Thread: Phuket -pics of touristy things in the daytime

some may argue the point but not everyone visits Phuket for the Patong nightlife; I regularly read of 'ruined' 'too commercial' 'should have been here 20 years ago'

Well, I liked the place.

Some pictures and places to see here of places we enjoyed visiting most, and also some of the sports activities I was involved in.

In no particular order. . .

We lived at the base of the Nakkerd Hills - Big Buddha at the top, and could see BB from the lounge of the bungalow. At 45m tall the statue is visible from much of Phuket.

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I used to run to the top each Wednesday evening, and Sundays did a 'half-Buddha' run, 9.2 and 4.6km respectively and not an easy run, a thanks here to the tourists on Siam Safaris 4wds who'd throw me a water bottle on the way up.

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early morning over Phuket Town from Big Buddha

On the way to Cape Panwa, access from either Chalong or from Phuket Town. Though as we found, the road up from PT has the steepest hill in Phuket - too much for a 115cc scooter with pillion (she had to walk).

From the Chalong side it's easy, and also a good cycling route once off the main rd.

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Great 360-views, there's also a short 'boardwalk' through the bush, a shop, toilets and a carpark marked out like a mini grand prix circuit.

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On the Phuket side of the hill is the Tsunami Memorial Football Centre, paid for by FIFA and opened by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter in September 2009 - 2 playing fields, gym and conference facilities

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if you've been up to BB and taken the first access road (rather then the main one to the base of the hill) then you'll have driven past the little bungalow we were renting for 9500 mth for 1bdr, furnished, and incl internet, elec, water, cable tv. Reasonable for Phuket pricing.

no idea . . . where did she come from?


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Our local shop, and the gas station further down the road.

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I stayed at Karon beach on my first visit to Phuket, and have had two more holidays there since. Deceptively dangerous as many a visitor has found, was there early June 2009 when there were four drownings over a weekend - can get so deep so very quickly in places, and a strong current along the beach.

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But on a good day it can be perfect

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Water safety training for local children at Karon Beach, December 2009

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and each year Phuket hosts a round of the World Women's Volleyball Beach Championships

I was in Phuket in 1979, and I was offered an acre of land, in a prime position adjacent to the then, "Pansea Bay" hotel, for two thousand pounds. I thought, "this place will never amount to anything". How wrong I was.

Phuket Aquarium website

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Open daily between 9am and 5 pm Last admission 16.30, Phuket Aquarium is located on the southernmost tip of Cape Panwa at the very end of Sakdidet Road.
Entry fee 50/20 adult/child for Thai or 100/50 for foreigners
Tel 076–391126, 076-391041

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There's a “Science & Nature Trail” that begins outside the aquarium, leads to the aquarium's hatchery/breeding centre that you're free to wander through, then to the turtle breeding/rehab area where turtles are raised for release, as well as injured turtles given some 'r & r' when brought in by local fishermen.

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Further on and there's a wharf maybe 200m, used by a marine sciece ship and coastguard. Dive schools use this area for learners, plenty of small fish about whne we've been there.

And a good little cafe at the exit to the aquarium. Sells beer too.

Nice little thread, and some interesting formatting.,

Thanks.

Phuket's largest water supply, approx 8 million cubic meters of water. The reservoir is situated beneath Phuket's highest hill (Radar Hill) above the Phuket Country Club in Kathu.

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The reservoir is 1.5km long and the dam about 700m end to end. There's a road winding it's way around the reservoir, about a 6.5km drive. Or run, if you choose - there are 'fun runs' held around the lake at 6.5km and a shorter 1km sprint for children across the top of the dam. I did a fun run last year - fundraising for a school, and it's a nice event, 90% in the shade of the trees on a good sealed surface. I won the 90-95yr age group, the 1916 on my entry may have been an error.

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Plenty of tracks off the road to small waterfalls like this one, and a disused picnic area. A nice quiet and peaceful spot to 'escape'

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staying in the hills, Kathu waterfall Thanon Namtokkathu . . . well when we last visited - November 2009 - a simple concept applied: no rain for ages, hence no waterfall. Anyway, it's a good bush walk - or more of a climb, steep up the hillside following the course of a trickle of water.

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and these two are stolen from other sites . . . on some days there's water in the waterfall

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Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Nice little thread, and some interesting formatting.,

Thanks.

cheers; any improvements re formats welcome?
I resize all my pics small theres a 'web small' option in MS Pic Manager, as I have an annoyingly slow internet link - Edge aircard from the wilderness of sth Sa Kaeo, takes an eternity to upload pics any larger than this and often times out. The bright side of all this is that I'm outside in the shade of a tree using a laptop, music playing, had my Kellogg's cereal (blend of cornflakes and sultana bran, since nobody asked) and coffee, fan on a long extension cord . . . not such a bad life.

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These pics are from our local bird-singing contest - generally Thursdays, about 200m from the main road on Soi Yodsane the road up to Big Buddha.

Throughout Thailand's south especially, singing birds are highly prized and kept as pets in many families. birds can fetch as much as 300,000 baht. The best ones have to be carefully protected against bird thieves. This can pose a problem because singing birds, mostly the red-whiskered bulbul (nok krong hua juck) actually enjoy being out in the sunshine

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In a red-whiskered bulbul singing competition, bird owners continuously call out their birds' names and make specific noises to urge them to sing, while the referee carefully listens and counts the warbled notes. The atmosphere is rather easy-going, with all parties generally willing to compromise.

