Patong Beach on Phuket Island, Thailand
The island of Phuket in the south of Thailand is probably one of the most popular places for beach holidays in all of Asia.
I stayed in the town of Patong Beach. It is itself the most popular destination on Phuket island. I took the pictures in the early morning when almost no-one was there yet:
The traffic in Phuket is not quite as crazy as in Bali and the streets are wider. But of course, they also drive on the left side as in most of South-East Asia.
The prices for hotels are not as low as in Bali, though I did find one for less than $20 a night.
This mosque was close to my hotel in Phuket and on the way to the beach:
Here is a picture of a Buddhist shrine close to the beach:
Restaurants and nightlife in Patong Beach on Phuket Island
Patong Beach has an impressive collection of all kinds of restaurants, night life and a very large shopping mall.
I enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffets – first in the Japanese-style ‘Shabushi’ restaurant chain that offers sushi and shabu-shabu – meaning meat, vegetables and mushrooms you can quickly cook on the table in front of yourself in the restaurant.
Later I went to a Thai-style “shabu-shabu” which was simply called BBQ Buffet, but had the same general idea of selecting foods and quickly cooking them on the table in front of you.
The food is a bit cheaper in Thailand when compared to Bali. The all-you-can-eat buffets were between $7 and $11 while a normal meal can be as cheap as $2.