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Monday, February 1, 2010

The Phuket & Me


Summer of 2006 and it’s another precious time to celebrate a long vacation here in Thailand. Well of course I’m talking about the Songkran Festival or Thai New Year which falls on the 13th till 15th of April. This remarkable 3-day celebration is very much enjoyed every year by the locals and foreigners who find fun throwing and playing water and getting wet, it is indeed! But of course one thing I love about this event is that I have the very good reason to threat myself for a break after a tiring motor show event that comes ahead and yes, my happy birthday falls on the 13th of the month too.

So, I asked a very good friend to buy me a bus ticket to Phuket five days earlier so I can get a VIP seat on a night travel. On the way to the bus terminal I felt so excited, all things are set, my guesthouse reservation, confirmed my friends of my coming and also yes, the lovely plans to eat tons of seafood were bulleted in my to-do list. As I reached the station, I loaded my ass and my bag…grabbed a nice and warm thick cloth… leaned back and fell into not-so-deep sleep (not so deep because of the few moist drippings coming from the aircon near my seat and I felt like I should have asked for an umbrella ella ella instead of a blanket).

The city finally! Then I’m dumbfounded to reach my guesthouse…how? I have no idea which means of transpo should I pick, the usual tuktuk, a taxi or a motorbike. After some empty-stomach bargaining with those un-bathe drivers I ended-up a ride on a motorbike, cheaper than the rest and I’m just carrying a single bag anyway. I’m not really comfortable on a 2-wheel bike ride but it left me no option as the others are pegging for an extremely high and unfair price to reach some few kilometers and yeah, it’s always like that in Phuket as my friends said.

I stayed in a very popular area called Patong, 15 kms away from the town proper where everything you see and enjoy in Bangkok are there too. Well not counting some nice mountain views and few steps to the beach, what I mean is the commercial establishments, the shops and the tourists…tons of them (well of course). After arriving in my room and booked myself for an island tour the next day, I hanged out around the place and content myself for some fast served burgers while waiting for the nighttime to meet-up with my friends after work. Fast forward >>>

Dinner time! We ordered fondue, some roast pork and salad to stuff ourselves while listening to some awesome Filipino band that plays there, and I forgot how they call the place. We really couldn’t find a compromising topic to unite our chats except for designing a website, but a chilling and near the beach meal with a gynecologist, a property lawyer and a web designer (yours truly) is not bad at all. After the dinner we grabbed some coffee in the nearest Starbucks and after reaching the end of web consultation, they sent me back to my place and they headed back home. The next day is my island trip to Krabi, and that I saved in my other blog. Let’s focus on what’s in Phuket. Skipped >>

After a day of satisfying island trip, I and my friends finally decided to dive-in to the much awaited plan…seafood galore! Ok, I really can’t remember the place (again) but it’s located near the international airport and the freshest of fresh seafood are there, breed in-house. Crabs, squid, fish and few sea shells ordered and later served on the table and the feast went on very well.


Phuket is an island city. You need to drive yourself to its edges so you can possibly explore the beautiful beaches surrounding it. A very friendly advise, come in groups so you can share the cost of renting a car to marvel the place, all kinds of transportation are taking advantage the city’s popularity with high demand on mobility and with that they charge unfairly per few kilometers of trip. Motorbikes are also available for rent, good for folks coming in pairs or just single. If not for my friend’s generosity to tour me around with his car I’m pretty sure I’ll get broke here by just renting any kinds of medium to reach any place I want, and definitely not spent much on food, tour travels or partying.

In fairness to myself after travelling that far down south, I enjoyed my stay in Phuket by just relaxing and eating…and getting wet by ice-cold water. Well aside from the fun of playing water in the daytime during the entire festival, I also enjoyed loitering at night around the streets and bars located in Bang-la area or their own version of the walking street. Some few chats while having beers with the guesthouse owner and some of his lovely guests were funny, gassed with stomach ache with their toilet and sexy jokes. Gays are indeed wonderful companion in almost everything I think… them and my good friends made my stay in Phuket worth remembering!

Image sources:
http://www.tourismzone.com/photos/asia/thailand/phuket/patong-bangla-road-phuket.jpg

http://www.tropicalisland.de/HKT_Phuket_Patong_Beach_Road.jpg

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