Phuket Free and Easy

Phuket is the modern name for Jung Ceylon and Thalang. It is the biggest island in Thailand, located southwest of the country in the Andaman Sea. Interestingly, a western source referred Jung Ceylon as badly pronounced "Tanjung Salang" in Malay, showing the close relation between the island and Peninsular of Malaysia, where Malay Language was widely spoken.

Phuket was a name in our list, but never a priority. We heard a lot about about the island- the beautiful beach, the nightlife, and of course, the disastrous tsunami. This time, we spent 5 days 4 nights on that island, and for the first time, we didn't set any particular itinerary before our departure- to make our trip as free and as easy as it could be.

First day, we reached Phuket International Airport around 5:30 pm local time. As commented by many travellers, the immigration was slow. It's true. We stuck at the counter for more than 30 minutes, with only around 5 - 6 persons in front of the queue. Lucky, the excellent service by phuketshuttle.com eased our travel from the airport to our hotel in Patong. We booked a limousine service through the website 4 hours prior to our arrival, and found a sweet lady carrying a big tag with "WONG LS" awaiting for us at the exit of the arrival hall. The company prepared a receipt of our payment and an envelop filled with travel information and tourist map for us too. We were in a new comfortable Toyota Altis in less than 5 minutes later. The driver was fast and furious, but still, he took around 1 hour to bring us to Baan Paradise Hotel. With 750 Baht, the service worth the price.

The taxi and minibus stands are located just outside of the arrival hall (left). We were glad that the staff were very helpful. One of them told us to walk around and look for the tag showing our name. Well, we found it in next minute.

The first surprise we saw was the sexy-boy parade outside the hotel. It was 15 minutes after we reached the hotel. The guys wearing sexy lady-like costumes were parading around the street, advertising some sort of product and services provided at the sexy-boy street (which we found out it was just two blocks away from our hotel later). The next was the open pole dancing bars with dancing sexy ladies. We described it as "open" because the dance could be seen by anyone by Bangla Road. How about lady-boy? Well, we seen some of them at Bangla Road as well.

Sexy-boy parade on the street (upper left), lady-boys with exposed clothes at Bangla Road (upper right), the ladies prepare for the dance of the night (lower right), and the entrance of Bangla Road from the beach. Bangla Road was busy only at night.

The pole dancers in Tiger Live Band. The dance could be seen from the street.

First night, we visited Jung Ceylon Shopping Mall, Promenade Mall, Bangla Road, and took a night stroll along Patong Beach. The second day, we decided to have a day tour around the island. Since we decided not to drive by our own and tuk-tuk was not suitable for long journey, renting a car with driver was the only option that we had. After a few survey, we got a good offer from a taxi driver with 1200 Bahts for 5 hours' trip. The driver was polite and could speak in simple English.

Our first stop of the day, Tiger Kingdom. It was a place that we will never forget. The tigers there, ranged from the smallest, small, medium, and big, were tame. We could pet, scratch, and even hold their tails in special designed cages. All of this privileges came with a price- 1400 Bahts for 20 minutes (for our package). Then, we went to Chalong Wat, the Big Buddha Temple at the top of the hill, and Rawai Beach for nice Tomyam Kung lunch, before we continued our trip to Phromthep Cape, the viewpoint at Mueang District, and headed back to our hotel. The whole day trip took us around 6 hours, but the driver didn't demand for more (we gave him 100 Bahts tips after the trip). At night, we had our dinner at Shabu Shi, Jung Ceylon. Then, we strolled along Thawewong Road before we went back to our hotel.

 Tiger petting in Tiger Kingdom Phuket.

Jung Ceylon is a huge modern shopping complex in Patong (upper left). Patong Promenade Mall is new but quite vacant during our visit (upper right). Patong street are filled with tattoo service, pharmacies, currency exchange boothes (lower left), hotels, and eateries. The streets was safe during our visit.

Thawewong Road was busy at night, second to Bangla Road.

Third day, we spent the whole day at Phuket Town (or Phuket Old Town). We went there by bus. The journey took us around 1 hour (30 minutes on our way back), and with only 30 Bahts per person per trip. The old town was far less attractive as described in the tourism leaflets. It was more or less a down-scaled George Town in Penang. The street was quiet compared to Patong. Many shops were closed during our visit, but the food and souvenirs over there were expensive. We went back to Patong at 5:30 pm, exhausted and a bit disappointed. We delighted ourselves with the sunset at Patong Beach. At night, we took our dinner at the night market in front of Banzaan Fresh Market, where we found the best tom yam there.

 Old clock tower at Phuket Town.

Patong Beach around 5:30 pm. Many people were around with their cameras, awaiting the best moment of sunset.

Fourth day, trapped by heavy down pour, we spent a whole morning in Jung Ceylon. In fact, by putting ATV adventure, elephant ride, shooting game aside, our choices were limited. Well, we just strolled around the shopping mall, watched a movie, and took our lunch at Banzaan Fresh Market. The food at Banzaan Fresh Mart was not excellent but acceptable. The fresh market was not attractive for us, as we had seen much bigger fresh markets before. Dinner time, not willing to travel far, we decided to try the Japanese food beside our hotel. Well, the food was over-priced with disappointing quality.

 Banzaan Fresh Mart was located behind Jung Ceylon.

The last day at Phuket, we went to the airport early to catch Air Asia flight back to Malaysia. We didn't actually like Phuket very much. For us, the whole island was a big tourist trap. Can you imagine a simple tom yam kung meal by the road side of Patong (without air condition) can easily cost up to 150 Bahts? That price is almost the same with a nice meal in Bangkok. We came back from Phuket almost empty handed, except a few fridge magnets and local made snacks. It was far different from our Bangkok tour last year, where we bought many clothes and even a travel bag with irresistible price. However, the experience in Tiger Kingdom was unforgettable, and at least, we have seen the places.

Next, we would share with you the attractions in Phuket.

More about our experience in Phuket in:

[Phuket Free and Easy] [Phuket Attractions] [Phuket Old Town]

[Food and Accommodation and Shopping in Phuket]