Banana Beach.
Gemiddelde kosten
Stay – A little more expensive than Krabi (another big city in the south of Thailand), but still quite cheap.
For a hostel expect to pay anything between 100 – 300 THB (€2,5 – €7,5 or $3 – $8,5) or even a little more. I really enjoyed the Capsule Hostel in Patong Beach; very spacious, clean and because of the capsule form you have a lot of privacy. Even though you are still in a dorm. Moreover, you are located in the center of Bangla Road. Just ask locals where it is, because you’ll easily walk by. (It’s downstairs, left of the Burger King, if I remember correctly)
For a cheap hotel you won’t break the bank either. Expect to pay something between 200 and 500 THB.
Four or five star hotels and ressorts cost 750 THB minimum and easily go over 4000 THB a day for full luxury.
Check this page for a complete list of pricing and accommodations around Phuket.
Eat – Phuket is very focussed on tourism, because of that you’ll see loads of European and western food. Prices for this European food are a little steeper than local food. Expect to pay 150 to 200 THB (€3,75 to €5 or $4,5 to $6). For local specialties you pay anything from 50 THB.
During th evening or night, go walk along the beaches. There always are some food carts with delicious pancakes or waffles.
Transport – Public transportation in Phuket is pretty much non-existent If you’re lucky there’s a bus coming by, but always on irregular times. Try to arrange your own transportation by using taxi’s, tuk tuk’s or scooters. This last option is cheapest. Taxi’s and tuk tuk’s cost fairly the same.
Chalong temple in Phuket.
Saving money
Street food – Like everywhere in Thailand, street food is the cheapest food you’ll find but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Most of the times it’s even better!
Transportation negotiation – Talk to your driver before you enter hop on the vehicle. Negotiate the price so that you won’t be scammed.
Haggle – On markets, with drivers, even at some stores you’ll find it easy to reduce the price. Don’t let the sales people intimidate you and sink the original price until you think you have a fair price! Haggle as if your life depends on it!
Compare tours – Once you have arrived in Phuket, you’ll see hundreds of tour companies who offer tours. Pricing can vary widely, but in fact most of these tours are exactly the same.
For example; I pay 50 euros ($55) for a trip to the Similan islands. When I asked my fellow passengers how much they paid, they told me they had paid 65 euro ($72) a person…
The lowest price is always guaranteed by our tours page.
Ladyboy show in Phuket.
Do’s
Diving – Around Phuket there are some of the most beautiful diving locations from Thailand. Meet the beautiful underwater world and let it amaze you. A diving initiation often isn’t worth the bothering since you have to keep all the technical knowhow in mind. Immediately choose for a PADI open water course and enjoy diving three days in a row. On the first day you’ll learn most of the technical knowhow and on the second and third day you’ll see beautiful fishes, corals and more. When you successfully completed your PADI, you are certified and you can go dive every where in the world.
Visit Big Buddha – Temples or religious buildings aren’t that present in Phuket. If you want to see something, I recommend the Big Buddha.
This big statue of Buddha is mounted on a mountain that has a great view over Phuket. Your best bet is to take a tour or taxi. The hill is too steep for tuktuk’s.
Go clubbing – Bangla Road (Patong Beach) is a great party location. Even if it’s only to see the tons of tourists passing by. The later it gets, the more eagerly the women of the night get and the much more successful they get in them getting drunk guys pay for their services. Besides this, you of course can party until you drop (litterally). Lively beats in open air bars never sounded this good.
Ping-pong show (18+) – It sounds disgusting, and well it kinda is…- but it is a once in a life time experience. Definitely go see one of the many ping-ping shows around Phuket. Women shoot ping-pong balls or other objects out of their private parts. Sometimes they even paint, smoke or do other things with their lady parts.
Ladyboy shows – Thailand is known for accepting and embracing a third gender: the transexuals. In Phuket there is a bustling and lively party scene for them and anyone who’s interested in meeting them. Every evening you can go see a ladyboy show somewhere in Phuket. Let these diva’s horrible lip syncing charm you. Watch out though, most of the times you just don’t see that they are in fact guys.
Chalong temple – In Phuket there aren’t that many temples. If you don’t go on to Bangkok or Chiang Mai, then you have to at least see one temple in Phuket… Choose the Chalong temple! A beautiful building with multuple temples and a quite majestic and even kitschy exterior and interior.
Patong Beach, thé place to go out in Phuket.
Don’ts
Unsafe sex – Phuket is a very sexual city, so it isn’t that weird to have a one-night stand here (or perhaps even meet your future love?). Just watch out for STD’s. Safe sex is a must in this city.
Animal abusing tours and parks – Especially elephants and tigers get mistreated in Phuket. Don’t go to elephant shows (where they make painting or do tricks) or places like Tiger Kingdom. To be as tame as they are, they get tortured for years on end.
You going there keeps this industry alive and will take many more lives of these poor animals.
A lot of animal activists showed us that all the animals were kept in horrible living conditions and even today, are still mistreated.
Dusk over Phuket.
