Phuket Tours - Easy Day Thailand

When I started Jamie's Phuket Blog in 2006, part of the idea was to show that Phuket is more that you might realise. More than I realised too. And it took me years to figure this out! I was often reading comments like "Phuket is crowded and too touristy and has no local life" on travel forums.... and it became clear that the people writing these comments had not left the main beaches or had booked onto the cheapest possible tours with 50 other people in 1 longtail boat to James Bond Island... I started the blog to show that Phuket has much more to offer than just beaches, bars, cheap fake handbags.. I mean why travel so far just for that? If you are from Europe you can get a beach and sun in Spain or Greece. If you're coming to Thailand, come on - try to see the real Thailand!

If you flick through the pages on this blog you'll find a huge mixture of things to do, some more touristy than others. Phuket does have some very good tourist attractions like Phuket Fantasea or Splash Jungle Waterpark or the ever popular Aquarium, but many of the places we like to visit are off the beaten track, or maybe we like to visit popular places but we do it "our way" rather than with a tour. And with that in mind... Easy Day Thailand is a tour company set up in 2010 by friends of ours. Ingo and Diego can book you for any tour you want, but the real attraction is that they can do personalised tours, some of which are based on this blog - for example, if you want a trip in Phang Nga Bay, including James Bond Island and Panyee Village - Easy Day Thailand will do it "our way", avoiding the tourist crowds and with lunch at a quiet local seafood restaurant.

• Easy Day Thailand - Contact Here





(above) James Bond Island and Koh Panyee village in Phang Nga Bay

If you want a rent a villa, charter a speedboat, go elephant trekking, then these guys can arrange it. Tickets for Fantasea or the new Siam Niramit show, airport transfers, Thai cooking classes, day trips to Phi Phi Island, snorkeling trips. Pretty much anything really! If you want to go scuba diving, then you can contact me directly - I am manager at Sunrise Divers based at Karon Beach - ready to help if you want to try diving for the first time, or if you are already a diver and want to experience the best diving in the area - find me at Sunrise Divers!



One of the most popular trips sold by Easy Day Thailand is a very nice day trip over to Racha Yai island (aka Raya Island), about 15km south of Phuket. You can go snorkeling, explore the island and there's a lunch at Ban Raya resort. You can also stay on the island at Ban Raya - we did this 2 day trip in September 2012 - see Weekend at Racha Yai. I'd dived at Racha maybe 100 times and never before set foot on the island. You see, there's always more to explore!



(above) - Racha Yai (Raya) island - great for a day or overnight trip.

New! Added in 2012, Easy Day Thailand now have Khao Sok tours - the Khao Sok National Park is north of Phuket, about a 3 hour drive, day trips are possible, but it's better to stay a night or two, enjoy nature, water activities, elephant rides, fantastic scenery... read more : Fun and Relaxation at Khao Sok National Park.



The guys at Easy Day Thailand are very flexible - if you want to arrange a personalised day trip around the Phuket area, they can help. If you are a regular reader of Jamie's Phuket, and have seen something on the blog that you'd like to do, just contact Easy Day - let them know what you want to see... something can almost certainly be arranged.



(above) a day tour of Phuket might include the Big Buddha

If you are a fan of temples, or want to take in some of the best views in Phuket, contact Easy Day Thailand - almost anything is within reason, ask for Ingo or Diego - they'll be able to help!

• Easy Day Thailand - Contact Information
• Phuket Hotels - try Agoda.com

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Yoga in Phuket - The Little Yoga Room

Yoga is surging in popularity all over the world, and it's not just for hippies! It's become big business, with many people turning to yoga for fitness, and both physical and mental well-being. Is it something mystical or magical? Is there something truly spiritual with yoga, or just a good stretch and muscle work out? I don't know - I'm not really into yoga, partly because I am a bit of a fat panda these days.. I prefer a beer to relax... although I do some exercise now and then like hiking up to the Big Buddha or cycling at Koh Yao Noi island. But for sure yoga is popular in Phuket - try a Google search for Yoga Phuket and you'll get the idea! There are many yoga schools, but here's a personal recommendation ... A friend of mine who is teaching yoga and has a small yoga school called The Little Yoga Room.



I went along to The Little Yoga Room to take some photos of Becky striking some poses. She has classes most days (see schedule) sometimes at her own place and sometimes in co-ordination with a nearby Muay Thai camp. The Little Yoga Room is in Chalong, the address is 36/17 Soi Palai. This is the road that leads to Phuket Zoo. Head down this road about 200m there is a sign and you enter at the white gate on the left. It's a small, intimate shala, maximum class size of 10, yoga mats provided. Classes last about 90 minutes.



