I was in Phuket city a couple of weeks ago which is located in the southern part of Thailand, Phuket, it's the largest island of Thailand and sits on the Andaman Sea, Phuket is often referred to as the pearl of the Andaman Sea, this island is the most visited island by tourist from all around the world but unfortunately today, it is suffering from tourism just like many other places around the world but the good news tourist have started trickling back to this beautiful island, due to a scheme that the government has put together so as of today we are seeing Phuket beaches coming alive again to certain degree.
As we drove down this winding road heading towards Phuket city to Patong beach which is the main beach of Phuket we could instantly notice that the majority of the city was closed, I had never seen Phuket city in action when it was a thriving city full of tourist, I had only heard from friends and seen clips on YouTube but, I can tell you it wasn't what, I had seen on YouTube, miraculously the beaches seemed lively and beautifully clean the water was sparkling like millions of crushed diamonds floating on the ocean bed.
Although it was sad seeing Phuket city, to the way, it once was with the huge crowds and the bustling traffic, I liked it, to be honest it actually looked more pleasant to be here. All the tourist that have been allowed to enter Phuket under the government scheme which are not a lot, all had to come fully vaccinated and still had to do a 14 day quarantine before allowed out and about.
Would hate to be an Electrician in this town or anywhere in Thailand :))
Phuket has a lot to offer it's not only about beaches, shops, markets or restaurants there are many rain-forest to hike through and temples to enjoy, although many of the tourist, do come here just for the beaches, if you really want to experience the real Thai culture head over to Phuket town which is only 30 minutes by bus from Patong beach and there you will see the nightlight of what Thai's get upto and taste the best authentic Thai cuisines. Here are just a couple of dishes we had while in Phuket town, Spicy Barbecued Octopus and Lime Beef Salad these two dishes cost us $12 US at that price you could eat all day long definitely better then McDonald's and cheaper.
With Phuket having 30 of the world’s finest beach, it's a wonder there were so many tourist flocking here and hopefully soon again we hired a motorbike each for $6 US per/day to get around quicker and cheaper and in the 3 days, I spent there with my friend, I didn't even break the ice, in what there is to see on this paradise island with just the few beaches that, I did see just blow my mind out with the tropical weather and sunsets just amazing and beautiful every day the sunsets were out of this world, with what I have seen of Thailand, so far it's a wonder people want to come and live or retire in this country.
We booked a room each in Phuket city for 3 nights, it was not far from Patong beach a 15 minute walk and the rooms were costing us $15 US per/night with air conditioning and views of Phuket city getting the sunsets right on our balcony from Patong beach.
We took a walk from our hotel towards the beach just to see what the moods and scenery was going to be like of a night time and maybe grab some food and a beer some where, we found this little alleyway that looked like, it would take us out at the beach end and luckily, it did because sometimes in Thailand, your never sure where these alleyway are going to take you, to our surprise this alleyway was painted with some pretty amazing graffiti this was a bonus.
As we got out of this alleyway directly across the road on the beach at the far end of Patong beach was this reggae/surf bar like a wooden hut we popped our heads in and there was the owner sitting comfortably on his deck chair listening to the waves crashing on the shoreline we got chatting to him had a couple of cheeky beers with him then moved on to find some food and we visited him for the next couple of nights for some more cheeky beers he was a real cool guy he wasn't actually opened for business he just invited us in, I think he was in need of a chat having no tourist around for awhile.
The next day we walked through the same alleyway to go and get some breakfast and I took some more photos of the graffiti artwork in daylight.
The amazing thing about holidaying in Phuket you have not only got easy access to all the island beaches like Patong Beach, Kata, Karon, Rawai, Choeng Thale and many more but your also, a short distance by speedboat to many of the famous islands around Phuket like the James Bond island where the movie "Golden Gun" was filmed, "The Beach", staring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed also around the Phuket islands, there were about 10 famous movies filmed around the Phuket islands in around Phi Phi , Krabi and Phang Nga Bay.
When the world is safe to travel again Phuket would be the upmost destination to travel, to bring back them good times feeling that freedom and tranquility once again sitting by one of these stunning beaches soaking up the vitamin D and glaring at them stunning sunsets making you feel alive again and the thing is you can do it now, it's already happening.
