Phuket: On the beach

Kata beach

If you go to Phuket just for the beaches you will have a great holiday. We spent a lot of time on deck chairs between the various beaches around Phuket. You can rent a chair for the day for a few dollars, have cold drinks and food delivered to you while soaking up the sun and enjoying the amazing water. What more would you want?

We stopped off at Kammala, Surin, Patong, Kata and Karon beach over our week long trip. Kammala and Surin have cheap eateries that line the beach. You can also do some shopping there or organise some water sports. Patong is the most touristy and the one I liked the least. Patong is the place to go at night. In the day the other beaches are much better options. Kata and Karon seem to be more for the resort crowd. All the big resorts seem to be in this area. The beaches are nice but the small restaurants don't seem to have the same vibe as Kammala and Surin. My vote - Kammala.

Kammala beach sunset

Celine on Kammala beach


Views from the deck chair

Kata Beach

Enjoying the water

Kammala beach sunset: Take 2

Kammala beach by day

Phuket: With the girls

Views from the Big Buddha

Who said the French don't travel? Since arriving in Bangkok we have had a constant influx from the French contingent. What's the deal Australia? First one of Celine's friends came to Thailand for a few weeks, followed soon after by two of Celine's aunties and one of their friends. Not long after Celine's cousin and his girlfriend came for a few days before going done to Phuket to see their French friends. Celine's cousin stayed on for a few months. While staying with him, and his friends, in Phuket another of Celine's cousins (from the other side of the family) came to Thailand with her girlfriend. We caught up with them while we were in Phuket.


Girls on the bike

Melanie and Joelle were doing a few week island hopping trip. Their first stop was Phuket. We rented an extra motorbike and rode up the mountain to the Big Buddha, having a great lunch on the way. Super views up there. The girls also got a chance to hang out with a baby elephant. We also spent some time on Kata beach and enjoyed a few beers.

Melanie and Joelle chat to the elephant

Celine and the elephant


Lunch views


Kata beach


The girls enjoying lunch

Phuket: With the boys

Playing pool with the boys

The flood problems in Bangkok reached a climax towards the end of October. It was high tide and there were fears the city would be flooded. The government declared a 5 day holiday over the weekend of the 21st-22nd and as a result many businesses closed. All of our corporate English classes were cancelled. Our apartment owner who had been telling us for weeks that we MUST leave due to impending meter + high floods in our area was virtually pushing us out the door. Our apartment was full of his fear propoganda and with the latest government warning his paranoïa reached boiling point. Adding to that it was near impossible to buy bottled water as well as some foodstuffs.

For these reasons we decided to leave Bangkok for a few days - destination Phuket. Celine's cousin, Romain, who has been staying with us was already heading down to Phuket to see friends and it just so happened that they had a spare room in their house for a few days.

We ended up staying with them for a little under a week. They had a house on Kammala beach - one they moved into a day before the 2004 tsunami. Luckily their house was not affected.

The first stop was to rent a motorbike.



We spent the mornings riding around the island and exploring different beaches. We stopped at Patong (the most touristic), Kata, Karon, Kammala and Surin beach. Our favourite was Kammala which was laid back and relaxed while having all the ammenities you want at the same time.

At night we had dinners at different restaurants and explored some of the various bars on offer. We had a night out in Patong and experienced a ping pong show; amongst other things - very educational :). There were markets to explore as well so we always had things to do.

We both had a good time meeting Romain's friends and enjoying Phuket. It really is a cool island when you have the chance to explore it on motorbike.

Romain eating at a French restaurant


One of the bars on Kammala beach

Dinner - special Thai curry for me

A few to many for one guy

Phuket market