Where Paradise and Everyday life becomes one

---

Tish was there when the taxi pulled up at the house in Surin. The house complete with outdoor swimming pool was built with the traditional Thai Carved Roof and was beautiful. My Rucksack was put in the house but l had now time to rest. Tish then took me and the back of her Scooter to rent one for me whilst l was in Phuket. Within 10 minutes of being in Surin l now had my own Scooter and we were of the met the rest on the beach just a few minutes’ drive from the house.

Sam, Edward, Ludwig, Chris and Frankie were all there sunning themselves on a small, curved beach with a few restaurants on the beach with sun loungers. As of now this beach has not been developed and it is a quiet and peaceful bay lined with a row of stately Casuarinas trees. By 5pm l was sitting in Nuk's Restaurant having my first real Thai meal. Fried Green Chicken Curry and steamed rice, yum,yum.

A tropical beach with pine trees rather than palm trees may seem out of place to many but the local Thais flock to this beach on weekends and holidays and bask in the shade provided by these unusual trees. The middle of the beach front is occupied by a dozen Thai beach-style mini restaurants serving up sizzling seafood to hungry visitors. Surin Beach is usually the second stop on the north beach safari and a good place for lunch because the next beach stop does not serve food.

In the traditional heart of Phuket’s Muslim community is Surin Village. As you pass through this picturesque village strung out along the highway you will see the Ban Thao Mosque. This impressive and ornate structure is the largest mosque on the island. Visitors are allowed and discrete photos may be taken, but care should be exercised and avoid going on Fridays the Muslim holy day. The village offers several roadside markets that offer up delicious Muslim food and fruit picked fresh from the many nearby orchards. When ordering food or buying fruit you may have to resort to "point and smile technique", because English is for the most part only spoken by the younger generation.

Next stop was to meet Sonja one of Tish's friends from South Africa that now lives in Phuket. A short drive and l was sitting on yet another beautiful beach this time with a Mai Tai in hand.

That evening l slept in the main house on the floor, the next day l was given a room of my own in the next house which was also owned by then same man Udom. I had a large room, double bed, TV and bathroom all for the same price as a packet of cigarettes a day in the UK.

Laem Sing Beach

The next day we drove a few Km to Laem Sing Beach that is 20 minutes north of Patong. The beach is not visible from the road but has a small parking area. This is one of the undeveloped beaches frequently missed by visitors who are unaware of its location. It’s a five minute walk down a fairly steep path to reach this remote little beach. The natural beauty of this beach is enhanced by the fact it sits well below the highway which lends a serene and quiet feeling that is not always present on other beaches in Phuket. The interesting rock formations along Laem Sing Beach offer some the best snorkelling opportunities on the island.. A few beach restaurant & Bars and no resort. This was a perfect 2nd day.

Patong Beach & Carnival Time

Patong Beach was my 3rd day and this meant about a half an hour’s drive on the scooter up and down quiet steep hills, this beach is a lot busier but also loads of fun too. The day we were here was the first day of the Phuket Carnival so we were lucky enough to see the sky divers land on the beach about 100 yards from the restaurant we were having dinner in. After this we saw a great show on the beach with Carnival dancers and Flame Dancers to. After this it was time to look around the market stalls that line the beach main road at night and you can buy almost anything here including baby bunny rabbits wearing clothes too.

Phuket Island was assumed by geologists to be once part of the mainland in the form of a cape sticking out into the Andaman Sea but millions of years later the cape was gradually eroded by natural forces and finally detached from the main land.

A little history lesson on Phuket

One of the first known traces of Phuket is from a book written around the year 157 by Claudius Ptolemy, a famous Greek philosopher, that to travel to Malay Peninsula by ship, the travelers had to pass a cape known as Junk Ceylon. Located between latitudes 6 N and 8 N (which is the present site of Phuket Island), Junk Ceylon was at that time visited by merchants of several nations including India, Persia, and Arabia. The island offered a bay that protected its harbor from the wind and monsoon, making it a good stopover. Moreover, it had plenty of tin ore deposits that fetched high prices at that time.

A memorable moment in Phuket history was when a passing sea captain, Francis Light, sent word that the Burmese were en route to attack. Forces in Phuket were assembled led by the two heroines, Kunying Jan, Thao Thep Krasattri, wife of Phuket's recently deceased governor, and her sister Mook, Thao Si Sunthon. There was a shortage of men so she allegedly ordered 500 women to dress as soldiers with coconut palms daubed in soot to look like weapons. This tactic seemed to delay a full-on Burmese attack. After a month's siege the Burmese were forced to depart on 13 March, 1785. Kunying Jan and her sister were credited with the successful defense.
The Burmese attacked Phuket three more times between 1809-12 but armed forces from Bangkok arrived in time to repel further Burmese onslaughts. With Burma's capitulation to the British, ensured that there would be no more Burmese invasions of Thailand.

During the Nineteenth Century Chinese immigrants arrived in such numbers to work for the tin mines that the ethnic character of the island's interior became predominantly Chinese, while the coastal settlements remained populated essentially by Muslim fishermen.

In Rama V's reign, Phuket became the administrative center of a group of tin mining provinces called Monton Phuket, and in 1933, with the change in government from absolute monarchy to a parliamentary system, the island was established as a province by itself.

It was not until 1967 that Sarasin Bridge was built to connect the main land with Phuket.

Tin mining industry has played a specially important role in the economic development of the island province but it has declined especially after 1985 when the price of tin fell by half. Other important products of Phuket are marine products, latex, rubber, fuel oil and frozen fish.

With the opening of an international airport in 1976, Phuket effectively became a tourist economy. Over 4 million tourists arrived to Phuket in year 2002 and they spent about 72 billion baht on the island.

Patong Beach is a beach on Phuket's west coast. It is the main tourist resort in Phuket and contains the centre of Phuket's nightlife and cheap shopping on the island. The beach became popular with western tourists, especially Europeans, in the late 1980s. Numerous large hotels and chain hotels are located in Paton

Patong Beach is maybe more famous for its nightlife than the 2-kilometer beach that runs the entire length of Patong. Nightlife is centered on two main areas Bangla Road and Paradise Complex, with Bangla Road being predominantly straight and Paradise Complex being predominantly gay. Much mixing of the two scenes occurs due to Phuket Island's tolerant nature.

On December 26, 2004, Patong Beach along with many other areas along the western coast of Phuket and Thailand were struck by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The wave caused a great deal of destruction to the waterfront of the beach although the destruction was not nearly as bad as nearby in Khao Lak. It took probably less than 6 months to rebuild 80% of what was destroyed and 1 year after you could hardly not see any traces of destruction caused by the Tsunami.

---

Photos

boys at play
Edward, Chris, Ludwig & Frankie