"Good guys go to Heaven, bad guys go to Patong!" Not sure who quoted it, but i do agree on it. Patong Beach is one of the most happening places in Phuket and it is full of hawker food stalls, beer gardens, bars, club and so on.
I'm so sure about the quote as I just came back from Patong, Phuket and hereby I'm going to share what i've experience in the island.
Transportation
There are a few modes of transportation such as public bus, tut-tut, cars and motorbikes. We opt for motorbike as it is cheap (200฿ per day for rental) and we can travel to places without being stuck in traffic. In 4 days, we had travelled more than 200km, from Airport to Patong Beach, from Patong to Phuket Town daily, Promthep Cape, Kata Beach, Karon Beach and other places and it cost us not more than 200฿ (Thai Baht Symbol). So if u are a good motorbiker, u can travel ard with bike; if u are not, try to rent a car instead and remember to always bargain!
(1 whole row of car/bike rental shops right outside the Phuket Airport.)
(HONDA WAVE - the bike we rented)
Accommodation
We never book any hotels, motels or guest house so we had to look around for place to stay. We were driving down Prabaramee Road (Patong) and i noticed some rooms and apartments located on top of the hill so i went to have a look. The rooms were very high up and i had to climb stairs to reach the office and its Hotel Manager, Frederic Perez who was a French greeted me. After asking about the price, the room, etc, we decided to rent the room. The reasons:
-the price, starting at only 390฿ per night, just pay and add on whatever u need such as TV, mini bar, breakfast, pool, jaccuzi and so on.
-the environment, very quiet, no noise or air pollution.
-the view, approx 200m from sea level, nice sea and Patong view.
The name? Swiss Villas Panaromic. Click here for the link.Meals
Most of the meals were taken at normal thai restaurants and hawker stalls as it's cheaper. Before I came Phuket, I always thought the streets and the foods were dirty but I changed my mind after the trip. Phuket is quite clean and the food there is quite nice. There were chinese food as well, such as wantan mee and chicken rice. Not forgetting to try the pork burger at Mc'D, note that there is a price difference between Phuket Town's Mc'D and Patong's.
(same burger but difference prices, top 1 was ar Patong while lower was at Phuket Town)
(Patong Wan Tan mee)
(chicken chop rice @ Phuket Town night market)
(tom yam gung, green curry, etc, yum yum!)
(snacks? nope, i was full)
Massage
Must try thai massage! But do be careful when choosing the correct massage centre. The first massage centre we went was this: CHRISTIN MASSAGE.
We were thinking:"This must be one of the best centre around as it was very big. We went in and got a shock as it was a fishbowl massage parlor (massage parlors where men come and look at women, who are sitting separated by a glass wall and may choose whom they want, massage and sex). We did ask about the price, the person in-charge replied us with a strict looking face, 3500฿. We left the centre and went looking for other massage centres. For 2 days, we went to the normal Patong street massage centres and did not had a pleasant massage time as the masseuses keep offering us sex service midway through the massage, in which we declined. Btw, their massage was very bad. The 3rd day, we decided to try the massage at Phuket Town. This time, it is 100% pure thai massage with lots of "krik and krak" all over my body. The best massage in this trip and it cost only 200฿.
Go Go Bars/Club/Tiger Show
At night time, Bangla Road was the most happening road of Patong. Throughout the whole road, there were bars, clubs, tiger show and so on. There were promoters all over the road promoting their respective bars, clubs, etc. We went Go Go Bar for a drink, a normal beer there cost 140฿ and there were girls pole dancing (God please forgive me). Two thai girls came and sat next to us, talked to us and offered us Boom Boom (not sure what it means, but later found out it means sex) which we turned down. Curious to know about the price? 600฿ for bar fine, 2000฿ for short time, 4000฿ for long time and 600฿ for hotel. Not sure what is short time, long time.
(Bangla Road)
(the pink 1 looks very cute and pretty, but he/she was ladyboy)
Muay Thai
"You see Muay Thai, you see Thailand!", these words influenced us to buy the tickets. Throughout Patong, there were vehicles which look like this:
There were loud speakers in it which shout out:"Tuesday night, tuesday night. New Bangla Boxing Stadium, New Bangla Boxing Stadium. You see Muay Thai, you see Thailand!"
We bought the ticket at a price of 1200฿ and went to watch the fight! Here are some pictures:
(the next big fight, please place ur bet)
(3 won - 3 loses = 0 Thai Baht earned)
PROMTHEP CAPE aka Sunset View Point
Karon View Point
(sunset failed)
(Heroins Monument)
(Rawai Landing Pier)
(standing and listening to Thai national anthem before a movie)
(Hard Rock Cafe @ Patong)
Finally, to conclude my post, i would like to do a short revision on some Thai words that i had learned.
Sawatdee krab (hello for guys)
Kop kun krab (thank you for guys)
Mai kow jai (i don't understand)
Neng, song, sa, si, ha, hok, chet, puek, gao, sip (1 to 10).
Neng roy, song roy.. (100, 200..)
Neng pan, song pan.. (1000, 2000..)
Khao rai? (how much?)
Peng mai (expensive)
Mai peng (not expensive)
That's it for my post on Phuket. Is it worth a second visit? Yes, definitely!
SHAKELINGAM!!!™
