Taken in December of 2013 at Baan Krating in Phuket
If you’re looking for a nice quiet place to stay on Phuket, Baan Krating offers a good option. It’s on the southwest tip of the island down by Nai Harn Beach. This is taken on the footpath to a quiet section of beach it shares with an adjacent property. It does have another–even quieter–private section of beach, but that is even more rock strewn with razor-sharp shells and conical barnacle casings.
Taken in January of 2014 in Phuket Town.
While it may sound like sacrilege to some, if you’re like me you reach the point when it’s enough already with the beach. That raises the question of what there is to do on Phuket if you need a day away from having sand in every bodily crevice and feeling punished by the sun. One should definitely assign a day to Phuket Town. A lot of your Phuket Town day will rightly be spent admiring the many Chinese shrines in the area (there are about five big ones.) [This, too, can be a break if your Thai travels have left you burnt out on the gleaming, golden Theravadan Buddhist temples.] However, Phuket Town also has interesting secular architecture–some of it run down, but much of it nicely restored.
Taken in January 2014 in Patong.
Taken January 2014 in Patong.
From this little shrine one could view Patong Beach across Beach Road. It’s a small but very active shrine at the North end of Patong Beach. There was often someone burning incense or making an offering.
Taken in December of 2013 in southern Phuket.
When I lived in the US, and I’d buy a pack of frozen shrimp, more often than not it came from Thailand. That astounded me as Thailand is about as far as one can go to get shrimp. Even with freezing, there is a time factor involved. There are both US and US adjacent/proximal producers of shrimp, but Thailand is still a low-cost producer for US markets even with transportation costs figured in.
It’s interesting to be in a place were prices for a shrimp dish are the same as for pork or beef, and sometimes even the same as for chicken.
From Phuket you can see the fleets of fishing trawlers working it all day long.
Taken on January 5, 2014 between Phuket Town and Rawai Beach.
One of the cool things about Phuket is a huge Chinese influence relative to other parts of Thailand. Phuket Town is loaded with historic Chinese shrines of all sorts. However, there are also many more modern ones, such as the one above, around the island.
Patong did New Years in a big way with fireworks and flying lanterns
Taken December 27, 2013 on Phuket.
This photo is taken from the Promthep promontory as is the one below.
Taken on Christmas Day on Phuket, Thailand.
This photo turned out a bit otherworldly. It’s a crab on a barnacle-covered rock who is about to be swamped by a boulder-churned slab of white water.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 