A trip to Phuket Thailand, from Seoul Korea, in February of 2004. I stayed in Phuket-town at the Royal Phuket City hotel. I also visited the Phi Phi Islands, Koh Hai, and Phang Nga.
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I finally had a vacation and decided to leave the Land of the Morning Calm, so I decided to go to Thailand. As I am an absolutley wretched procrastinator, I didn't have a ticket and my vacation was 2 days away. I booked a package and headed south. There were only 3 non-Koreans on the plane, and when we arrived, our group (2 Americans & 1 Canadian) were on a Korean tour, and didn't speak Korean. Phuket was still great fun. It has nice beaches, and a rocking ex-pat nightlife. I can't really comment much on the food and day to day interactions, but what I did have was great (the tour included meals, so we mostly ate Korean food and interacted with Koreans). I was only able to get away after 11pm, and there was still fun to be had. The shopping is also very good, and open until past midnight along Patong Beach.
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Patong Beach is the biggest party spot I found. There are bars everywhere, to suit every taste. You can also shop and eat there. I'm assuming that it's a nice beach, but with the tour, I could only go at night, and it isn't well-lit. The islands offshore offer really nice beaches, but they are overly crowded, as almost all tours go to PhiPhi. We did go to a quiter one called Koh Hai (sp?). It's relatively un-touristed, but still has the mandatory sarong shops, dive shops, and food stand. There's also a nice little Jazz bar (3 walls, open to the street) in Phuket-town. They have a jam session on Wednesday's. Nice way to spend the evening.
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The thing I found most special was being on the Korean tour, I know eveyone can't do it, but it was a great adventure. We One of the workers at a duty free shop told us that we were the first non=Koreans he'd seen on a Korean tour since he started there 10 years ago. We travelled with 4 Korean Ajummas (generic term for married older women--it means aunt). They didn't speak English, but we all had great fun, especially when the soju (Korean vodka) that they had brought with them (10 bottles) started flowing. I have to qualify this by saying that I'll never suggest anyone go on a tour. It is a stressful, wasteful time. I'm glad I tried it, but won't be doing it again unless it's the only way I can holiday.
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Royal Phuket City. At about $30 US, it's a nice clean hotel with all the amenities you would need.
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Published on Friday May 14th, 2004
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6 votes
