Old Town Festival 2013

It was festival time last week in Phuket! Chinese New Year was on February 10th (welcome to the year of the snake!), and the Chalong Temple Fair was on from the 9th - 17th February. And at the weekend from Friday 15th - Sunday 17th February, it was the Phuket Old Town Festival which was taking place for the 14th time highlighting old Phuket Town as a place to visit, and featuring music, art, food and history. For sure Phuket has some nice beaches and lots of hotels and lots of tours, but Phuket tourism really only kicked off less than 30 years ago, and the real Phuket is easy to find if you get off the beach and explore! This years festival was way bigger than last year, with street stalls, stages, entertainers and crowds covering several square blocks of the old town on Thalang Road, Krabi Road, Phang Nga Road, Soi Romanee and more.



(above) Food stalls along Krabi Road on Sunday 17th February

We skipped the Friday events, as I was working until 6pm and rather annoyingly, a big festival procession was planned to start at 5pm. It's a shame that I miss things like this sometimes due to work. We could have gone later, but planned a few drinks with friends and anyway we knew that we'd be there on Saturday evening as our kids were signed up to perform on stage along with lots of others from their music school - they learn guitar. Pop and rock, not classical. So on Saturday afternoon we headed into town around 5pm before things got busy for a little wander before checking in at the big stage on the corner of Phang Nga Road and Phuket Road. Better get the kids something to nibble before they go on stage - and finding food during the festival was not hard. Food stalls everywhere!







We checked in at the stage and our kids little pop group was given number 20 in the line up. We figured that might mean a wait of about 90 minutes, but they were to be the 20th music act, this did not count dance groups and all the announcing in between. Our kids music teacher was also a bit frustrated by the end! He prefers something small scale with just "his" kids performing. Well, anyway, I figured that I had enough time for a walk up Phang Nga Road to find a cold beer and take some pictures ...





Phang Nga Road had a number of artists exhibiting or selling their talent. I was tempted to buy something, but really we don't have a place to put a huge painting like the one above. I found a cold Chang beer at the Roxy Pub which is a popular weekend hangout, one of many small bars and cafes in old Phuket Town. Thinking of a blog post about a "pub crawl" in town sometime soon! Well, I had a beer and wandered back up the road to the stage to see how things were progressing. All along the road, and indeed all over the old town, were street entertainers and performance artists such as these guys below ...





And the time ticked by ... we waited behind the stage with the clock tower across the street.



And finally our kids got to perform one song (should have been 2, but later acts only got 1 darn it) on the stage in old town, well done kids! I am amazed at them going on stage with a crowd watching, very proud Dad. Then we could all take a little walk before heading home. This was around 10pm and the streets were packed! We were all tired, so planned to see more on Sunday.





(above) Painted faces in Old Phuket Town on 16th February 2013

On Sunday 17th we headed to town again for a walk, to get some food, and I reckon it was even more crowded than Saturday! We did not get to town until nearly 8pm so the streets were already packed and finding a parking space anywhere near the old town was hard work! Walking in the crowds trying to take photos and not lose my wife and kids was a challenge at times. Again, there were performances, art and food everywhere along the roads, plus the several big stages set up too.



After a hot day, nothing beats a "very cool beer" :



We wandered up Thalang Road which we'd missed on Saturday. Thalang Road is kind of the heart of old town, and is nice for a walk any evening. We had hoped for some food at Kopitiam, a nice old style cafe, but it was absolutely packed, so we looked for street food instead. Just west of Kopitiam, Thalang Road becomes Krabi road and there were lots of food stalls. We also found a secondhand book stall where my daughter got an 'X-Factor' annual for 10 Baht and the boy chose a 'Captain Scarlet' annual, also 10 Baht... not sure he knows the history of Captain Scarlet though! Krabi road was also very busy ...





(above) Strawberries for sale on Krabi road



(above) Khao Yam (south Thai rice salad) for sale

Back along Thalang Road, there were aspiring singers everywhere! Seems like any kid with a guitar could just show up and go for it! And some were drawing a crowd ...





