Patong, Phuket...boy has this place changed

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Never really clicked with Thailand. This is my third time here in 25 years. Each time for some reason I make the same mistake and come to Phuket 😊 Gee and I thought the place was corrupted, over-crowded and ruined in 1989???

It was really a spur of the moment thing just taking advantage of a cheap flight from Penang with Firefly airways.

Thailand is a strange beast to me. The people here (Phuket) are jaded about foreign tourists, which is understandable. I geuss if you love holidaying and hanging with westerners then you'd love it here - theres plenty here both holidaying and living. I don't really see how its possible to connect with local people given I speak no Thai language. Thai language is a beast I'm not really inspired to tackle. I don't actually find them that friendly, in comparison to say Indonesian, malay, Philipino - maybe its the language barrier. Harsh but its my feeling/perspective. We live in Bengkulu, Sumatra and I can honestly say the people are ridiculously friendly there 😊 If you use an analogy of cats and dogs - Indonesians are puppy dogs (playful, in your face, eager to please, loyal) and Thai people are cats (ambivalent, guarded, secretive and only loving when they want something). I'm a dog person..

The beach is still nice after all these years. Unfortunately the hotel we booked through agoda is about a 20min walk, most of it through stinking, muddy roadworks.

Even Thai food, which was was exotic/new/exciting back in the 90s has lost its allure. Really overpriced. Bad sex tourism trade happening everywhere. naaah pass. won't be back.

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