Patong Beach

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Patong Beach (????????? Haad Patong) is the largest beach resort on the island of Phuket.

	patong beach Travel Guide : 1 Understand 1.1 2004 tsunami 1.2 Orientation 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By bus 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 8.1 Nightclubs 9 Sleep 9.1 Splurge 10 Stay safe 11 U.S. Navy 12 Get out

Understand

Patong is the party capital of Phuket, with a naughty nightlife and a great beach. Mostly made up of hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and various tourist attractions, there's a thriving nightlife, with numerous "entertainment complexes" and countless bars clustered together, and prostitutes to cater to every taste. Prices are higher than in Phuket Town, but there's more budget accommodation here than at the more southerly beaches. This may not a good destination for the average backpacker, except in the rainy season when prices are far lower.

2004 tsunami

Beach Road and the immediate surrounding areas were hit hard by the December 2004 tsunami, however the only signs now remaining are the "Tsunami" titles on sale at the VCD/DVD vendors.

Orientation

Patong's two main axes are the aptly named Beach Road (Thanon Thawiwong) and Thanon Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi (the last bit means "200 years" and is pronounced song roi pee) running parallel a few hundred meters inland. A handful of streets and sois (alleys) connect the two, the largest and most central of which is Bangla Road (Thanon Bangla).

Get in

By plane

Phuket International Airport is 35 km to the north of Patong. "Limousine" taxis from the airport to Patong are a steep 500 baht (45 minutes); meter-taxis 300+ baht (if coming from the airport, from outside the car park gates); shared minibuses limit the damage to 150 baht (but 180 baht in the Patong to airport direction, presuming you book through an agency). Cheapest way of all (however also the most time consuming) is to take the airport shuttle bus to Phuket Town, and switch there to a local bus to Patong.

By bus

Regular buses connect to Phuket Town (20 baht, 45 minutes) every 30 minutes or so between 07:00 and 18:00. The route starts from the southern end of the beach, after which the bus crawls through town (via Bangla Road), stopping to pick up passengers, before finally heading off across the hills.

Get around

Patong can (just about) be covered on foot, but there are plenty of taxis and motorbikes to get you around.

Phuket has two types of taxi - millions (or so it seems) of small songthaew-style minivans (usually bright red, occasionally bright yellow), and a much smaller number of conventional sedan-style taxis (yellow and red, with a "TAXI-METER" sign on top).

The minivans have no meter, and their drivers are notoriously mercenary, so always agree a price beforehand and do bargain hard. Short hops around town shouldn't cost more than 40 baht, but you'll have to bargain hard.

For longer distances the metered taxis are generally a better bet, so do your bit to break the iron grip of the minitaxi mafia and patronize them if you can. You can hail one by telephone on 076-232157.

Motorbike taxi rides within Patong start around 20 baht.

See

Lots of white skin, thick, loud voices with beer cans in their hands and a small thai girl in the other hand are usual. There isn't much else to see at Patong. It's nice for a walk along the beach road watching all those european and american man walking around there. For Eating and Shopping you better go to the other side of the island, as prices are about 50% (even more) of Patong Prices there.

Do

Dive shops abound in Patong and touts on the beach try to hustle up customers for jet-skiing, parasailing and other watersports.

Buy

One of Patong's main attractions, besides the nightlife, is shopping. Many small stalls and markets line the streets offering everything from t-shirts and clothing, silk, carvings, souvenirs, shoes, CDs and DVDs. Bargain hard for anything you buy from these stalls, as everything is negotiable in Patong and starting prices are often ridiculously high.

• Jungceylon, Thanon Rat-U-Thit 200P (end of Thanon Bangla), 1 (http://www.jungceylon.com/home.html). Patong's first full-fledged modern air-con shopping mall, complete with 200 shops, integrated hotel, etc. Still under construction and the opening has been postponed several times, but will probably launch some time in 2006.

• Patong OTOP Shopping Paradise, Thanon Rat-U-Thit 200P (south end). You might be excused for thinking that this has something to do with Thai PM Thaksin's "One Tambon, One Product" scheme to promote local industry, but no, turns out this market sells exactly the same copies of branded clothes and mass-produced handicrafts as everybody else. At least there's a fairly wide selection to choose from.

Eat

Patong offers an amazingly cosmopolitan array of eating options, including Arabic, French, German, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Scandinavian and pretty much any country that sends tourists here. Prices are, however, generally inflated (at least by Thai standards).

• Ali Baba, 2 Thanon Ruamchai, and Ali Baba 2, 206/17 Thanon Rat-U-Thit 200P, 2 (http://www.phuketdir.com/alibaba/). Two separate menus for two separate cuisines, namely Indian and Arabic, but both are pretty good. At both locations you have the choice between air-con inside and smoking waterpipes outside. Appetizers 60-100 baht, mains around 200 baht.

• Green House and Balcony Restaurant, Soi Bangla. Extensive menu covering Thai and Western food, plus pastries and snacks from the in-house bakery. Terrace seating outside and air-con restaurant inside. A bit pricy though with most everything over 100 baht.

Drink

Patong's nightlife spills out in all directions but the center of the maelstrom is Thanon Bang La and its four sois - Crocodile, Eric, Gonzo and Seadragon, packed with a frenetic mix of pubs, beer bars, and go-go bars. Soi Crocodile is also known as Soi Katoey, a reference to its many transvestites. While many of Patong's establishments are little more than fronts for prostitution, there are also a couple of good nightclubs with dance floors - an unusual sight in Thailand otherwise.

• Molly Malones is a nice place to sit down and have a decent pint or two. The prices are a bit high, but if you need some good pub food and want to sit back and watch the human traffic, this is a good enough pub.

• Irish Bar Is another nice and less expensive place also on Beach Road, though not with a view of the beach. One of the only places in Patong to sell Guiness, it also has a celtic cross made with Guiness cans.

Nightclubs

• Banana Disco, Thanon Thawiwong (50 m south of Thanon Bangla). Entry 100 baht, including one drink.

Sleep

Accommodation is rather expensive during the peak season with simple air-con rooms ranging from 500-1500 baht; fan rooms start around 300 baht but availability is limited. In the low season, air-con rooms are easily found from around 300 baht and up. You can usually get at better deal for the more expensive rooms by using one of the local travel shops. It pays to haggle with them.

Splurge

• Burasari, 32/1 Ruamjai Road, tel. +66-76292929 3 (http://www.burasari.com/). Lovely boutique resort in a quiet soi on the south side of Patong, just 100 meters off the beach. Hit by the tsunami but quickly and competently restored, excellent swimming pool with direct access from the aptly named "Deluxe Pool Access" rooms. Regular room rates from 2700/4000 baht in the low/high season.

Stay safe

Sections of the beach are not suitable for swimming due to strong currents, especially in the rainy season, and the entire area is at danger from idiots on jetskis. Heed warning flags and be careful. They installed a huge Tsunami Warning Tower to warn Patong people in case of another Tsunami.

U.S. Navy

Phuket Island in general and Patong Beach in particular are a popular destination for ships of the United States Navy. Navy sailors are generally well behaved and are policed by their own Shore Patrol. Also, Phuket is not generally visited by large ships, as the island is not considered big enough. Large ships usually visit Pattya Beach near Sattahip.

Get out

• The shopping centers and temples of Phuket Town are just across the hill (45 minutes by bus, less by taxi). Be aware of the Tuck Tuck Mafia, better take a regular bus or metered taxi.

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