Phuket: no escaping it and for many, no better escapes

“I had my opinions about Phuket before I came.  Seedy, overdeveloped, overtouristed, overpriced.  And I chose to avoid it.  What I didn’t know was that if you like beaches, international food, Thailand, and islands, there’s no avoiding Phuket.  Your paths will cross.  In my first year in Thailand, while avoiding it, I wound up here twice and two years later, here for a third time.  As I continue to shun it, I’ll probably end up here for another vacation or two within the next few years.”  Doug Knell, Doug’s Republic

Phuket is Thailand’s biggest island and the size of Singapore.  With unlimited funds and a choice to live either in Phuket or Singapore, I’d choose Phuket.  So would, I imagine, the majority of Singaporeans. 

Does Phuket really live up to the claim of being a sex den and packed out with tourists?  Let’s not beat around the bush.  It is, hands down, Thailand’s most visited island.  There have been direct flights here long before Air Asia set up shop.  Yes, it’s an island, but unlike Koh Samui, Koh Lanta, Koh Phangan, Koh Chang, etc, you don’t need to take a ferry to get here.  Two bridges span from the mainland to the island, so it’s easy to get to.  It’s on the Andaman Coast, making it more scenic and beautiful than the islands in the Gulf of Thailand.  There’s a variety of accommodation available, the food is eclectic. The capital of the province/island, Phuket Town, offers real comforts and characteristic architecture, something missing in many Thai towns.  

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Boats, drinks, and karst formations

“Everyone agrees.  It’s difficult to stay crabby when you’re visiting Krabi.”  Doug Knell, Doug’s Republic

Krabi rocked my world.  There’re sure a lot of rocks to see down there.

It’s October 2008, and my then girlfriend — now wife — was deciding where to go for the October family vacation.  The previous year, we’d been to Phuket.  She loved the Andaman Coast so much that she wanted to return to the same general area but to a different beach, a different place.  I suggested Krabi.  I had been there for a very brief time in 1994 to make a lame attempt at rockclimbing on the barely developed Phra Nang beach and what I did remember I remembered fondly.  I had almost gone there with my father a few months prior.  We went to Koh Samui instead, a good thing it turned out, because I encountered an adorable cat at our pool in Samui whom I adopted and still have to this day.   My girlfriend subsequently spent hours on the Net researching all our options.  Within a few days, she informed me that we were going to Krabi.

It was another overnight bus trip to get down here, and we arrived on a hot Saturday morning at 7 AM. We caught a shared songthaew westwards for an hour to Ao Nang beach from the Krabi bus station and another taxi to our accommodation. The girlfriend set it up so that our first three nights would be spent somewhere on the lower but comfortable end of the spectrum — then USD 20/night. The last three days we’d be living the high life at a 5-star hotel for which she was able to obtain a very seductive price.  

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