TrongpaiExpat
May 21st, 2009, 23:07
No gay venues , no money boys walking back and forth on a beach shopping for farangs and a lot less tourists than Phuket. Phang Nga Provence is a narrow Provence just north of Phuket and it's about an hour and a half's drive from Phuket airport to where most of the hotels are located in Khao Lak.
The BF and I flew Air Asia to Phuket from Bangkok. We rented a Honda Jazz from 9 Car Rent. We stayed at the Sudala Resort in Khao Lak. Right on the beach at nearly deserted sandy stretch with some beach chairs and a few small restaurants nearby that were closed for lack of tourists. The resort could not have been more than 20% occupied. It's on a beach called Bang Niang. There's a string a resorts all along Rt 4 and many hard to locate, down narrow side streets off Rt 4. There's no beach side road, no string of tailor shops, no nick-nak shops and no bars. The resorts, although quite a few are not all lined up in a row like most of Phuket. There's lots of totally deserted sandy cove beaches. To explore the coast line you need to get off Rt 4 and go down the side roads that run perpendicular and then back track back to Rt 4.
Most come to Phang Nga for the beach, the water and islands off the coast but there's also some nice National Parks away from the coast and quite a few nice waterfalls. Follow blue signs and then ask, it's worth the effort.
The lack of tourist is probably due to three reasons. One, it's low season. There was some rain but it does not generally rain all day. Second, although resorts have sprung up like mushrooms over the once tsunami ravaged coast, there's more resorts than demand right now. Finally, Phang-Nga has no night life. Phuket attracts those in search of a party, boys, girls and or just drinking. Phang Nga remands me more of Hua Hin but less developed and more rugged. It sure attracts the well nourished middle aged German couples. They're harmless enough and don't seem do much more than get picked up at the airport, deposited on a resort and then they do the beach, the pool and eat. We did not notice any PLU but even though these Germans don't smile a lot, some seem to have a frozen frown on their face but we were mostly ignored by them.
In north Phang Nga near the town of Takupa we ate at some interesting restaurants serving local dishes for very reasonable prices. This area is not well signed and your out of the farang resort zones. I noticed a series of islands close to the coast between Takupa and Pratha, Ko Kho Khao and Ko Phra Thong. You get to these islands via a ferry from a small town on the coast, near a tsunami memorial park. This park is also worth the visit and is well marked from the hwy. This is the one area left where tsunami damage has not been covered over, repaired and build into resorts. There are still the government housing set up for the residents that survived. If you speak Thai, forget trying to talk to many of the people here, they only speak some local dialect. Many of these islands were not heavily populated when the tsunami hit but now it seems with newly created sea side property, they built some resorts. Nice sandy beaches too. The area is spooky quiet.
So, if your looking for something different, have a BF or BS and want to get away from it all, relax, swim, snorkel on reefs and tour someplace different from Phuket, give the coast of Phang Nga a try. If you have done the usual boat tours to James Bond Island and all the packaged tour Phang-nga major attractions on a day trip from Phuket, now take it another step and really explore Phang-Nga.
Links:
Nine Car Rent (http://www.ninecarrent.com/index.htm)
Sudula Beach Resort (http://www.sudalabeach.com/home.html)
Travel guide Khao Lak (http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/southern_thailand/phang_nga/ko_kho_khao)
Golden Buddha Resort (http://www.goldenbuddharesort.com/)
The BF and I flew Air Asia to Phuket from Bangkok. We rented a Honda Jazz from 9 Car Rent. We stayed at the Sudala Resort in Khao Lak. Right on the beach at nearly deserted sandy stretch with some beach chairs and a few small restaurants nearby that were closed for lack of tourists. The resort could not have been more than 20% occupied. It's on a beach called Bang Niang. There's a string a resorts all along Rt 4 and many hard to locate, down narrow side streets off Rt 4. There's no beach side road, no string of tailor shops, no nick-nak shops and no bars. The resorts, although quite a few are not all lined up in a row like most of Phuket. There's lots of totally deserted sandy cove beaches. To explore the coast line you need to get off Rt 4 and go down the side roads that run perpendicular and then back track back to Rt 4.
Most come to Phang Nga for the beach, the water and islands off the coast but there's also some nice National Parks away from the coast and quite a few nice waterfalls. Follow blue signs and then ask, it's worth the effort.
The lack of tourist is probably due to three reasons. One, it's low season. There was some rain but it does not generally rain all day. Second, although resorts have sprung up like mushrooms over the once tsunami ravaged coast, there's more resorts than demand right now. Finally, Phang-Nga has no night life. Phuket attracts those in search of a party, boys, girls and or just drinking. Phang Nga remands me more of Hua Hin but less developed and more rugged. It sure attracts the well nourished middle aged German couples. They're harmless enough and don't seem do much more than get picked up at the airport, deposited on a resort and then they do the beach, the pool and eat. We did not notice any PLU but even though these Germans don't smile a lot, some seem to have a frozen frown on their face but we were mostly ignored by them.
In north Phang Nga near the town of Takupa we ate at some interesting restaurants serving local dishes for very reasonable prices. This area is not well signed and your out of the farang resort zones. I noticed a series of islands close to the coast between Takupa and Pratha, Ko Kho Khao and Ko Phra Thong. You get to these islands via a ferry from a small town on the coast, near a tsunami memorial park. This park is also worth the visit and is well marked from the hwy. This is the one area left where tsunami damage has not been covered over, repaired and build into resorts. There are still the government housing set up for the residents that survived. If you speak Thai, forget trying to talk to many of the people here, they only speak some local dialect. Many of these islands were not heavily populated when the tsunami hit but now it seems with newly created sea side property, they built some resorts. Nice sandy beaches too. The area is spooky quiet.
So, if your looking for something different, have a BF or BS and want to get away from it all, relax, swim, snorkel on reefs and tour someplace different from Phuket, give the coast of Phang Nga a try. If you have done the usual boat tours to James Bond Island and all the packaged tour Phang-nga major attractions on a day trip from Phuket, now take it another step and really explore Phang-Nga.
Links:
Nine Car Rent (http://www.ninecarrent.com/index.htm)
Sudula Beach Resort (http://www.sudalabeach.com/home.html)
Travel guide Khao Lak (http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/southern_thailand/phang_nga/ko_kho_khao)
Golden Buddha Resort (http://www.goldenbuddharesort.com/)