Phuket Island

Overview

We spent seven nights on Phuket Island.  It’s the biggest of Thailand’s islands and is a good place to start a Thai holiday.   It is very popular with South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders.  People come here because accommodation is inexpensive, you can shop till you drop and you can obtain some good bargains in clothing, household goods and electronic items.

It’s also a great place for night life.  So if you’re a party person Phuket is the place to be.

Our hotel provided a free shuttle to downtown Phuket 15 minutes away, on the hour every hour between 9 am and 9 pm.   Be prepared – it is simply a covered van with a bench on each side – no seat belts but great fun to ride in.   It drops you off at Bangla Road and you just need to wait at the same spot to get it back to the hotel again.

Bangla Road

During our stay we did several walks up and down Bangla road – in the daytime!   The Earl was not up to fighting off solicitation at night.  Nor did he wish to see any shows!   But it might have been fun just for the experience – had we been younger – maybe!

We found a rather good barber in Bangla Road where the Earl had a trim and shave.

We went to a few markets and I bought two pairs of harem pants and a dress that Earl really liked.

One can spend hours just watching the traffic and the people in Phuket Town.  There are hundreds of scooters and small motorbikes. Helmets seem not to be compulsory as very few riders wear them and there is no limit to how many people can ride on one scooter.  When mom does the school round she is likely to have all three children on the bike with her as well as the baby on her back!

You won’t starve in Thailand.  There is food available at restaurants and street vendors – enough to feed the whole of Asia and Africa combined.  The food is delicious and inexpensive but I could not persuade The Earl to eat from informal traders.  He was afraid of picking up a bug.

Jungceylon Mall

The Jungceylon mall is lovely.   There were interesting things to see like a barque in the middle of the shopping mall.  There are fountains and pools everywhere and the shops were lovely.

One evening we went there for dinner and had sushi at the Sushi Box. It was quite reasonable.

At 7 there was a light show at the fountain in front of the sailing junk.   Pictures are projected into the water spray and it’s amazing to watch.   The show depicts the history of Phuket which was originally named Jungceylon.  We also watched some young Thai kids breakdancing.  Omiword they were good.

To Be Continued …..