We walked down a block to Phang Nga Road and there was some more serious music being played on a stage set up outside the old On On Hotel which has been closed for ages, undergoing renovations. Part of the festival was about history, Thai culture, local food etc... but here we have a rock band who were doing Guns 'n' Roses, Iron Maiden and UFO. We stopped to listen a while with our rock-star kids :)



Lots of art on the streets. One guy was drawing a huge cartoon map of old Phuket Town and I really liked this giant cloth - great colour...





With the streets still full of people, we had to head home, as of course the kids have school on Mondays, so a late night was not an option, and it was already nearly 10 o'clock, rather past their bedtime! Lots of fun, these local events, and the old town is a great place for a street festival. This is the side of Phuket I like, and really the raison d'etre of this blog. Beaches, nightlife, tours and hotels - yes, Phuket has plenty - but Phuket has so much more...

Related blog posts:

Kathu Street Culture Festival 2012
Abduls Roti Shop on Thalang Road
Old Phuket Town Getting a Face Lift
Phuket Indy Market
Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2012

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Laem Sai - An Unexplored Corner of Phuket

It has been mentioned before, but I just want to say .. this blog is still very much a hobby, although it's been online since 2006. I work all week running a dive shop, take some holidays in the low season, and have a family too - sometimes the blog has to be put on the back burner. A normal high season week like we're having now is all about work, school, routine .. just like anyone else's normal life. We sometimes have days out at the weekend, but often the kids are doing activities like music or taekwondo so we often have days at home with maybe a lunch out somewhere. A tourist on holiday in Phuket for 2 weeks can see as much as we see in 3 months! And sometimes when I have a day off in high season, I'm tired and don't fancy exploring too much. Such was the case last Saturday. Kids did music, we did some cleaning and gardening and then I took an afternoon nap aided by a couple of cold beers. Around 3pm, my dear wife was getting bored. Let's go out? But where? Kids have taekwondo at 5pm, we can't do much ... She reminded me of something I had mentioned the week before. I'd been looking at Phuket on Google Earth and seen a coastal road on the northeast coast, a road that I was sure we'd never seen before. Phuket has a lot of small back roads which wind through rubber plantations, pineapple fields or shrimp farms. So we set off for a drive. Sometimes we do this .. just "go for a drive" and see where we end up!

So, we drove north, u-turned at the airport junction and turned off following the signs for Mission Hills Golf Resort, but turned onto a side road heading away from the resort. I was just following the map in my head .. not quite sure if we were on the right road, but soon enough realised that we had been this way before about 10 years ago! The road wound through farmland, rubber trees and a place called Laem Sai Garden Resort that I can barely find online. And then we were by the water. A new jetty has been built recently, so we thought we'd take a walk down to the end of the jetty.





We know some quiet areas of Phuket. Only a few km from Laem Sai to the south is Bang Rong, where you find a busy jetty, boats heading to Koh Yao Noi, and a floating restaurant. We consider that a quiet place. Laem Sai a different planet - it's almost totally untouched. No hotels, no big houses, no villa developments. Sure there's no beach either - the east coast of Phuket is largely mangroves and mud. And the land you can see off the jetty is actually Phang Nga province, not Phuket. A catamaran cruised by, free to roam the seas. I want a boat one day.



Not far from the new jetty is the old jetty and it's still being used by longtail boats. What a great view!



On afternoons like this we remember why we live here and stop moaning about too much work, too much housework, too many tests at school. I am happy to be out exploring just for a short while and happy to see our kids enjoying it too! Nice to find somewhere new. There is a small restaurant there - not sure of the name, or if it has a name! We'd already lunched and were not hanging around too long as we had to get back for taekwondo .. we'll try the restaurant another time.

Down at the end of the jetty, people were fishing ...



We then noticed that Laem Sai is right on the flight path of Phuket Airport - the end of the runway is only about 5km away. A couple of planes took off over our heads as we walked on the jetty.



