Phuket – Ibiza of Thailand
The title of this post is certainly a bit provocative :-). Phuket is not (only) a party island and – depending on the place you stay – everyone can spend dream holidays there.
Getting to Phuket is very easy. Except of low cost carriers offerring direct flights from Asian hubs like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Signapore, Phuket is also serviced by numer of international airlines like Emirates, Korean or Qatar. The airport is located in the northern, rather industrial part of the island and hotel resorts can be reached by taxi within 30-60 minutes at the cost of 700-1000 THB.
During our 2 stays in Phuket we decided to book a hotel near Surin Beach located in the central part of the island (we already decided that our third stay will also be at Surin Beach :-)). Surin Beach is of public character with only a small fragment of it reserved for the private beach club, with all necessary infrastructure in place (minimarkets, pharmacy, bars, restaurants, laundry, money exchange). There are some 20-30 hotels and hostels of different categories within the short walking distance from the beach. At the same time it is very cosy and quiet in the evening. There are no night clubs or discos in this area. An ideal place for people who are not looking for a total isolation although they require some peace to rest.
Those who require more entertainment can reach Patong – the main party destination in the island – within 15 minutes drive. Patong is full of night clubs, bars and young people enjoying the night (and day) when partying all over the place. Also, Patong is the place where the famous tsunami disaster of 2004 resulted in many casualties because of plenty young people sleeping on the beach after the parties.
On the contrary, Patong is not a perfect place for beach holidays. Although its beach is long, it is also quite narrow, nor very clean and it neighbours the busy road.
Local tourist offices offer the trips to amusement parks located in the island, the city of Phuket and boat trips to hundreds of small neighbouring islands. We particularly recommend to do as many trips to the smaller islands as possible because their natural beauty is the guarantee of wonderful experiences and memories. On the other hand we recommend not to lose the time for the city of Phuket, which does not offer anything particular.
ASIA IN A NUTSHELL 