Things To Do

The Breeze is another addition to the ever growing range of nightclub options in Patong. It's a half enclosed space, with some open balcony areas and a long bar against one wall and some informal tables and couches scattered around. This is a nice change from the entirely enclosed dance halls on Soi Bangla, which tend to get really crowded and stuffy midway through the night. Breeze's location halfway toward Kamala also means that it will probably stay a more western type of hangout rather than a gathering place for Patong's night workers after the bars have closed.

Kathu Dam is another one of those great walks that you see so few foreigners on. I was here seven years before I heard about it in fact. Most of the foreigners here figure that the only great spot for walking is along one of the many beaches. And the beaches are beautiful enough for most people that they don't need to look any further. However, the beach gets pretty hot and pretty crowded during at least part of the year.

One of the best spots to see all of Phuket is from the top of Kao Rang hill. I'm surprised at how few tourists go up there. In fact, the only tourists that I've met up there have been groups of Koreans, which seem to be taken to the place as a brief rest stop before they are plunged back into their next shopping "experience".

There's a huge range of accommodation in Phuket, form the ridiculously lavish to the ridiculously spartan. Still, it seems that there is more of a selection of lavish and spartan than anything that just has a clean bed.

The Expat Hotel is one of those places that, despite being cheap, still looks welcoming. No, you're not going to mistake it for a 5-star resort, but you'll wake up with everything you brought in, in a clean bed, in a room with a window, and clean sheets.

Recently there have been quite a few go-karting tracks opening up on the island. I guess it's the sort of activity that people associate with a vacation, and since driving around Phuket's roads already makes you feel like a race-car driver, I think taking it onto the track is just the next reasonable step.

Saphan Hin is one of the places in Phuket Town that foreigners rarely go to, but I think it's also one of the most pleasant spots for an evening stroll.

Saphan Hin, which means stone bridge in Thai, is really just a road that goes out on something like a peninsula into the sea. There's a nice park around the permitter with walkways and even a boardwalk through the mangroves on one side.

Monkey Hill in Phuket Town is a fun little afternoon trip. What makes it nice is just how un-touristy it is. Most of the people you see there will be middle-aged Thais getting some exercise climbing the hill.

There are two monkey spots on the hill. The monkeys seem to beg for food on the lower section of the hill closer to town. Here they simply line the streets and wait for any fruit handouts that people happen to throw them.

So, I've only been in Phuket for seven years or so and have just managed to get around to the Phuket Cable Ski.

It's basically water skiing around an oval course being pulled by a large cable suspended above. There are some jumps around the length of the course, some appropriate for skis and others designed more for wake-boards.

Not that that mattered much for me, since I only used about the first 10 meters of the course before I took another mouthful of water.