Location Independent in Phuket
As we mentioned last week, we’re starting a new series of features on location independent destinations. The first locale up on our list? Phuket, Thailand.
The Little LIP Guide to Phuket is one of the most most popular guides and for good reason – this large Thai island is one of the busiest tourist spots in the country. It is one of the wealthiest parts of Thailand and people flock to enjoy Phuket’s year-round good weather and gorgeous coastlines. The island has its own airport and land bridges to mainland Thailand, making it very easy to access. But some say that Phuket – Thailand’s “Jewel of the Andaman” – is just become a little too busy.
Beaches, Beaches, and More Beaches
Phuket is well-known for its beaches; I tried to count them on a map and got at least to 25, but I’m sure there are more hidden ones to be found. Here’s just a sampling of a few of them:
Surin Beach – they call this Millionaire’s Row as many a celebrity holiday in one of the luxury villas nearby.
Patong Beach – this is by far the most famous (infamous?) spot on the island and offers the classic Phuket experience – hot sun, sandy beaches, kind of noisy, and the streets are filled with neon at night.
Kata Beach – this is where the surfers go, but if you don’t like to surf and just like the sound of the waves, pull up a chaise lounge.
What is there to do besides the beach?
If you’ve found yourself slightly crispy from the intense Thai sunshine, there are other activities to occupy yourself with, such as:
- Eat. Thai food is delicious, but you’ve not had it until you’ve had it in Thailand. Some of my personal favourites include Pad Thai (don’t say “boring” – just try it with a cold beer after a long day in the sun and you’ll be a new person), Massaman Curry (think coconut milk, cinnamon, tamarind), and Tom Kha Gai (a lemongrass, ginger, and coconut milk soup).
- Get a spa treatment. Thai resorts are well-known for quality services at very reasonable prices -in fact, dirt cheap compared to similar treatments in the UK or US. You don’t have to get a Thai massage; you can be waxed, rubbed, buffed, scrubbed, polished in a whole assortment of ways and means.
- Golf. Since I’m not a golfer I didn’t know this until recently researching another article, but Thailand is definitely one of the world’s top golfing destinations. There are four courses on Phuket itself.
- Water sports. Cool off by splashing around in the ocean. The tough part would be choosing: canoeing, surfing, snorkelling, water skiing, catamaran sailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, or jet skiing. Maybe you’d rather just go fishing? They’ve got that too.
- Go on a jungle safari. You can ride an elephant through the forest.
- Learn Thai boxing. Several of the gyms in the major resort towns will teach you the ancient techniques of Thai boxing. Bet you didn’t have that on your Phuket list, did you?
A Word from a ‘Local’
David Clarke, author of the Little LIP Guide to Phuket, spent several months in Phuket. So I asked him for his thoughts on the island.
Many say Phuket has become over-touristed and just too busy. What would you say to that?
Parts of Phuket are very busy these days, particularly the patch from Patong south to Nai Harn where in the high season the tourist are thick on the ground. However, most of the tourists who frequent those places are not over-adventurous, preferring to pack like sardines on the nearest beach and turn painful-looking shades of deep pink. This means there are still plenty of areas that are quiet, from the beach point of view; you just have to drive a little further, or arrange accommodation in those areas. From Kamala north, the beaches get quieter, although in the high season, you have to go to Naithon, Nai Yang or Mai Khao if you really want to avoid people; the last two always seem quiet. You have to remember too that the high season is really quite short – December through to end of February. Outside of that, everywhere, with the exception perhaps of Patong, is much quieter.
One fears a little for the future, since there is an abundance of building projects around the place, although in the present credit crunch, many have been put on hold. Having said that, I think there is space to accommodate plenty of development without ruining the place and I don’t think it will change dramatically in the short to medium term.
It’s all horses for courses, really. Some people like busy towns with plenty of bars, Starbucks and people. Others don’t. I think the Phuket can still satisfy both, although for people who really don’t want others around, Phuket is probably not the place. From a Location Independent point of view, it’s always going to be a bit of a compromise since Location Independent living tends to imply a need for good internet connections – they don’t exist out in the sticks!
What are your top three tips for anyone visiting Phuket?
1) When to go to Phuket: most people think of Phuket as an escape for the European winter since the season coincides with the dry season in SE Asia. However, the wet season is not constant rain; there’s plenty of sunshine too! It’s just a bit more wet and humid. So my first tip is to think outside the seasonal box and look at quieter times. There will also be very good deals to be found on just about everything.
2) Rent a car rather than a bike! Car rental, if you shop around, is cheap. Depending on where you are located, you’ll probably feel the need for wheels before long. If and when you do, go for four of them rather than two! Bikes are fun, you can even rent big Harley-looking things, but the number of accidents should be sufficient to make you think twice. You might be a great and experienced biker, but there are all sorts of idiots in very large trucks out there waiting to get you! This tip applies even more if you do go to Phuket in the wetter seasons when the roads are more treacherous for two wheels.
3) Accommodation. If you’re going to Phuket for a protracted period, say three months, and you don’t know the place, it’s worth renting somewhere short-term until you can get a feel for the place and where you would like to be. There’s a huge choice of accommodation there and it’s worth renting that car and driving around to get to know Phuket and to look at a number of possible long-term deals. A good place to start is Phuket Garden Home, as described in the Little LIP Guide – even a two week rent there is good value and if you decide to stay, they will adjust the prices for a long-term deal. Use it as your benchmark and assess other places. This is of course advice that is not specific to Phuket, given it’s not easy to assess somewhere from the internet.
If you think Phuket sounds like the place for you, why not visit the Location Independent blog where you can pick up your copy of Little LIP Guide to Phuket.
If you want more help about location independent living, check out my review of X Marks the Spot, a fantastic book in which Lea and Jon Woodward talk about their experiences of relocating and becoming location independent.
Today on the Location Independent blog you’ll also hear about Location Independent Living in Shanghai with my interview of a local entrepreneur.
Photos courtesy of peteforducks (Surin Beach), jbremer57 (Patong Beach), Lewi Hirvela (Kata Beach)
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October 27th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
[...] a little bit about location independent living lately – our most recently location was Phuket and we’ve got more great places to live and work coming [...]
January 15th, 2010 at 8:50 am
There’s some great links in that collection. Someone’s been doing their homework
Jeff