Becky has been interested in yoga for many years and really got involved when she moved to Tokyo in 2006. I've known Becky since 2008 when she moved to Phuket. Here in Phuket Becky was taking yoga classes and also working as a school teacher, but yoga was the winner, and last year she took an intensive training course to become a yoga instructor. The Little Yoga Room has been open for a while and already has some great reviews at TripAdvisor.




The style of Yoga that Becky teaches is Ashtanga Yoga - a system of yoga transmitted to the modern world by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009). This method of yoga involves synchronizing the breath with a progressive series of postures - a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind.





The postures can be quite alarming! I can still touch my toes... Becky went through a 20 minute routine while I was there. Maybe one of these days if I have more spare time, I will try some yoga. A bit of sweat and detoxification is certainly a good thing and I'm not getting any younger. Certainly can't do this:





Anyone staying in Phuket can contact Becky for yoga classes which can be booked per session (350 Baht) or 10 classes for 3000 Baht. Private yoga classes can also be arranged - just ask Becky!

The Little Yoga Room - Contact details

Phone: 084 442 4634 (local) or +6684 442 4634 (from outside Thailand)
Email: yogawithbeckyphuket@yahoo.com
Facebook: Yoga Becky Phuket
Website: www.thelittleyogaroomphuket.com

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Festival and Street Fair in Kathu Village

Last weekend (15th - 17th July) we had a street fair and cultural festival in Kathu. I should explain what "Kathu" is - probably means nothing to most people. Surely this place is called Phuket? Yes, but Phuket is a big island and Kathu is one of the 3 districts of Phuket Island, the other 2 being Muang and Thalang. Kathu district is pretty big, it includes Patong Beach and Kamala Beach, and the area inland between Patong and Phuket Town which is called Kathu (subdistrict) - this being where we live. Kathu was the center of the tin mining industry in the 19th and early 20th century. The old part of Kathu village where this festival took place is still very quiet and features a large Chinese shrine which plays an important role in the Phuket Vegetarian Festival (which starts September 26th this year).

This was the 3rd year for the Kathu village festival and it was much bigger this year, and much more heavily promoted. In 2009, I saw the signs up and went to have a look, being very surprised to find a colourful street procession. That first year it seemed to be a very local event, I saw no other foreigners and the crowds were small. In 2010, the event was bigger, with the road through the village closed for 3 days and the streets lined with stalls selling food, plus historical information and a great tin mining exhibit. But still very few foreign visitors. This year with promotion in the local press I expected to see more tourists for the Friday evening street procession, but the weather must have put people off - a wet day, and when I headed to the village at about 5:30pm, the heavens opened and everyone ran for shelter. I wondered if the procession might be cancelled, but the rain lasted only 20 minutes, and just after 6pm, things kicked off.



The painted faces and costumes were great again. The face above is painted in Chinese Opera style. I took some photos before the procession started moving - it's easier to take a portrait when someone is not moving! Being a grey evening and not far off sunset, the light was not great. I was very glad to have my 50mm f1.8 lens - great for low light and great for portraits. The procession this year was much larger and more varied that the previous years. People had joined the procession from other parts of Phuket. Kathu is not a Muslim area, but Phuket has a large Muslim population and this was evident in the procession.





Being that I was one of the only foreigners there, many people were very happy to stop and pose for a photo. I am always struck by how happy these local events are. One in the eye for the cynics who say that the Land of Smiles is a myth. Sure it may have been a tourism tagline, but I find the smiles to be very real.





The procession kept coming with several marching bands, school kids, boy scouts, and a couple of walking advertisements for Phuket Fantasea and for the new Aphrodite Cabaret which will open soon near Phuket Town. Not sure if Phuket needs another transsexual cabaret, but time will tell. Yes, these are all men:



I took the opportunity to catch some pictures of the villagers too, as the parade passed by their doors. There are lots of older people in Kathu, you can normally see the old folks sitting around chewing the fat during the day.





And the kids were coming to watch too. The event was for the whole community. The teenagers got all dressed up, younger kids had their fun, our kids kept begging us for another drink and some more snacks from a food stall. Photo below shows kids heading down to the village along a side street where lanterns had been places to light the way. The "lanterns" when I inspected closely were made from Red Bull bottles with a wick stuffed through a hole in the cap... then placed in these "olde style" holders to fit better with the village's rustic aesthetic :)



The evening drew in fairly quickly - sun sets around 6:45pm at this time of year, the parade started after 6pm... and there was no sun anyway! Here's some more of the great costumes in the parade... and more smiles!





