The Phuket Big Buddha

Update 2013 - this blog page is from May 2009 ... Some updated photos - Phuket Big Buddha July 2013Work on the Big Buddha statue in Phuket has been going on for many years. The main Buddha image is 45 meters high and sits over 400m above sea level on a hilltop in the south of Phuket island. We head up there at least a few times per year, sometimes get some food at a little restaurant near the top of the hill, sometimes just to enjoy the views and...

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Restaurant Tip: Lakeside

Blog post from 2009 - this restaurant no longer exists, sorry!Yesterday we decided to try and find another new place to eat in Phuket. We used to live in the same street as Nueng about 6 years ago. She was running a restaurant called "Chili" a few years back, but now has a place called "Lakeside" - it's on the road between the Heroine's Monument and Bang Pae Waterfall in the north of Phuket, an area which seems like a different world compared to...

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Restaurant Tip: Batik Seafood - Nai Yang Beach

My parents have been visiting, and last weekend we took a trip up to Nai Yang Beach where I had been recommended a restaurant. On the way we stopped off at the Thalang National Museum, which is worth a quick visit if you are heading to the north of the island. At Nai Yang Beach I went to look for Willy who runs a Kite Surfing shop on the beach - he'd recommended a restaurant called Octopus.. but it was closed, and Willy was not in the shop, so we...

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Phuket Gateway

I do believe the "Phuket Gateway" to be Phuket's least visited attraction. We stopped for a look on the way back into Phuket a couple of weeks ago and were the only visitors save for 1 other foreign guy. My parents stopped in yesterday and were the only visitors. My daughter has been there on a school field trip. Now, I am not suggesting you should get off the beach and drive right up to the north end of Phuket island, which can take an hour from...

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Phuket Halal Expo

Many visitors to Phuket probably don't realise that over a quarter of Phuket's population is Muslim. I think there is an assumption that everyone is Buddhist, so I can imagine tourists being surprised by the large number of mosques dotted around the island - you'll pass several between the airport and the southern beaches. There are some huge mosques, the largest being at Cherng Talay (I do plan to "blog" it sometime), near Bang Tao and Surin Beaches....

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