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.
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.
Favourite spots:
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.
What's really great:
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.
Accommodations:
Royal Phuket City. At about $30 US, it's a nice clean hotel with all the amenities you would need.
Nightlife:
Patong Beach area, everything is available and open all night
Hangouts:
Patong Beach area, everything is available and open all night
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