Phuket: Days 1 to 4

April 04, 2024

Phuket: Days 1 to 4

I’m staying in Phuket for a total of nine days. This post covers the first half of my trip here.

There is the Phuket Smart Bus that takes a flat fare of 100 THB, about $2.80, to go anywhere on the western coast of the island of Phuket starting from the airport in the north. It’s much cheaper than a Grab taxi.

For the first two days, I stayed at Kamala Beach, which is one of the quieter beaches in Phuket. I walked along the entire length of the beach and enjoyed the sunset on the second day.

I noticed that I’ve developed a callus and a blister on the bottom of my right foot. It was from the barefooted hike I did when I was in the tree house in Cameron Highlands. I bought a liquid solution called Con Con for 65 THB, or $1.80, from the local pharmacy and applied it on my skin for a few days. It’s supposed to harden the skin. The pharmacist told me what I have is called corn since it’s callus underneath the skin. I refrained from going into the water and tried not to walk too much so my foot can heal.

On Instagram, I reached out to Jonathan, one of the Cats of Taipei. He is also in Phuket, but staying at Phuket Old Town. We agreed to stay at the BearPacker Patong Hostel that’s right across from Patong Beach.

Patong Beach is the most touristy place in Phuket. I noticed that most Western tourists are Russians. There are direct flights from Russia to Phuket and this place seems to be a very popular destination for them, so popular that even the restaurant menus are also in Russian.

I also noticed that there are many marijuana shops. My body is too sensitive to drugs so I don’t have any interest in smoking weed.

I’m a big fan of Thai food and I’ve been having a lot of Pad Thai, though I didn’t see any drunken noodle dishes on the menus. I think they just call it fried noodles. I also tried a a dessert called mango with sticky rice that I’ve never had before.

Jonathan and I hung out for two days in Patong Beach. We mainly walked around and chilled on the beach. There is also a pool on the fifth floor of the hostel that we hung out at.

Last night, I went to Bangla Road with Jonathan. It’s a very famous street in Phuket and not far from the hostel. There are lots of bars and girls dancing on tables. Strip clubs are hidden on the side streets. There were people holding signs advertising Ping Pong shows. I had read about them on Reddit before. Women put ping pong balls in their vaginas. There are also frog shows, bird shows, fucking shows, lesbian shows, and a variety of other “shows” that I find are degrading to women, especially their health. I don’t want to support any of these activities with my money and was shocked that these activities are allowed to happen. I guess when someone is poor enough they’ll do anything to earn money. I feel disgusted thinking about this when I went to bed last night. It just doesn’t seem right to me.

Jonathan and I will go to Kata Beach that’s south of Patong Beach. I want to stay at a quieter place again and avoid the crowds. We plan to stay there for two nights. Jonathan will come back to Patong Beach for his PADI scuba diving classes for a few days. I don’t know what I will do after Kata Beach. Maybe I’ll stay there longer or go somewhere else.