First Taste of Island Life - Phuket is a Zoo

After a 12 hour travel extravaganza minibus, flight, flight, taxi), we finally arrived at Patong Beach in Phuket. Phuket is on the Andaman coast (west side) of the Thai peninsula. The coast as a whole is known for its ridiculously scenic beaches, cliffs, and rock formations. Phuket itself is a bit of a different story. Though I'm sure there is some fantastic natural beauty on Phuket, Patong beach is a highly developed zoo of hotels, malls, bars, disco, and prostitutes. Not to mention our newly discovered phenomena of older white men out on dates with young Thai womens (basically escort services). The emphasis on Phuket is on partying - at all times.

Arrival to Phuket

So, we went against the grain, and saw Transformers 2 when we arrived at a spankin' new, giant movie theater complex.

We spent the next day on the beach (which, aside from the crowds, is actually quite nice). Beacuse Thailand is in its low tourist season, we've found that places are actually never that crowded. We've been told by guides that the crowds increase about 4-fold in the winter months - I can't even imagine how hectic it gets.

Patong beach by day

At night, we met a few locals and went to a healthy handful of bars, including a rock-cover band bar - brought me back to my Fat Tuesday days - followed by a Euro-style disco.

ROCK OUT

Lots of these signs everywhere in Phuket

Though the nightlife is pretty awesome here, we decided to step out of one tourist trap and head to another - an incredibly beautiful one: Ko Phi Phi - apparently the be-all-end-all of Thailand's beaches and island scenery. More on that later.

By the way, I've posted a few more pics from Pai (including the elephant ones, Mom). Also, I haven't written about Ko Phi Phi yet, but I've posted a few pics from there, as well (in the general photo section).

written by

bhkann on June 30, 2009 from Phuket, Thailand

from the travel blog: Ben's SE Asia Voyage

tagged Phuket

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