The island of Phuket, Thailand has long been known as a great destination for beachgoers, but these days there’s a lot more than just surf and sand.
Read on to find out how Suzy Gershman’s partner-in-crime, Sarah Lahey, took on Phuket for some family fun and, of course, lots of shopping.
Dear Peter,
I’ve never been much of a beach person, but since I was headed to Thailand to research our new Born to Shop Bangkok & Beyond travel guide, I invited my sun-loving husband and daughters to join me in Phuket (say Poo-ket) for a few days.
We packed the sunscreen and took off via Tokyo.
It’s been five years since the island was hit by a devastating tsunami but there’s good news: Phuket is now bustling with renewed energy, renovated hotels, improved infrastructure and best of all, plenty of shopping opportunities to keep anyone busy for at least a week.
BOOKING IT
I searched for multi-leg tickets online—San Francisco to Bangkok to Phuket to San Francisco—but was shocked to find prices close to $3000 which was waaaay over our budget. We’re eligible for Economy Plus seating on United, so I bought SFO-BKK return tickets on UA, and then booked separate flights on AirAsia.com for the short hops from Bangkok to Phuket and back. Total price per person: about $1,400. Liz, my daughter who lives in New York, traveled on an ANA/UA combo and her ticket was about $400 more (and her flight three hours longer).
LUGGAGE SECRETS
We paid $9 in AirAsia ticket supplements to upgrade our baggage allowance to 25k (55 pounds) per person, as the standard limit is 15k (35 pounds). After all, we had lots of shopping to do.
After a week of working, i.e. shopping, in Bangkok, I had two full heavy suitcases, so I checked one at the airport’s Left Luggage center before my flight to Phuket. It’s quick, easy and a real bargain at 100 Thai baht (about $3.20) per suitcase per day for secure storage. There are two locations in the Bangkok airport, one on the lower level and another on Level 2. Upon arrival back in Bangkok, my storage bill for six days was 600 Baht (about $19) when I picked up the bag.
Get more tips in our Luggage & Packing section.
SHACKING UP
We chose to stay at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa for several reasons. The hotel is located across from Karon Beach, on the southwestern side of the island, smack dab between two prime shopping and dining areas: Patong Beach and Kata Beach.
Also, we got a good deal by booking online three months prior to our trip. Most five-star resort rooms in Phuket run more than $500 per night during high season, but we paid about $350 each for our deluxe sea view rooms with separate seating areas and wrap-around balconies.
Want more help on where to stay? Try our Thailand Hotel Guide: From Luxury to Budget, Bangkok to Phuket.
The resort was low-key and luxe with sprawling lawns, several pools and guest rooms decorated in contemporary Thai style. International and Asian cuisine is featured the Hilton’s numerous restaurants and cafes but we chose to venture out for most meals. Two memorable dinners were in Kata Beach at Two Chefs Bar & Grill and Mom Tri’s Boathouse Wine & Grill. Mom Tri’s welcomes children under the age of 8 until 8 p.m.; then it’s the adults’ turn to feast on French cuisine, local seafood and Thai dishes.
There was a (very expensive) spa in the Hilton, but we opted for an independent beach spa bungalow where we had hour-long aloe and coconut oil massages for 500 Thai baht (about $16). It just doesn’t get any better than that. [photo provided]
KEEPING BUSY
My daughters inherited my shopping gene, but also got their dad’s water wings, so Tom and the girls went snuba and scuba diving by day and joined me for evening shopping excursions.
The two major shopping areas on Phuket are Phuket Town on the eastern side of the island, and Patong Beach near the upscale resorts on the western shore. There are plenty of “real” people shopping in Phuket Town along with a weekend night market, but most visitors find it more convenient to head to either Patong Beach or Kata. The 10-minute tuk-tuk or taxi ride from Karon to Patong is about $10-$12, and $8 from Karon to Kata.
Learn more in our Shopping & Travel section.
When the sun sets, Patong becomes a huge night bazaar with a never-ending stretch of TTs (tourist traps): shops and stalls all along the Taweewong Road, which overflows into many side streets and lanes. Along with cheap T-shirts and beachwear, there is a good selection of Thai handicrafts, CDs and DVDs (some legal and some not), and electronics. I didn’t make any big purchases here, although bargaining can bring prices down by as much as 70 percent. I did buy some computer gadgets: fancy flash drives, USB port extensions, and a Skype phone that didn’t work.
New on the Patong shopping scene is the Jungceylon Phuket shopping complex, about a 5-minute walk from Patong Beach. This one-stop mega mall is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and has more than 300 shops including Robinson’s department store and Carrefour, where we stocked up on wine and snacks (fish-flavored Pringles, anyone?), Thai spices to bring home, and a birthday cake for Liz. Note: Thai law states that alcohol can only be sold in shops from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to midnight. If you’re craving an afternoon nip, you’ll need to stock up in advance.
I skimmed the big mall scene and then headed to the lower level of Jungceylon, a bazaar-like space called That’s Thai. This Thai arts and crafts center hosts more than 100 shops and kiosks selling the best of Thai culture and artisanal crafts. You can buy anything from a wool rug made by the Northern hill tribes to serious hand-made silver jewelry to foot and facial massages.
More Thailand shopping advice: Suzy Gershman’s Postcard from Bangkok.
We’re not talking street market; this is quality Thai crafts shopping at its best. And it’s even air-conditioned. Please ignore the fish pedicures—YUCK!
Kata’s shopping area is smaller than Patong’s, but like its neighbor, it comes alive after dark. Kata boasts several tailors and opticians; in this competitive buyer’s market, every shop we visited encouraged bargaining. You must allow three or four days to have a simple dress made or copied by a tailor, and 24 hours to have eyeglasses made. Eye exams are available in the optical shops or you can bring your own script.
HOMEWARD BOUND
Our UA flight from Bangkok to Tokyo and onward left at 6:30 a.m., so we returned to Bangkok a day early, checked into the spiffy new Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport hotel and went into town to celebrate our last night and Liz’s 27th birthday. As far as we were concerned, there was only one option for this evening special: The Peninsula hotel’s cocktail river cruise followed by dinner at the hotel’s riverfront Thiptara restaurant. The hour-long sunset cruise took us along the Chao Phraya, “River of Kings,” before docking at The Peninsula where we feasted on Executive Chef Philip Sedgwick’s yummy Thai creations.
With sun-drenched hugs,
Sarah
By Sarah Lahey for PeterGreenberg.com.
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