Phuket & Krabi

ShrodingersCat SG

Just back from these places...

Phuket is really.... like a giant tourist trap. Besides the white beach that is easily available in lots of places in Thailand, don't understand why anyone would want to go there at all.

Every other shop caters to tourists (mostly european) - the seafood restaurants, bars, the souvenirs, the tailors. Many of the shops are opened by European tourists who have decided to stay on. The whole atmosphere was very un-thai - the architecture, the unsmiling vendors, the persistent calls of the touts. The beach is impersonal - deck chairs for sale, loads of services available, probably at least 200 m away from ur hotel room.

Anyway, won't go back. I was curious to see the change the tsunami might have but... oh well.

Krabi on the other hand is less of a touristy place only because it is less developed - and therefore less shops. But the shops were all the touristy kind anyway. We manage to find some non-pizza, non-seafood, non-screamingtraditionalthai restaurants, and found little eateries further away from the beach stretch. Nice yummy food with fresh ingredients for 1/4 of the price.

Went kayaking amongst the limestone karsts. Damn nice. Anyway you gotta do it if you ever go Krabi Very Happy still water, big fat jelly fishes...

And someone help me.. what ARE these???

av98m SG

Phuket....I was there many years ago, remember the topless beach. Unfortunately, most of the topless ang moh women I saw...I would gladly have paid them NOT to go topless. *shudders* Mr. Green

ShrodingersCat SG

Only saw 1 topless woman leh... at Krabi...

and -thinks- My hubby and I were discussing this too.. that somehow because all these topless women are generally pretty tanned...

they dont really look naked do they?

the Bear SG

nice Wink

i was on a cruise ship which was the first to visit Phuket after the tsunami.. the place was pretty much fixed..

anyhooo.. Phuket IS a tourist trap.. people go there not for the "unspoilt" things, but rather to be a tourist Wink

i wonder what Samui is like now?

ShrodingersCat SG

but its really difficult to be a tourist what what entails 'tourist interest' had been determined for you already - and really, there isnt much choice at all. Sad

We were there for 1.5 days and were completely bored out of our minds.

the Bear SG

well, i guess different strokes for different folks Wink

you were bored but the majority of the people there weren't.. and the folks who live there gotta earn a living somehow...

elindra SG

If you ask me I prefer Bangkok to Phuket. If I wanna go there as a tourist I might as well go to Bangkok. I'm ok without the beach Laughing

ShrodingersCat SG

yeah its quite strange why they werent...bored I mean. It's almost exactly like an australian/american beach town anyway.

Hmm.. i think that everyone needs ot make a living.. but was reading a forum article from the thai papers that... thailand seriously need to consider attracting quality tourists rather than the masses of backpackers and men who go there for the sex industry. With a better grade of tourist dollars, perhaps the Thai people themselves have a better choice as to how to earn their money.

It is a lovely place and there is so much to see and do there. It would be sad to let this particular brand of tourism ruin what is truly lovely about the place - the people, the nature, the culture.

ShrodingersCat SG

i Completely AGREE with this. At least in BKK i am a tourist with more choices! And yeah... the thai people who live there... are really LIVING there. But in Phuket, it seems like the sole existence they have there is for the tourists. No one seems to actually... u know.. LIVE there doing untouristy things.

Its a little like the diff between our Chinatown and Little India. Little India is fascinating because it is a place that is really USED by locals. But you go Chinatown during non festive seasons, and its really... a tourist place.

the Bear SG

i guess.. there will be sleazy people out there, and there will be people who are willing to pander to that sleaze...

actually, i didn't mind phuket.. not much of a shopper, and i like beach, touristy places with simple amenities.. phuket is like that...

just like i loved samui Wink

ShrodingersCat SG

Try Krabi. It's really a nice beach. Touristy ENOUGH without overkill. Still have some traditional shops up and down the mainroads. And it isn't sleazy. Yet.

