Molly and I arrived on the Island of Phuket in the south of Thailand early in the morning after leaving the craziness of Bangkok. First then we did after checking in to the hotel and grabbing a quick sandwich was to cross the street to the beach. I had booked a “hostel” online, which turned out to be a cheap hotel in the party town of Patong Beach. I had envisioned a small town, with a beach strip and some back to nature time. The reality was a busy beach like Waikiki or Miami, although probably not as big.
What we found at the beach were chairs and umbrellas to rent, young Thai boys brushing the sand off your chair, other Thais’ selling food, drinks and trinkets right at your doorstep, jet skis and parasailing, outdoor massages and the most interesting people watching ever. I tried to nap, but it was too exciting to take in all the surroundings and too hot. I kept getting in the water, which was as warm as a lukewarm bath, but still refreshing. Jellyfish swept up on the shoreline. Locals threw fishing nets out to catch little fish. Vendors came by with fresh pineapple, grapefruit, papaya and bbq chicken and pork. Cold drinks could be bought with a wave of a finger. I found if you made eye contact with any of the vendors, you are a sure victim.
I finally weakened (didn’t really take that much) to a nice lady who gave massages on the beach, in the shade. For 300 baht (about $10) I had a one hour massage. How do you beat that? I have calculated that I could have a massage every day of the month for the price of 3 at the Chrysalis. Granted there is no music or lavender smells wafting thru the air, but at the Chrysalis there is no sound of the ocean and no smells of bbq and coconut tanning oil. At the Chrysalis you can get a glass of champagne, at the masseuse at Patong Beach, you can bring your own bottle.
Molly chose to have a pedicure at the shop in our hotel area. She became friends with the gal at the shop named Kai and they planned a shopping adventure for us that night. I am sorry to say I was a little skeptical of the arrangement after our tuk tuk experience, but went along with the plan and am glad I did. Kai took us around the area and showed us the best places to shop and told us what was a good price or not. We had dinner together at a fun restaurant, where you pick the items for your broth and basically make your own soup…..it was interesting and tasty.
We walked the streets of Patong and they reminded me a bit of Las Vegas, maybe. Crowds everywhere, people from all over the world and many beautiful young Thai girls. The prostitution was obvious, as were most of the transgender “lady men” that have seemed to collect in this liberal area. Vendors try to get you into their stalls to buy, restaurants want you in their restaurants to eat, salespeople want you to buy tours and activities from them and a “good price” is promised everywhere. It was a bit exhausting.
Next, Molly dragged me out to a beach party across the street. I had been hearing the bass sound check most of the early evening and figured since I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway, I might as well go check it out. Three huge screens were set up and a DJ played loud techno music that the crowd loved (except me). The only thing I enjoyed was being with my daughter, on the beach, barefoot, under the moonlight in Thailand. But that was pretty good.