The biggest bird singing contest on the island is held at Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City, with 1500 people involved.

Link to a short video - here

And a Bangkok Post Spectrum article

Genghis

The man in the black shirt's baby was born last week, healthy little girl, Mum and baby doing just fine.

We are all off to Chiang Mai end of next month for a tournament, why not come along, Foldsy and Pat are going and whoever else wants to join. Ant Robertson will be playing for Phuket again.

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3km south-east of Phuket, 15min by speedboat or about 30 by longtail, boats leave from Chalong and Rawai.

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These pics from Oct 2009 - quiet tourist-wise, there were only five others there that day. I don't rate the snorkelling - don't know if the other side of the island is better but the two main beaches (on Phuket side) didn't have much fish life and the coral has been damaged through over-touristing

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But for a quiet beach getaway, out of high season I'd recommend it. We took a speedboat from Chalong pier, 'deal' was 900 baht each for boat to/from plus lunch at a waterside reataurant.

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Plenty of hornbill birds, and tracks through the trees if the beach gets too much for you

Further info here

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Known as Sino-Portuguese architecture, shops/houses around Thalang, Dibuk and Krabi roads, many were built between 1890-1910. The architecture is a reflection of European influence on the island; Europeans including the Portuguese and the British, had been interested in Phuket’s tin wealth since the 16th century. In the 18th century, much of the island’s tin mining was carried out by Hokkien Chinese who became the big players in building the old part of the city.

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Shop-houses are usually found built in rows, giving rise to the Hokkien Chinese term tiam choo, meaning a row of shop-houses. The floor plans of all these shop-houses are very similar: 5m wide and as much as 50 metres long, creating a very spacious living space for an entire family. Across the front of each, along the edge of the street, is an arcade, offering shade and shelter to the public.
Behind this, the house is usually divided into four parts. There is a living room for general purposes and for receiving guests, followed by a space, open to the sky, with a well. At the rear is the kitchen. Upstairs is the family’s private area and bedrooms.

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More info here

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^2nd pic "Who's that" she said. "That's you." "No it isn't". "Oh, it was someone else then"

Excellent, Thank you, i have never been to Phuket, might now !

Thanks Genghis, my first trip to Thailand in 2002 included 10 nights at Karon beach staying at the Phoenix Hotel and haven't been back since although i really liked the place. It certainly made an impact on me as 2 years later i retired to LoS.

Really nice photo's and info. I'm impressed with the runs up to the BB, must be a killer sometimes.

thanks . . . more to upload yet. More to it than just Patong at night (some may disagree!)

Originally Posted by Mr Lick

I'm impressed with the runs up to the BB, must be a killer sometimes.

took a few attempts to get to the top - bloody steep in places, and the way down isn't easy either - hard on the ankles and knees. Aim was to do 'there and back' in under an hour, managed that eventually. Couldn't cycle it though - road bike hasn't got low gears, have seen people do it on mountain bikes

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

^^^is that you in the piccie there?

ha ha the little one on pink shirt with handbag? or the handsome bloke in a Chang football shirt, that'd be me.

thanks . . . more to upload yet. More to it than just Patong at night (some may disagree!)

Originally Posted by Mr Lick

I'm impressed with the runs up to the BB, must be a killer sometimes.

took a few attempts to get to the top - bloody steep in places, and the way down isn't easy either - hard on the ankles and knees. Aim was to do 'there and back' in under an hour, managed that eventually. Couldn't cycle it though - road bike hasn't got low gears, have seen people do it on mountain bikes

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

^^^is that you in the piccie there?

ha ha the little one on pink shirt with handbag? or the handsome bloke in a Chang football shirt, that'd be me.

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Next beach south of Karon, there's a 20baht bus/pickup that runs Karon-Kata during the day, or if you're more energetic it can be walked in about 40min, just one small hill at the south end of Karon beach. Shopping area at Kata the usual tourist stuff, clothes that disintegrate in the wash etc. I'd stop for coffee and icecream at Andaman Coffee - free 15min internet with your coffee.

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Too busy in the weeks of high season, and pestered by beach vendors (has anyone ever actually bought a broom while they were at the beach? maybe to sweep all that sand up?) but on a quiet day in the 'off' season - good swimming . . . and not as dangerous as Karon April-Oct though there have been drownings here.

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Jetskis (no!) for hire, surfboards too.

Continue south and the next bay is Kata Noi, smaller beach and can be even more crowded at peak times with so many big hotels in the area. Don't have pics of this one.

Old Town Cultural Festival (every February)

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The core of the Old Town essentially is made up of five roads and several 'sois' (small streets), these are Rasada Rd, Phang Nga Rd, Thalang Rd, Dibuk Rd, and Krabi Rd. This quarter teems with history and after years of neglect is currently being renovated.

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Thalang Road, Soi Romani and nearby Krabi Road play host to a yearly Old Town Cultural Festival every February that celebrates Phuket's ties not only with China but with the 'Baba' (Straits Chinese of Malaysia and Singapore). Locals dress up in traditional 'Yaya' style and there is a nightly history-based son et lumiere show in a nearby mansion.

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Pics from the February 2010 event, plenty of music, solo artists, dance groups, high school bands (one was punk!), a comedy/ladyboy show, cultural groups and traditional music on several soundstages, all running at once - and very good food on offer (not just the 'traditional donuts pictured)

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Link here to: Phuket Town Treasure Map - indexed map with description and photos of all temples and attractions of Old Phuket