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I'm in Phuket mid March for about 4-5 days and would like to go diving while I'm out there. I am planning on staying in Patong, for obvious reasons. I was wondering if people had recommendations for good dive shops in Patong (I understand there are quite a few). Also how far away are the good dive sites?
Many thanks
Since there is no "INTRODUCTION" section, I will drop this into where I have been most often.
I have been reading the WSGForums on and off for several years now and have decided to give the membership a try.
Thailand has been my true love for many years, although not my first in the Mongering business, that honor goes to Mexico. Other places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and certain Canadian cities have shown me their share of fun, but I keep coming back to Thailand. Why? Well if you've spent any length of leisure time in the LOS, you know exactly what I mean.
I have visited Thailand on 4 occasions:
October 2000 (Phuket Town, Patong Beach)
February 2001 (Phuket Town, Patong Beach)
May-June 2002 (Phuket Town, Patong Beach)
May-June 2004 (Sukhumvit, Bangkok)
Everytime I return I am both humbled by the Thai peoples friendliness and generosity and dumbfounded by their (street vendors) ability to swindle, scam and deceive. I started out my LOS journey as a Happy Fool and have graduated into an Informed and Giddy Fool.
Phenomena I have witnessed while in LOS:
Katoey - While not exclusive to Thailand, these folks always seem to travel in packs of 3-4. Probably meant as a defense from unwary and extremely homophobic westerners. Their wardrobe has been wide and varying from Marilyn Monroe style dresses and wigs to modern daisy dukes, pink hot pants and lacey halter tops. No one attribute has ever been a dead give away for me. Some have the hard facial features of a man, some do not. Others have the adams apple, broad shoulders and a deep resounding voice, while there are some that look better than the lead cheerleader back in high school. Outrageous is a fitting description, indeed.
Bar Girls - The perpetual mainstay of any well traveled Soi. I swear these girls were born with a bar stool attached to their hind-quarters and a penchant for whiskey. The variety is astonishing for a newbie as well as an old dog. My very first experience with Thai Bar Games didn't net me a whole lot of respect at first. I tired quickly after the first few games of Jenga and Connect 4, so I rolled up my straw paper and started a spitball fight with the girl that had inadvertently attached herself to my arm. I quickly found out how intolerant they could become and so I proceeded to make a peace offering with a Heineken and excused my self for a [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url] break. Needless to say, I didn't return.
Asian Laundry Service - This is one stereotype that turned out to be a true blessing. Better than any service back home. Hands down!
Hotels I have stayed in:
Do not know whether or not the prices were fair, but I enjoyed my stay nonetheless.
TANA PATONG HOTEL
181/16 Rat-U-Thit Rd. Patong, Kathu
8 days x 650 baht = 5200 baht (16 per day / 135 total USD)
Thought: "Good place to crash and burn after a hard night of drinking and mongering."
FEDERAL HOTEL BANGKOK
27 Sukhumvit Rd., Soi 11
Soi Chaiyos, Bangkok
7 days x 1300 baht = 9100 baht (33 per day / 237 total USD)
Thought: "Great for the price. Laundry service, meal delivery, and 10 minutes from everywhere."
On the Tsunami: I have a TG, so to speak, that lives in Patong and was privvy to a first hand account to the devastation. First of all, the worldwide news media organizations such as CNN & the BBC have proven once again that sensationalism wins over actual investigative reporting. According to local news at the time, Phuket was a total disaster not unlike Banda Aceh in Indonesia. With a deep gasp and a trembling hand, I called her up to confirm she survived and sure enough, she had. She lives about one mile in from the beach near the base of the hill (as if you were taking a Tuk Tuk to Phuket Town). She said the waves came in approximately 1/4 mile and wiped out everything on Thaweewong Rd. So much for total devastation!
On a closing note, I have a spare 12 days coming up in May and I am torn between the Big City of Bangkok or the laid back little Hamlet of Patong. Even though I was in walking distance of Nana, I never stopped by on my first trip. Maybe Bangkok?
Where is the contact information of that guy I saw on these boards who, for a small fee, will give you a run down of the best places in Bangkok to check out? Supposed to be a personal friend of Jackson or something like that? My knowledge is dated, so whether he is still around or not is unknown to me.
(lifting a pilsner in the air for a toast) "Here's to a fun, lucrative and informative relationship, fellas!"
"Cheers."
Need to decide on my hotel in Phuket (Patong). Don't want anything too fancy, but at the same time don't want anything too cheap.
