PSB advice to phuket

[The Mase]

Well thinking about headin to phuket in a few months, but don't really know alot about the place. Want to do a few tours, and learn about the place a bit, and of course stay in a nice hotel/resort. First time goingthere. Anyone have an ideas / past experiences / tips etc..?

Cheers

[Dubs]

Good places to stay in Thailand

Sportsbike Hire In Thailand

Planning a trip to Thailand June...Wots the go?

I have been a cpl of times now, as have others, and would be happy to answer any specific questions.

Some Q's for you that will help you figure where to stay and what to do are:

What's your age?
How many people will be going?
Do you drink?
Do you want to be in the 'mix' of things?
Will you walk/scooter/tuk tuk everywhere?
What type of tours do you like? bus/car/off road/ephalant?
How long will you be going for?


Dubs

[The Mase]

im 21, goin w/ gf, and i do like my drink. By mix of things, what exactly do you mean? like around pubs/clubs etc? planning on goin to a full moon party, but i hear its not too bad to get around the island. prob be walking, or tuk tuk, don' t kno if it'll be wise scootering around. The gf wants to do an elephant ride tour, would prob want to do an offroad or trek, and thinkin for about a fortnight at this stage.

Cheers

[Dubs]

my opinion only:

Stay at Patong Resort - why? Centrally located in Patong to the beach, Bangla rd (main bar road), a bottle shop and also Jungceylon.

Stay in the 'old' section, its not in the main hotel and has a very comfortable feel and it's own pool (unless staying physically in the main wing of a hotel is your thing).

Fly with a full service airline like Thai - 2 weeks with Thai at Patong Resort is roughly AUD$1250 at the moment. yes you save money flying Tiger or the like (I've flown them to HKT) but for the small saving you dont waste 8 hrs of your holiday in Singapores budget airport nor do you get into HKT or leave at ungodly hours.

Hire a scooter, not a big bike, from a place away from the beach, pay no more than 250bht per day, do not leave your passport with them - at MOST leave a passport copy or a bht1000 deposit.

Do not Jetski.

Do eat away from the big restaurants on the beach road, smaller places have a better price and taste - I have a week stomach for spicy food but even I give it a go.

Organise accomodation early for a full moon party, i assume you mean maybe koh Phangan or the like, unless you want to sleep on the beach which heaps of ppl do.

figure out online what tours you want to do and then book them when you land.

Barter with the locals, its the done thing, but dont take the piss - sometimes you realise you will be bartering over 1 or 2 aud.

Have a laugh and realise that Thai people are beautiful and respectful.

Do have a thai massage.

Do tip if you feel you got good service or products - ie I always tip for food and massage so i get the same or better quality when i go there next time.

Enuf for now

Dubs

[Dubs]

Take the girl HERE if spa's or her/your thing.

[L] and I have been to heaps in HKT and keep going back to Tarntara.

They will pick you up and drop you off and you can also do cooking lessons there too.

Hope this helps.

Dubs

[=Stevo=]

I've got to disagree about booking accomodation for full moon party, although it does depend on what price scale you are looking at. It tends to just be a common myth spread by the operators - the only places that book up are the expensive/luxury hotels.

Haad Rin beach, Koh Phangan is definately the place to go for the full moon party - however rock up a couple of days early, the nights before have a way better feel with smaller beach parties and pool parties.

We rocked up the night before and stayed in some awesome accomodation a few hundred metres walk up the hill on the right, run by three crazy swedish dudes and a hot danish chick. 'Chill house' is the name, sits on the edge of the cliffs and looks out over the bay - one of those bare basics huts on stilts deals - 400 baht/night. Keeps you a bit further away from all the noise too - we just rocked up the day before full moon and grabbed a room - plenty to spare.
It is definately not 5 star though, so the girlfriend MAY disagree

As for everything else, just remember that prices drop for EVERYTHING the further away from the main tourist district you travel - some of the best restaurants are tucked away a bit off the main drag or down alleys.

[EL BURITO]

also sort out transfers to hotel before you get there

[Mattalux]

Just got back 2 weeks ago. This is just my opinion so....

