Popular Phuket

Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Phuket, pronounced "Poo-ket" is a trendy place.  Very trendy.  I think it's safe to say that in all our travels so far, we have never seen a beach so cluttered with umbrellas and chairs and sun-seekers.  It's not that we're misanthropes.  And we've been on islands that were a little too deserted.  But with large numbers of tourists come higher prices, armies of touts (no, not again), the predictable gauntlet of shops, hostess bars (I'm not going into that one), relentless speeding motorbikes and mediocre restaurants catering to "Western" tastes.
The worst is seeing the impact on nature as an area is stretched close to it's breaking point because of all the development.  This was our first impression of Phuket and it was not a good one.  But we hadn't been on a beach in a while and we'd already booked five days on the island.  So we decided to make the most of it and have found that, despite all the negatives, the true essence of this place occasionally shines through.

the waves are big enough for a little surfing

They call Thailand the "land of smiles" and it's not a misnomer.  All the Thais we've met are extremely friendly, gracious, happy people.  Wherever you go, you're sure to get a cheerful smile, a clap on the shoulder or even a genial two-handed clasping of arms.  The landscapes, both surf and turf, are undeniably beautiful. The crashing waves are music to our ears; large enough for a few surfers to come out of the woodwork and the sand is the most luxurious our feet have ever walked on.  And the food is out of this world, as long as you know how to avoid the clichéd tourist traps. The trick we've discovered is that the more emphasis a restaurant puts on decor or ambiance, the less they focus on the actual food.  The little "hole-in-the wall" place with plastic chairs and toilet paper for the napkins?  That's where you go.  

Tom Yam Goong (hot and sour soup)

One further thing about the food.  It's spicy.  Yes, I know we've spoken of spicy food before - mainly the Indian cuisine in Malaysia.  But the Thai culinary tradition consists of food so fiery that the cook often wears a mask while stir-frying.  And if a breeze picks up the chili-infused steam it can induce a coughing fit in people ten or twenty feet away.  But don't let that scare you; the spice doesn't overpower, it enhances.  Or, if you really can't handle it, you can ask for "no spice".  A word of caution: watch what you put in your mouth.  Though at a quick glance it looks like an innocent sliced green bean it may be something much, much hotter.......