Giveaways
PHUKET is an island, and a city on that island, on the Indian Ocean side of the Isthmus of Kra, where Thailand extends down to join Malaysia. At the bottom left of the map below, Phuket is hundreds of kilometres from Bangkok, the subject of my previous post.
Phuket used to be a major trading port, as it is close to the Straits of Malacca. Traders came from Portugal and China and what is now Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as from the rest of Thailand, to all rub shoulders in Phuket, although it was eventually overtaken by Singapore in that respect.
Its days as a trading hub now in the past, Phuket is very touristy these days: perhaps the most touristy place in Thailand. The tourist trade is mainly attracted to Phuket’s scenic hills, offshore islands, and beaches, though there is a lovely old town from trading days as well.
Here’s a closer map, which also shows some offshore islands with photogenic vantage points. Pi Leh Bay is on the Phi Phi Islands, which I visited by boat from Phuket city.
I ended up staying in a place not far from Bang Tao Beach, on the western shore of Phuket Island. Right next door, there was a Turkish café where I could get a meal for 100 Baht.
The area was quieter than usual because tourism was down. Even so, I found Bang Tao Beach to be touristy and crowded. So, the next day, I went to Surin Beach, a smaller one just to the south, and got photos of the sunset. There was a ban on selling things at Surin Beach, and so it wasn’t so crowded.
I was quite ill when I arrived and got everything I needed at a 7–11. I needed to start eating some Western food and give up meat for a while, which is a good idea for me as I can be a bit sensitive to what I eat.
I paid 700 Baht from the airport to where I was staying, but on one of those terrifying motorbike taxis it would be 200 Baht.
The most popular beach on Phuket is a little further south from Surin again, at Patong. However, again, I found Patong Beach too crowded.
For another 200 Baht, I went further south to another beach on the western shore, Kata Beach, which had golden sand.
Near Kata Beach, I saw what looked like an old hotel ruined in the tsunami.
All these western beaches were hit hard by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004. About 230 people were killed on Phuket Island. However, things were worse elsewhere on the coast, as people in Phuket were often able to run up the stairs of solidly constructed hotels on the shore, whereas people in little villages had no such protection.
I remembered Phuket from before the tsunami, walking on the same path. Save for the ruined hotel I saw near Kata Beach, the damage has long since been tidied up almost everywhere else on Phuket, and certainly on the more popular beaches.
Here is a video I made of Surin and Kata Beaches, by the way.
On a big hill some 360 metres high, overlooking Kata Beach, there is a shrine with a giant modern statue clad in white marble called the Great Buddha of Phuket, popularly known as the Big Buddha.
Phuket Island has a central spine of hills. This is how it gets its name. According to most sources I have come across, Phuket comes from bukit, meaning hill in Malay, though some also say that it also comes from phu, meaning mountain in Thai, and ket, meaning jewel.
Though Phuket has been under the rule of successive Thai kingdoms since the 1200s, it was part of a Malay-speaking Sumatran empire before that. Though Phuket is a long way from New Zealand, the Malay language is nonetheless related to Māori, in which the word for hill is similar to bukit: namely puke, pronounced pukeh. So, Phuket is probably another way of saying ‘puke’: an interesting thought for a Kiwi.
Tin was mined in the central hills of Phuket for many generations; this was another of the island’s major economic mainstays, along with merchant trade on its shores, before the tourism era.
There had been landslides next to the Big Buddha lately. I got a motorbike up to it for 100 Baht. On the way up there was a tiger park and elephant rides and feeding baby elephants.
And then there was go-karting, and snakes, and monkeys.
It was a great spot from which to view Phuket Island.
Although people think of Phuket as a beach resort — and it is — it also has the old town I mentioned at the start, built in the days when Phuket was a trading outpost. Some of the very oldest architecture is in a blended style called Sino-Portuguese, that is to say, half Chinese and half Portuguese.
There is also a significant Muslim and Turkish influence, most probably via Malaysia and Indonesia I would imagine. It turns out the there are lots of Turkish cafés as well. Here is another one, called Papazula, in the Phuket Old Town.
I went to Wat Chalong temple, one of several notable temples in Phuket. It had gold on the outside, with amazing carving and artwork.
And to the Chinese museum, Phuket Thai Hua, which opened in 1934 in a Sino-Portuguese style building that was, before that, a school for ethnic Chinese pupils.
The food was stunning, and even the hostels. Here is a photo of the otherwise very affordable Ming Shou Hotel entrance.
And the Phuket Old Town Hostel.
I enjoyed walking around the old town. There was a festival of the vegetarians, with a procession and firecrackers that that I also recorded in one of my videos.
Here is a video I made of old town scenes, plus a scene of a monkey watching passersby at a spot further up in the hills.
Next time I am in Bang Tao, on the western side, I would like to stay at the Chill Hub, a modern hostel which looked quite classy.
lternatively, I might stay in a place up in the hills and keep well away from the busy beach areas.
There was no shortage of interesting pizza flavours in the tourist markets, including cannabis!
I noticed that you could buy images of the Buddha. These doubtless appeal to Western tourists, though, to judge by the signs about proper etiquette that I saw in the temples, the more devout among the locals would seem to view Buddha souvenirs as being in poor taste.
After spending time on Phuket Island, I decided I would go to the amazingly scenic Koh Phi Phi, or Phi Phi Islands, which are about 35 km to the east of Phuket City.
From Rassada Pier. there are many boats to Koh Phi Phi each day. Mine, on a speedy vessel driven by three outboard motors, cost me 1.500 Baht.
Here is a third video, filmed from the boat.
I met a lot of people at the hostel. Some were studying kickboxing for a week!
Tours of Phuket Island were around 4,000 Baht; to hire a motorbike yourself was 300.
Phuket is so busy with tourists, though, and will only be more so once tourism has recovered. When is tourism overtourism, I wonder?
With those thoughts in mind, I caught the bus to Malaysia.
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