Forget about Phuket, in general its just a bigger Kuta (but with less Aussies). Spent 3 days just up from bangla road on the beach - nothing great, patong beach is just a mass of chairs and people trying to sell you shit. The Jetski was great. If you had to stay in phuket then I would recommend either the patong merlin which is at the southern end of the beach or the merlin beach resort which is over the hill also at the southern end of the beach. These are 4 star resorts so not badly priced. The hour minibus ride from the airport (and the marina if you are going on a tour to pi pi island) are not enjoyable. Id be inclined to take the Virgin direct flight to phuket regardless tho. We didnt organise transfer and were fine. Got in a mini bus within 5 minutes of walking out the airport for 150b each ($5).

Koh Samui is a much nicer place to stay. Beach is nicer, the traffic is less hectic. We also found prices for food was cheaper then Patong.

Koh Phangan is nicer still. We rocked up on the day of the full moon party and just hired a taxi to take us looking for accomodation. We stayed at the Bankai resort which is 10 miniutes (north??) Much quieter. This was 2000bt ($71) per night for a nice villa overlooking the bay. Food was good and cheap and the pool was small but nice. There were other vacancies but were more expensive. Full moon party was massive - i was pretty much smashed before i got there though. For an awesome after party try the backyard?? which is on the hill to the south of the beach (i think).

All the places i stayed at were 2 star so I dont really have any suggestions for accomodation other then that.

If you have any questions of clothing prices and general stuff just ask.

matt

[SBD]

No 'Phuk' jokes?

[dv8]

Going there in 3 weeks for 10 days. I will let you know where to go and where not to go.

[=Stevo=]

From a budget/student backpacking point of view...

I hated Phuket, too busy, too many tourists, too many people trying to flog me stuff...


The North side of Koh Samui was great, nice and relaxed. Koh Phangan was also awesome - although got trashed when full moon party came through, best days were those leading up to it - awesome atmosphere and none of the 'day crowd' who just come over for the night

[Hell]

been there 10 times now first started going there for fighting in 2000. spent 3 months living there a year ago in a boxing camp and went back over christmas and the new year just gone.

you can't really go wrong it's all part of the fun.

remember to get photocopy's of your passport as was pointed out in the previous post. may sound unusual but it is the norm for all business in thailand, if anyone asks you for your passport and wont accept a copy they are not ligit. this includes boarder runs if anyone is planning on updating a visa, make sure you have copy's ready dont let them run off with your passport saying they will just get it copied for you.

250baht sounds fair for a scooter for short time hire.

eating on the back road where junceylong shopping center is will cost you half the price and be twice as nice as eating along the front street.

try the panang curry
try the som tam (papaya salad) is good
and of course the pad thai

[Spartacus]

Phuket isn't my idea of Thailand either. I think that like Pattaya the tourist industry here grew out of the sex trade that sprang up to cater for the US military on RnR. Don't believe them if they tell you the diving is world class.

But then again lots of people like The Gold Coast and Las Vegas, so it might just float your boat.

I hve heard Koh Phi Phi is nice if you want to go that neck of the woods,

[RodR]

Girlfriend & I are heading to Thailand on 13 April. We are flighing direct to Phuket with Virgin but staying at The Kantary Bay Hotel down in Cape Panwa for 1 week. Then we are catching a speed boat to Phi Phi for 3 days stay then 1 week in Ko Samua.
Any suggestions of tours & places to see at any of the above would be most welcome.

Cheers
Rod

[snowman95]

patong beach is just a mass of chairs and people trying to sell you shit. The Jetski was great

+1

Hated the main drag of phuket, we were at the holiday inn,

go to fantasia for a show and buffet feed tho

+1 of Koh Samui as well, love that place

[mystery]

We are heading to phuket after the Malaysian Motogp in October. Staying at Merlin Beach resort which is a little out of the middle of patong & a lot quieter.

We did the phi phi island tour & snorkelling which was really nice but we both reckon the most fun was had on the four wheel motorbike tour, we did a half day last time & will do a full day this time. The bikes aren't super fast but its great fun hooning around banana plantations and such. Get your shopping out of the way early in the trip so you can do other stuff/relax later on.