Options I've come up with are:
Salathani
Summerbreeze
Blue Ocean Resort
Boomerang Inn
Ipanema Cabana Hotel
Expat
In the past I've stayed at Family Inn. Have to say this was fine. They supposedly used to charge a joiner's fee, but I never had any problems. They seem to have dropped that now. However it was a tiny bit out of the way.
Any recommendations / suggestions, etc?
Cheers
I have had trouble finding flights to the Phuket Airport in the past 48 hours. Whats wrong? My searches for tickets come back as unavailable for this destination.
The airport in Phuket is fully functional, yes?
I have tried ALL the major sites including Cheap Tickets, Hotwire, Orbitz and Travelocity for May 21st and it keeps sending me "no flights met your search criteria" message.
-- Wouldn't a message be received stating that all fights are booked for that particular time frame?? --
Well answering my own question, have had an email back from Salathai saying there is a 500 baht joiner fee
Hey guys,
My first posting since I became a regular.
Anyone knows if Phuket arcadia Hilton is a girl friendly hotel ? Also what's the scene around the hotel ? Escort services recommendations ?
Looking forward to your replies.
Alter Ego
Try the Thai airways and Bangkok Airways site and you should be able to book the flights out of BKK and other places.
Thai website: [url]http://thaiairways.com/[/url]
Bangkok Air: [url]http://www.bangkokair.com/en/[/url]
On BK Air, the "TO" field sometimes doesn't have a window. In that case just press GO and the field will open up.
Hope this helps. Plenty of flights to Phuket. Since I don't know where you are flying from to go to Phuket there are flights from Singapore, Jakarta, KL etc. as well.
Thanks for the tip Duniawala.
Here is one that I find very helpful.
[url]www.bootsnall.com[/url]
An inedependent Travelers site, located in Oregon, USA and somewhere in Inonesia. Lots of choices, just click on Cheap Airfare link.
[QUOTE=Alter Ego]I have had trouble finding flights to the Phuket Airport in the past 48 hours. Whats wrong? My searches for tickets come back as unavailable for this destination.
The airport in Phuket is fully functional, yes?
I have tried ALL the major sites including Cheap Tickets, Hotwire, Orbitz and Travelocity for May 21st and it keeps sending me "no flights met your search criteria" message.
-- Wouldn't a message be received stating that all fights are booked for that particular time frame?? --[/QUOTE]
Try this site---VERY cheap flights to Phuket.
[url]http://www.airasia.com/general.php?p=pmain&l=en[/url]
Anybody on Phuket right now ?
I intend to boost the local economy and to donate to the working girls who had lost a huge part of their business due to the tsunami and the lack of customers.
So how is the current situation ? Still enough cute girls to choose from ?
My intel tells me that many girls went to Pattaya and other places.
Is that true ?
How are the hotel prices right now ? Still overpriced ?
Regarding my info, prices should be down 30% average.
Are girl-unfriendly hotels now girl-friendly ?
Any input on that would be welcomed and honored with a beer on arrival.
If you reserve AirAsia a little in advance, you can still get 499 one way. Went down there for a quick weekend on AirAsia several weeks ago but didn't get the cheapest fare, paid 1000 plus 230 tax each way, still cheap.
The bars and clubs on Bangla all opened but still quite empty. There are many girls in Tiger disco and quite a few hang out on the streets nearby after closing time as usual. But overall it doesn't seem to be peak season like before. I heard some ladies left to work in other cities like Bangkok or Hat Yai. There are not as many tourists as before so no problem finding a lady. But the quality has gone down a bit. I think the nice cuties now cannot get many good customers like good old days (some nice cuties can get 2-3 rounds a night before, now they can barely survive) so they left to work elsewhere for a while. Hope the mass tourists come back soon and the nice babes will follow.
RCA Knight,
does that mean that there is only crap left ?
Have you seen any cute ones ?
Don't want to waste my precious time by flying down to Phuket when there are no cute girls available. Hmm, maybe I should bring my own and if I am able to find a cute one go for a threesome :)
Doh!
This does not sound good! I'm planning on being in Phuket on the 19th for about five nights!
I think if you guys want to come down to Phuket for a holiday and help to revive the economy after tusnami is the greatest thing. But if you only intend to come down here for ladies, I think at present moment people will be a bit disappointed. Because Phuket is still very quiet and I did not see any cutie honestly. There are still lots of lower end level to choose from if you are not picky, but I hunted 3 nights all over Patong and seriously I did not find one that stands out. I personally know several cuties used to work in Phuket. I called them when I was there but they are now working Hat Yai or BKK.
RCA Knight,
thanks for the info.
Sometimes I am quite choosy so the current situation might lead to lonely nights. Guess it's better to bring my own and if lucky finding a cutie, do a threesome. Nothing to complain about, right ? :)