HEY someone can identify those creatures for me or not?!

the Bear SG

i have no idea what they are.. the first looks strangely like a periwinkle whelk but it isn't.. not spiral..

the 2nd looks more like a blue smear than a sea creature Razz

sorry..

jetta SG

I’ve never been to either place. Thanks for the photos, especially the one of the gorgeous beach. I love beaches.

skeujin SG

sorry but i seem to find your perception of phuket to be kinda off.

it seems more like you had a misconception of what phuket is b4 you went there. you probably nestled in patong which is similar to our very own orchard road. tourist traps? yes! every country needs them. its what a country (island) which has no natural resources needs to do to survive.

as for touts. even we have them outside every eatery in boat quay. the thai locals r usually the more subdued ones while the foreign imports are the ones making a nuisensce of themselves by harassing tourists.

there are plenty of areas in phuket which r untouched by tourism. if you do happen to be there again and you do have the time. ask a local there. im sure he/she will be more then happy to intro you to those places.

Fatum SG

koh samui's pretty much the same too ...... I recommend gulf of thailand's other islands, near the cambodian border, if you want something unspoilt .... koh samet etc ..... Razz

(ps: that's a limpet .... )

skeujin SG

2nd what is it pic is a sea anemone

ShrodingersCat SG

Oh yes, I agree with you and apologise for my generalisation.

I really should have changed my views particular to Patong beach. Which is basically the 'main' beach of Phuket ba. Actually I didn't have much of a preconception of 'Phuket aka Patong Beach' cos I went there about..... say.. 8 years ago? And I didn't remember it to be like this. But perhaps it is not the beach that have changed, but me.

Hmm.. err.. however, I disagree that Patong is similar to Orchard Road. Again what I compare Patong to is perhaps more like our Chinatown. A place where its functions are rarely used by locals, and exists almost exclusively for foreigners, where the proliferation of shops cater almost exclusively for tourists (i.e. tailors/souvenir shops galore). Orchard Road is used very frequently by locals for shopping and ther activities as well. But not many of us would go Chinatown to do our daily shopping.

But I am never favouring the touts in BQ with those ... anywhere in the world for that matter. The touts in Boat Quay are equally irritating and I am amazed why they dont see why mgmt can't tell it will put many tourists off with their pushiness and insistence. Which goes to show disagreeable behaviour is disagreeable regardless of whichever country it belongs to and is definitely not exclusive to Thailand or Patong Beach.

And yes, I agree with your points that if more foreigners 'ask' locals about areas untouched by tourism and explore it further instead of remaining in tourist enclaves, they would have a far more fulfilling experience of Thailand.

ceecookie SG

Ah, i just return from Phuket this afternoon....
Im going to list my adventure like the topic starter's

Me and my family rented a Honda CR-V and then drove from Phuket to Koh Samui, stopping at Krabi on the way too....clocking abt 1500km in total...

Our holiday was from 29/5 to 5/6,

We saw a very nice sunset on the very first evening we were in Phuket,while trying to find our hotel..

Later after a nice dinner at Number 3 most popular resturant,Sam Steak, a walk aound the area lead us to Molly Malone's Irish Pub..the notice said that only persons aged 20 and over are allowed to enter but the bouncer let me in
anyway.The second time we came,i drank a Bacardi Breezer lemon Twisted Evil

The next day we left for Krabi,we did not really much here...just drive around ...the vintage petrol pump we went to was a nice one too...

On the 31st of May we headed to Koh Samui via Don Sak by highway 41 entering from Thung Yai..the highway is unsupervised and being mostly straight and absenting speed cams,it is very easy and tempting to hit ur car's top speed here,better than M'sian NS highway....

There are Car Ferries going tro and fro every 2 hours from 12.00 untill 15.00 and then its hourly to 17.00 hours, the journey to Koh Samui takes 1 and a half hours and there's aircon and non air con rooms for you to rest
We took the 12.00 hour ferry btw...and i recommend drivers taking the ferry to be experienced as they will ask you to squeeze wif other cars on the ferry...so much that it is very hard to get out of the car from the small space(tink abt half a meter!!!)

Prior to this we saw a pickup carrying a adorable bunch of pigs...

At Koh Samui, being adventurous, we decided to go offroad with the CR-V..only to be unable to scale a 50 deg steep road and later at a pure off road trail stranded for an hour after the CRV couldnt go back up the trail

damage after the adventure

Then after 2 days at Koh Samui we returned to Phuket and then shop around...

End

jetta SG

Awesome!

littlestream SG

Make that TWO!!! Wink