Phuket Entertainment Guide, Thailand

If you're looking for bright lights, crowds and pounding music on all sides, head for Patong Beach. Until 20 years ago, Patong was a little fishing village on one of the loveliest beaches in the world, now it's evolved into a rollicking resort town. Apart from the huge range of restaurants you have a choice of beer-bar clusters, go-go bars, discotheques and transvestite cabarets.

If it's all too hectic, you might opt for a quiet piano bar at one of the resort's hotels, like the Novotel Phuket Resort or the Holiday Inn Resort, or dinner at Ban Rim Pa with the piano and the waves for an accompaniment.

Patong offers entertainment from the sublime to the absurd. For a little relaxation you could try florescent bowling at the Ocean Bowl (after 9pm) or catch the action at a Thai Boxing Match in downtown Soi Bangla. There's a regular schedule with both Thai and foreigners competing for the purse.

If your in the mood for shopping, market stalls line most of the streets in Patong, especially along the beach road every night, with bargains from wooden toys to holiday clothes.

Down south, the other beaches have a more subdued, less extensive nightlife. Around Nai Harn and Rawai there are some excellent restaurants with good food, great style and ambiance. Mimmi's has a sophisticated interior where you can relax on comfy sofas before your meal, or simply drink, snack and relax. The Wall with its rustic and stylish Thai interior, uses lots of local ingredients to produce some excellent and interesting dishes, resulting in both culinary and visual delights. The Phuket Yacht Club, also at Nai Harn provides superb food, music and a great setting at their Regatta Bar and Grill. While in Rawai, a local pizza place M & M's run by two Italians, Maggie and Mario, tempts with not only pizza but also delicious home made ravioli, lasagna and salads. If you prefer to eat Thai food, Rawai has lots of local restaurants which line the beach under the casuarina trees and offer not only wonderful barbecued seafood, but also views across the water. (Moonlight too!)

Still in the south, Kata Beach also has some excellent restaurants offering both Asian and International cuisine. The Boathouse, has an amazing wine cellar, an excellent Thai kitchen, a great incomparable setting, and first-rate live music - unobtrusive and highly professional. Other musical performances with dinner include classical Thai dancing and music at venues within hotels like Sala Thai, at Marina Cottage, Kata and Old Siam, in the Thavorn Palm Beach Resort, on Karon Beach.

For a more casual evening out, you could try Chalong Beach, where Jimmy's Lighthouse overlooks the yacht anchorage and serves an extensive range of tasty dishes. Kan Eang, on the same beach, offers very good Thai food at reasonable prices.

Phuket town offers a more local scene with music pubs like Timber Rock, and the Candy Pub providing fun atmosphere with live rock 'n' roll and Thai food. Another option are the Thai-style "coffeeshops" - nightclubs where ladies in fancy dresses sing Thai songs while customers eat, drink and, occasionally, entice singers to join them at their tables. Later at night there are sometimes farcical skits on stage and other types of entertainment.

Phuket town also has a cinema complex showing up to date films, often released here before their European release. The seats are plush and the air conditioning fierce, so take a sweater! There are also a couple of bowling venues - Pearl Bowl in the town centre, and the brand new Big C bowling.

If eating, drinking, listening to music, and dancing aren't enough for you, then there are other sides to Phuket nightlife. You could go night-fishing for sharks, for example, or the try the catapult bungy in front of the Expat Hotel, on Patong Beach. Enjoy!

Food

Phuket is famous for its seafood, but you also have a choice of various regional Thai cuisines and a wide range of foods from other countries. You can have a tasty and filling meal at a roadside stand for about US$1, or you can treat yourself to 5-star food in a luxury resort, and accompany it with the finest wines. See our "Dining on Phuket" page.

Shopping & Souvenirs

Shopping in Phuket Town has expanded enormously in the last few years. In addition to the hundreds of little shops and street stalls, selling beach and sportswear, wooden games/toys, local Thai crafts and souvenirs, there are larger stores moving in. On the outskirts of the town, the huge hypermarkets Tesco/Lotus and Big C have opened, selling everything from telephones to toothpaste. Next to the hypermarkets, western style shopping malls are now becoming established with both well known brand name and Thai arts and crafts shops. The main stores usually have fixed prices, but good bargains on clothes, shoes and household goods. You can bargain in the smaller shops. Don't forget that a smile always smoothes the process of negotiation. Never show any anger or real frustration - or you'll never get the right price!

If you're shopping for jewellry, Phuket has a number of jewellry centres. Gem Gallery, close to Tesco Lotus is one of the largest with a huge selection of jewellry made with local authenticated stones at discount prices. Their shuttle bus service will pick up and return you to your hotel.

Specialist items

Cultured pearls, a local industry, can be found in most jewellry shops or bought at the Pearl farm on a day trip to Naka Noi Island. You can find shops specializing in Thai silk and handicrafts in Phuket town and around the island, although many of these handicrafts are from other parts of Thailand and prices will not be the cheapest. Thai Benjarong items - beautiful ceramics can be found in most local shops.

Tailors

Lots of them and lots of good deals, but better results usually if you take an item to copy, rather than show a picture. Materials tend to be rather old fashioned designs and colour classics. Be sure to have several fittings.