Phuket, Thailand in December (Part 1)

James Bond Island

Touchdown Phuket

It has been quite a long time since I went to any long vacation. By "long vacation" I mean to say not opening the office laptop for more than 7 days consecutively 😁 As soon as the good news came when the customer themselves conveyed that there will be a lull in the operations due to Christmas & New Year holidays in the US, I started planning the vacation with different destinations categorising them on the ease of getting the visa. My 1st choice was Egypt but as I researched more on Egyptian visa, I gave it a pass & decided on Thailand because:

• the ease of getting e-Visa on Arrival or eVoA
• hotels in Thailand were surprisingly affordable even in the peak season (December)
• the photos and reels of James Bond Island on Instagram tempted me
• Maya Bay has been re-opened by the government after quite a number of years as the beach was shut down to allow nature to heal. Due to overcrowding of tourists, Maya Bay was slowly losing its original beauty so the government took a strict decision & corrective action to close it down.

Maya Bay, Krabi, Thailand

It is a well known fact that Indians have the option of Visa on Arrival in Thailand.

A li'l bit posing before kayaking

I chose to opt for eVoA or e-Visa on Arrival as I didn't want to waste my time waiting in the long queue, that too during the peak season, and miss my next connecting flight. Procedure to get eVoA for Thailand:-

• head over to Thailand eVoA, click on "Apply Now".
• one has to create a profile so that one can upload all the documents viz
• ALL hotel bookings (therefore prior bookings need to be made)
• to & fro flight tickets
• the visa type is "regular eVoA"
• visa fees = 2500 THB per person

IMPORTANT : Carry a global Forex card like Niyo Global (not an advertisement but saying from personal experience) which gives the best international exchange rates or carry enough cash in THB from India. Please DO NOT withdraw cash from ATM's in Thailand as they charge 200 THB per transaction. If you have to withdraw cash there due to unavoidable circumstances, then kindly withdraw a large amount so that the conversion & exchange rates can be somewhat balanced. We were not aware of this & we suffered some heavy losses because of this. So a friendly reminder to my readers - AVOID withdrawing cash from Thai ATM's.

Thailand is a tropical country, hence the ideal months to visit Thailand are from December to February or early March as the temperature is bearable during the daytime, along with some sea breeze in the coastal areas. Before finalising the trip, I was in discussion with quite a number of tour operators who were quoting some exorbitant rates for 2 people. Let me break down some of the costs which I encountered - 

• onward flight from India (Bengaluru) to Phuket - INR 61280 for 2 people.
• return flight from Bangkok to India (Bengaluru) - INR 50618 for 2 people.
• internal flight from Krabi to Bangkok - INR 12804 for 2 people.

The ridiculously expensive cost for the flight tickets is attributed to:

1. December being the peak season and on top of that, our travel dates were from 23rd Dec to 1st Jan.
2. Flights from Bengaluru are generally & mostly expensive, be it from Bengaluru to anywhere.

Our 1st destination was Phuket and I booked our hotel right on Bang La Road, the party street of Patong, Phuket. Agoda is my go-to website for booking hotel accommodations as it gives me the best & most affordable rates compared to other websites. I would also recommend to contact the hotel directly to make reservation to get the best deals.

We stayed at The Yorkshire Hotel right on Bang La road and approx. 500m from the Patong Beach. It cost us approx. INR 1565.5 per person per night for standard room booked from Agoda. After reaching there, I realised that the hotel has the following rates for different rooms-

• Standard room - 1000 THB
• Double Deluxe Room - 1500 THB
• Large Double Deluxe Room - 2000 THB
• Apartment - 3000 THB
• Superior Large Deluxe Room - 3500 THB
• The Dalesman Suite - 5000 THB

So, it is better & advisable to check with the hotel directly first before booking it online. The room size was pretty small (as are the hotel rooms in UK, sharing from personal experience) which sort of authenticates the name of the hotel 😛

Bang La Road is the most happening locale in Phuket with numerous restaurants, pubs, lounges, cannabis bars, street food options, cheap shopping markets, stalls for various island tours and so on.

