Still the place for tourists

Thailand's troubled politics may have put a damper on tourism, but the beach resort of Phuket stays committed to making visitors happy. Zafar Anjum samples its pleasures.

A trip to Phuket was waiting to happen. But when I did get the opportunity to visit this spring, it suddenly didn't seem like a good time to visit Thailand. The Red Shirts had been protesting against the government in Bangkok for more than a week and one of their leaders had been shot dead. Bangkok was under siege and the city was under partial curfew. Still, the draw of Phuket was too much to resist.

Just as the plane was about to land at the Phuket International Airport, I looked down and saw the Andaman Sea spread out beneath like a blue bedspread, rumpled as a grandmother's cheeks. This was the same sea that heaved like a mountain and killed so many during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

At immigration, the visa officer looked bored and stern but the visa was free, thanks to the trouble making in Bangkok which had hit tourist traffic throughout Thailand. Straightaway it was a nice saving for our family.

We had reached the airport around nine in the morning and by the time we checked into the hotel, the first thing that demanded attention was our hunger. We changed into holiday gear of T-shirts and shorts and started our lookout for edibles.

The whole area around the hotel was a warren of hotels, brasseries, coffee shops, restaurants and hawker outlets. We finally settled for pizza and fresh fruits and retreated to our hotel room to escape the heat.

Later in the afternoon, we took a stroll on Ao Patong - a three-kilometer stretch of sandy beach where tourists relaxed on deck chairs, sipping drinks under colorful parasols. Young couples and surfers played with the waves in the shallow waters.

As the day cooled and darkened, lights came on and the streets magically came alive with people in cars, in noisy tuk-tuks (motorcycle cabs), scooters and on foot.

There were touts everywhere trying to sell souvenirs, massage services and seafood dinners. A mini truck cruised slowly past, with young boys on board in shorts mimicking Muoy Thai sparring, advertising for a championship-boxing match in town.

There was music and noise everywhere, the sheer liveliness of a place that thrived on human interaction.

We decided to walk up to Jung Ceylon, where all the global outlets like Starbucks, McDonalds and Carrefour were present and accounted for.

Some quick shopping in Robinsons and Carrefour and we were ready for dinner at the food court - where we discovered an Indian food stall.

We ate rice, lentils, potato with peas and a bowl of meat with gravy, and it cost us less than our daughter's burger set meal.

For our remaining days in Phuket, we avoided the tourist traps and did a lot of shopping and more family bonding over food and siestas. And the night before we left, I took a stroll down the Soi Bangla, Patong's liveliest party zone.

At drinking holes crowded with tourists, young girls and lady-boys pole danced for the patrons.

The market-like open-air atmosphere on the Bangla Road gives one a totally different experience. It had a distinctly Phuket character - a place bent on pleasing the tourists here to enjoy the beaches, the food and the nightlife.

(China Daily 10/24/2010 page16)