I was there again on Saturday, with the family, so I was not taking many photos - and the big parade was only on the first evening anyway. There was music and dance and loads of food stalls, and on Saturday evening (with no rain) it was really busy. Down a side street I found a local character :



Last year he'd been doing a tin mining demonstration. This year he was encouraging people to sit in an old rickshaw. One tourist (Thai tourist) wanted a photo of himself pulling a rickshaw. The old guy promptly put a hat on him and then asked my son and a little local kid to jump on for a ride :)



A great local event. I don't know what more can be done to encourage visitors/tourists or local expats to attend such events. This year there was decent promotion online in the Phuket Gazette and some other local websites, I guess the rain put people off on Friday, or maybe foreigners don't care anyway for local events. It certainly can be hard if you are a tourist to find out about a festival like this. I mentioned it several times on my Phuket Facebook Page and on Twitter, but I don't suppose any hotels or travel agents promoted it, or maybe did not know about it. This is a side of Phuket that really should be seen... and seen for real, not just on a blog! Well in a couple of months, Kathu will be busy again for the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, September 26th - October 6th - and that really is unmissable!

Google Map of Kathu Area


View Kathu Village Phuket in a larger map

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Yellow Door Restaurant in Phuket Town

A couple of weeks ago (June 26th 2011 to be exact) was our 10th wedding anniversary, so we were heading out for dinner. We asked the kids where they'd like to eat and they chose Dairy Hut - a place we've been going to regularly for years in Phuket Town just round the corner from the Bangok Phuket international hospital. It was still a bit early so we drove past Dairy Hut and headed towards Rang Hill, thinking maybe to veto the kids suggestion and eat instead at Tunk Ka Cafe. The road heading up Rang Hill from this side is not well known and is much narrower than the usual route up Rang Hill which starts just north of the old town. BUT before we reached the hill, my wife said "Ooh, whats that?" - a small restaurant with a yellow door, it looked interesting ....





The signs are all in Thai, the restaurant is called "ประตูเหลือง" - Yellow Door. We had a nosy inside, checked the menu, the prices looked very reasonable, so we chose the Yellow Door for our anniversary meal! Note that the photos on this page were taken on July 9th - there's a clue - the food was so good we went back again not long after the first try.

We were there quote early, before dark and were just about the first customers, but over the next hour it filled up - was busy both times we have eaten there. Customers mostly young people, students, couples, but I saw a couple of families and older Phuket people. Seems the word has spread quickly - good food, good price, interesting restaurant. All the staff working there are young too, looks like it's been built and run by a bunch of friends. There is seating at various levels, by the road or down some steps in among the trees, or up on a raised platform with chairs and tables of all kinds of shapes and sizes. The menu is written in English and Thai but I am not sure of the English language skills of the staff. A restaurant in a location like this is not expecting too many tourists! I did see a couple of other foreigners there each time we ate, they seemed to be "local foreigners" like me :)





The prices are very good. Basic rice and noodle dishes starting at just 35 - 50 Baht, with Thai salads, curries around 70 - 80 Baht and I think the spaghetti was 60 Baht - always a good bet for the kids! We had 7 different dishes plus rice and drinks (only water/soft drinks, though they do sell beers) - our bill first time was 500 Baht, second time was 540 Baht and that was with an extra kid (friend of our daughters came with us) - not bad for a family meal - and we were pretty stuffed, the portions are a good size. Here's some of the food we ate (yeh, food porn photos!):



This is "Gung Che Nam Pla" (กุ้งแชน้ำปล่า) - raw shrimp with fish sauce, garlic and chili - my wife loves it.



I am a big fan of Thai salads - this one is Yam Tu Pu (ยำถั่วพู) - made with wingbeans, minced pork, onions, chili, lime and coconut milk.. exact recipe can vary. YUM! I normally eat this with rice.

For the kids - spaghetti. First time they had a bolognese style, but second time was this version and it was demolished quickly, so I reckon the kids gave it the thumbs up! As an aside though - don't be expecting superb pasta dishes at little Thai restaurants, this is Thailand, not Italy. Many restaurants do spaghetti to cater to Westerners who are afraid of spicy food, but it's not often great. Kids won't complain though!





And some snacks - above is Kanom Pang Na Moo (ขนมปังหน้าหมู), fried bread with pork, served with some cucumber, onion and chili vinegar. I should have ordered a beer to go with that - it's definitely a beer snack!



More! This is Chicken fried in pandan leaves, Gai Hor Baitoey (ไก่ห่อใบเตย) - small, almost bite size pieces of chicken wrapped in pandan leaves and deep fried. Lovely... our kids like them, one plate is not enough... darn kids eat more than we do sometimes! But seems that at the Yellow Door we can all stuff ourselves for 500 Baht. We'll be back soon, very nice little place.

Update 2012, we did go back a few times, but as of August 2012, this place seems to have closed down.

