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Phuket.com Magazine
March
2007
Patong is always the place to be, but with three festivals in the coming weeks, it’s going to be a veritable smorgasbord of colourful entertainment. First up is Phuket Pride, the annual gay festival, which is looking to be the biggest and wildest yet – a visual feast for anyone who enjoys a good spectacle. While we’re in the neighbourhood, we meander through the centre of all things gay in Patong: Soi Paradise. Then we look at the story behind Songkran,
Thailand's crazy annual water festival. This year, Phuket Bike Week
coincides with Songkran and the island will
rumble with big-bike fans from around the world. We tempt you with
reviews of Kaab Gluay and
Seahag restaurants; inform you
with the inside scoop on condominiums
in Patong; and sleep on the job – twice – at the Holiday
Inn Phuket and the Rising Sun
Residence. To top off our super menu for this month, we are
featuring a new column on diving.
At Phuket.com you'll never go hungry for information or entertainment.
Enjoy! Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen |
| Special Phuket Gay Festival |
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Phuket condominium and apartment projects are on the rise in Phuket. With diverse locations – ranging from ocean views to golf course fairways, overlooking marinas to hotel managed units – there is something to meet most budgets and tastes. Read more... |
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The Holiday Inn Resort Phuket is famous for two things – it’s great for families and the staff is amazing. Not a bad reputation to have, especially when combined with its other attributes: It’s close to the action of Patong Beach, but protected and peaceful. It nearly has enough pools to warrant a new sea be placed on the map. It has four restaurants, a spa, conference facilities, and a cooking school. And the beach is across the street. Read the hotel review... Read the Interview with Mr Wolfgang Meusburger, GM of the Holiday Inn Phuket. |
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A stay at the Rising Sun Residences is probably going to be an indulgent experience for you, as I discovered during my visit to one of the 3 bedroom villas. The concept envisaged by owner Methee Tahmanatragul was “to give people a real alternative to the hotel/resort option”, and he should know what people want, with over 30 years experience in the hotel management industry and currently a consultant to three different hotel groups. Read more... Read the Interview with Khun Wipa, Assistant Managing Director of the Rising Sun Residence. |
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If all this talk about Phuket’s ‘alternative lifestyle’ scene is making you hungry (and why shouldn’t it?), you’re in luck. Sam Wilkinson found a pair of restaurants in Patong that are as different as a king and a drag queen, but find common ground in fantastic food and cute quirks. In keeping with this month’s theme, The Seahag and Kaab Kluay restaurants both provide a fabulous alternative to the typical dining scene – not to mention hunger. Read more... |
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Three ships cruise in parallel – distinctive sails raised – through the Phang Nga Bay, each pulling an empty dingy that chases behind like a tagalong sibling. These boats are solid; no stomach churning motions, just a smooth push to the northernmost reaches of Thailand’s aquatic mangrove-and-limestone-cliff playground. I’ve been here often – and by varied means of transportation (loved the speedboat’s expeditiousness and the quite serenity of a kayak powered by someone else) – but the area hasn’t lost a single rice-grain of charm. Read more... |
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We all agree Phuket is becoming busier and busier and more hotels, resorts and condominiums are being built on what seems like less and less land. I often hear visitors and residence alike comment how it’s “not the same as it used to be. I miss the old Phuket.” While the idea of going back to no telephone service, no paved roads, warm beer, tapping rubber to make a living, and electricity blackouts most of the day and night may sound romantic to some, I doubt many people really want a return to those ‘good old days’. Read more... |
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It all really started when Phuket’s first luxury spa, the Banyan Tree Spa, opened in 1995. Seeing how popular this venture was, many island businessmen jumped in. Spas opened in resorts and hotels. Stand-alone day spas popped up like mushrooms on empty plots of land all over the island. In this month’s Health column, Phuket.Com looks at the growth and increasing maturity of the island’s spa industry. Read more... |
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All over Thailand, the three-day Songkran holiday is celebrated in a riot of intense but totally friendly street battles with water pistols, buckets, garden hoses, even fire hoses. Everyone – but everyone – gets wet as people mark the arrival of the traditional Thai New Year. In Phuket Songkran is extra special because the festivities also coincide with the arrival on the island of hundreds of big bike fans and their extreme machines for the annual Phuket Bike Week. Read more... |
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Do practice your smile: Smiling is consider one of the trademarks of the Thai people – this is, after all, The Land of Smiles. Thais tend to smile about anything. You may find it a bit odd at first to have complete strangers smiling at you on the bus, in a restaurant or passing on the street. But to Thais, smiling is a friendly, quiet, Thai way to say hello. So smile back; it’s polite and it will make you feel happier and more relaxed, too. Read more... |
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If one is the loneliest number, then ten is the ‘list-iest’. This particular list is packed with action, glam, meditation, and culture from every corner of Phuket. Spas. Historical architecture. Snakes. Temples. Boxing. Ladies (or are they?) dancing. As an added bonus – and for an unlimited time – each item on the list comes with its very own voting button. Like it? Click it! Read more... |
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- Phuket Personality
- Gay Festival Organiser
- This Month News
- Patong Gay Festival
- Events Calendar
- Gay Festival Galleries
- Destination Update
- Patong Gay Hotspot
- Paradise Complex Map
- Phuket Focus
- Phuket Simon Cabaret
- Simon Cabaret Photos
- Hotel Features
- Holiday Inn Phuket
- Holiday Inn GM Interview
- Holiday Inn Phuket Photos
- Rising Sun Residence Hotel
- Rising Sun GM Interview
- Rising Sun Residence Photos
- Property Feature
- Patong Condominiums
- Restaurant Reviews
- The Sea Hag
- Kaab Kluay
- Tour Reviews
- Phang Nga Bay Cruise
- June Bahtra Story
- Phang Nga Cruise Photos
- Phang Nga Cruise Details
- Health and Holidays
- Phuket Spa Phenomenon
- Diving in Phuket
- 1st time diving
- Phuket Events
- Songkran & Bike Show
- Do and Don't in Thailand
- Top 10 must See & Do
