuket was devoid of beautiful girls that made Thailand famous.


A street scene along Patong Beach

Sunset

Things were expensive in Phuket compared to Bangkok or any other South East Asian cities. Vinai, a colleague from Bangkok commented during our dinner that the big prawns cost about BHT500 per kilogram in Bangkok. In Phuket, it was BHT2,000. He could not believe the price! A 2-hour traditional Thai massage costs BHT800 compared to less than BHT300 elsewhere. Of course, a round of golf costs 4 to 5 times more.

Patong's Night Life

On our last night we went to the night market in Phuket Town. It was a far cry from Patong. There was no crowd, not many farangs and of course the real Thais were there. Our driver was kind enough to show us around. The night market was like any other night market in Thailand, selling the same old stuffs but at much lower price. We bought some foodstuffs and headed back to our hotel.

Patong Beach in the morning. It gets crowded very fast

That was my second trip to Phuket. The first was with the family many years ago. I don’t think Phuket is a good destination for us, Asians given the crowd, the price and the many farangs. I would rather head to a more sober and quiet place like Penang or Langkawi.

That is my idea of a holiday.