Yellow Door Restaurant - Location Map


View Yellow Door Restaurant in a larger map

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Tha Reua Chinese Shrine

Many posts on this blog relate to the history and culture of Phuket, such as the recent post about the Heroines of Phuket and posts about the Phuket Mining Museum for example. I also like to visit temples and shrines around the island. Phuket has a mix of Buddhist temples, Chinese shrines, quite a lot of Mosques and even a couple of Christian places of worship. In particular the Chinese shrines fascinate me, and in a couple of months (starting 26th September) the Phuket Chinese community has it's biggest festival - the vegetarian festival (see Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2011 Schedule). For 10 days the Chinese shrines are the focal point for celebrations, prayers and bizarre rituals.

Tha Reua Shrine is probably the most visible Chinese Shrine in Phuket, since its right by the main airport road just south of the Heroines monument. Any transport from the airport to the main beaches (Patong, Kata, Karon) will pass this way. If you've seen a big shrine by the side of the road, it's probably this one!





Tha Reua is an old Phuket community in the center of the island. I believe there was an older Chinese shrine in the area, but this new one has been built - construction started about 10 years ago, maybe more.. seems to me this shrine has been slowly growing ever since I came to Phuket! The new shrine is just about 99% complete now, maybe needs a bit of work around the edges, but... wow! I have been to all the main shrines in Phuket, but somehow had never, ever stopped at this one until a couple of weeks ago. I was impressed! A huge amount of work has gone into Tha Reua Shrine, the decoration is amazing. In particular, there seem to be dragons everywhere.





I will be back here sometime during the vegetarian festival. I can imagine this shrine looking most impressive at night and people dressed in white come to pray. And there are a lot of gods to pray to! The main altar features a huge array of statues of all sizes and colours.



Some of the faces on the altar ...







The Chinese shrines in Phuket are always full of colour and interest - over the next couple of months they will all be spruced up and painted and will be getting ready for the vegetarian festival. Much of the time when there are no festivals, I find the shrines empty. On this day I turned up in the late afternoon and found one old caretaker shuffling around, and just as I left a minibus turned up with a group of half a dozen Russians. Map below - Chinese Shrines in Phuket :


View Phuket Chinese Shrines in a larger map

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Kopitiam Restaurant (Phuket Town)

We took a little walk around in Old Phuket Town last month, mainly looking to buy a guitar for our daughter, but also just to enjoy the old town with it's old buildings and interesting little shops. Thalang Road is the center of the old town, and over the last couple of years especially now that all the ugly overhead wires have been hidden, the area has become very pleasant and more popular with tourists, especially Thai tourists - if you walk down Thalang road or the little side street called Soi Romanee you'll always see young Thai snapping photos of each other in front of old doorways! Lots of small cafes and restaurants have opened on and around Thalang road over the last few years and there are also some older establishments. On this walk we decided to try out Kopitiam on Thalang Road. There was a table full of Phuket locals sitting outside, always a good sign for good food...



Kopitiam coffee shops are found commonly in Malaysia and Singapore - the word comes from Kopi (Malay for Coffee) and Tiam (a Hokkien Chinese word for Shop) - Hokkien people migrated in large numbers to Phuket in the 19th century and in Phuket Town this is obvious - many people are of Chinese descent, many shops have Chinese signs and there are Chinese shrines in and around Phuket Town.

Kopitiam is run by the same family who run the well known herb shop next door - and the family also owns the Wilai restaurant which is on the other side of the herb shop (see photo below). The Wilai restaurant itself has a little secret - a passageway through the kitchen leads to the Shrine of the Serene Light (which has its main entrance on Phang Nga Road one block south). There's quite a bit of history here!



The history is evident inside Kopitiam, which has kept an old feel, built in the turn of the century (20th century) style shophouses with wooden beams across the ceiling and a stone floor plus decorations consisting of Chinese signs, old photos and tasteful wooden furniture. No need for aircon - it was a warm day, but these old shophouses never seem to get hot. A couple of ceiling fans is enough.





We ordered ice coffees and simple Thai food - the menu is not huge, you can get most Thai dishes and prices around 70 - 90 Baht per dish. We had some chicken with garlic and pepper and also a chicken penang curry. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos - it was so tasty the food was finished quickly! Will have to go again soon to add some "food porn" photos to this page...



• More photos of Kopitiam on my Flickr pages

You can have a history lesson while you wait for the food - there are loads of old Phuket photos around the walls showing the town, tin mines, and I was particularly interested to see pictures of the old ferry connecting Phuket to the mainland - the Sarasin bridge was only completed in 1967. Before that, Phuket really was an island!





I always enjoy a walk around Phuket Town. There's more work going on right now on other streets to hide all the wires like has already been done on Thalang Road. This is my favourite part of Phuket and my wife and I even joke (but in a serious way) about living in an old shophouse in town....

Kopitiam on Phuket TV ::



Kopitiam Location Map


View Kopitiam by Wilai - Restaurant in Phuket Town in a larger map

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