This is one of the quietest places we've been in Phuket, and I was glad to (re)discover Laem Sai. Sometimes, you can just drive. See where the road leads. Phuket is so often slated at being too crowded, too touristy, too developed. This blog started with the idea to show the real Phuket and show that Phuket is so much more than tourism. I hope that has been shown by now!


Laem Sai - Location Map


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Naowarat Restaurant in Phuket Town

I think the blog makes it clear that I prefer good local food, local style rather than fancy food with descriptions in French and drizzles of sauce. I like food. Good, simple food. Now, partly this may be due to my upbringing, and I am happy that my wife totally agrees .. she knows what she likes and likes what she knows! While my tastes do change and I have temporary favourite dishes, I try to find restaurants that serve Thai food without fancy embellishments and don't ask me about "fusion" food, please. I also prefer to eat good local food that does not cost an arm and a leg. In Phuket you can find lots of fancy restaurants, the same ones seem to be listed on many websites. The kind of places where you are likely to spend 1000 - 1500 Baht per person, and yeh, I know some people have loads of money and like to eat fancy food, but is that food really better than what you can get at a much simpler restaurant? Certainly for Thai food... I have seen restaurants which have something on the menu like green curry, priced at 600 Baht! Would that be better than a 90 Baht green curry? Ha!

So anyway, we're not rich or fancy or even pretend-fancy. We like good food at a good price, preferably a restaurant with some style or history, friendly staff and hopefully a nice location! If our bill for 4 people approaches 1000 Baht, that's expensive. Sure, we don't order lobster and tiger prawns, but just about anything else goes and we often over-order and leave stuffed full having spent 600-800 Baht for the family. Those are the kind of restaurants you get on this blog. I often don't blog the really cheap local places that we kind of use as back-up when we can't be bothered to cook at home. In non-touristy areas you'll find plenty of small roadside restaurants or noodle shops where a family of 4 can eat for 200-300 Baht, and there are several of these that we often use within a couple of km of our house. The Naowarat restaurant is one that has become a favourite recently. We first ate there just a few months ago, as they were doing good vegetarian food during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Many restaurants in town are either closed or serve only vegetarian food during the festival, as most are owned by locals who will observe the correct diet during the festival. We have been back to Naowarat half a dozen times since, and now they serve all kinds of tasty food.



It's a "ready food" restaurant, like the Thai equivalent of fast food. You see a lot of this kind of restaurant around, but some do look a bit lacking in the hygiene department, and I leave it up to my wife to decide which ones are clean enough! Naowarat is a good one, and has a great choice of meat dishes, fish, curries, vegetable dishes, some spicy, some not. We just ask for this and that (whatever looks good to you), along with a plate of rice per person, then find a table. I'm not sure of opening hours. We only ever go in the evening for dinner.



(above) Ordering dinner. I'll have one of those and one of those, please. And rice.

By the way, no beer or coke here, just iced water with your food. Plates will all be on the table in a couple of minutes. If anyone does actually read this and eat here, order a few things, test your taste buds! It's going to cost you 35 - 60 Baht per plate depending what you order and 10 Baht for rice. I love "Pla Pad Pet", a spicy fish dish, and my wife says the "Gaeng Som" is great - that's a really typical south Thai style curry. Our daughter is now eating the spicy stuff too, she's also on the gaeng som, and our son loves Kai Palo, a dish made of eggs and pork with a non-spicy sauce.



(above) Some of our food - we were with another family on that day, altogether 4 adults and 5 kids and the bill was just over 600 Baht. My favourite fish is in the middle of the table there next to some tasty fried veg that was so good our friend's healthy son asked for another plate. The restaurant is built into an old shophouse with all kind of decorations around, a display case full of amulets, Buddha images, photos of kings, it's a bit of a treasure trove in there!



The ladies who run the place are always smiling and always seem to have friends round for a chat. It's an old local restaurant which has plenty of regulars, the food has always been tasty and as you can judge the food from the photo below .. all the plates are empty as we are leaving! All finished! And the owner always has time for a laugh and a chat. Phuket Town is the place to be for good local food!




Naowarat Restaurant - Location Map


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