On our 1st day after arriving in Phuket, we reached our hotel via Grab (cab rentals, food delivery, grocery shopping, financial services - all in one) which took approx. 650 THB for 4 people. There are also shuttle taxis & buses available from the airport. The hotels also arrange for pick up services, but of course at a higher cost.

Chicken Satay

We checked into our hotel, got fresh & was super hungry so we headed straight to Savoey Seafood Restaurant right near Patong Beach and devoured to our heart's content - I was happy with my chicken & bacon while my friends were gorging on the fresh sea food. 😊 After our lunch, we went to a local tour operator to book the famous island tours viz James Bond Island, Hong Island, Panak Island, Phang Nga Bay, canoeing, visit to Diamond Cave, Bat Cave.

Pro-tip : NEVER book the island tours in advance online or offline. ALWAYS book the island tours AFTER you arrive in Thailand. You get multiple options to choose from and have the opportunity to bargain which you won't get if you book the island tours online or offline in advance. Don't worry if you are afraid that all the tickets will be sold out if you don't book in advance - you WILL get the tickets for island tour because there are multiple companies operating numerous boat tours EVERYDAY. I'm also sharing some contacts for the local tour operators for your reference. Please keep in mind that the prices shown in the pamphlets are not final. One can get a good deal if you book directly from the operators on spot. The cost includes breakfast, lunch & fruits while on the island tours.

Pamphlets

The price shown here is not final.

We strolled around on Bang La Rd and got to witness the Phuket nightlife firsthand - the whole street was full of people drinking, smoking, eating, howling, running around crazily, some talented artists were even performing live on the road itself (not going into too much details regarding the performances, it's recommended to experience all of it personally 😉). We called it an early night as we had an early morning pick-up for the James Bond Island tour the next day.

The famed James Bond Island

James Bond Island

Rejuvenating kayaking

Although the car pick up was on time (7.30 am) at our hotel, unfortunately one family group delayed the drop off at the destination because they could not be ready on time (I had an evil grin realizing Indians are not the only ones to be late 😝). Anyway, breakfast, consisting of fried eggs, bread & butter/jam, fruits & juice was included in the island tour package (I was wondering who eats breakfast before a turbulent boat ride 👀).

Pro tip: buy appropriate shoes for snorkeling & waterproof mobile case covers from your home country before going for the trip as the shops there charge a bomb for those items. Sharing a few links below (not advertising, you are free to browse & select the product of your choice after reading relevant reviews related to the product/s)-

• Unisex Adult Water Sports shoes
  
• Waterproof mobile cover
  

Hong Island 1st look

Unfortunately, we didn't know these pro-tips hence we had to pay THB 200 per pair of shoes. The boat started sharp at 10 am with the 1st halt at Hong Island. There the tourists were taken for kayaking. After an hour of kayaking, the next halts are at Panak Island, James Bond Island & lunch at Koh Panyi/Panyee Island (which is a small fishing village in Phang Nga Province, Thailand, consisting of people descending from two seafaring Muslim families from Java Island, Indonesia; also notable for being built on stilts by Javanese fishermen), Diamond Cave,

Kayaking towards Bat Cave

Mangrove Island, Bat Cave Island with the final halt at Koh Khai Nok Island where everyone just relaxed on the white sand beach sipping at the great cocktails prepared at the beach shacks.

Kayaking in Hong Island

Panyee Island

Phang Nga Bay

(N.B.- the prices of the food & cocktails are skyrocketing obviously as it is a touristy place. E.g. one plate of french fries cost around 50 THB, the plate was small & no other plate size is available 😔).

Relaxing at Koh Khai Nok Island

We reached Aa Laem Nga Pier at around 5.30 pm where our pick up car from the morning was waiting to drop us at our respective hotels. After freshening up, we didn't feel like staying out till late at night because all of us were dead exhausted & we had another island tour scheduled the next day. We called it a day after having an early & light dinner.