Explore with Fran

It is a matter of pronunciation

When you tell people you are heading back to Phuket, the responses you get back can be hilarious.

“Oh, is it nice? I have never been to fuck-et”.

Or, someone else will respond, “enjoy. we love poo-ket”.

I am not saying I have the definitive answer to how it should be pronounced, but it has always been pu-ket, to me.

The Changing Face of Phuket

What is generally agreed is that the island in the south of Thailand is a great place to visit. So great in fact that over the last few years it has become a magnet for Russian tourists. Coming in huge numbers, at times you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Russia. All along the coast, the Russian language on restaurant signage is as ubiquitous as Thai.

And they all appear to have the same “uniform”, which is a white hoody, sold at every beach stall and shop on the island. I am told that since Russia invaded the Ukraine, Russians have been flooding into Phuket and snapping up villas. Again, this is very evident by all the real estate signage in Russian.

It is easy to see the appeal. A small island. Great beaches. And a very low cost of living. We last spent a week in Phuket as part of our 2022/23 world travels, and now we were heading back, staying further south in the resort of Kata.

Never Listening to me Again

Even though it only felt like a few weeks since our last trip, to Denmark in Australia’s Great South West, the morning found us jumping in our pre-booked Uber at 4.30am, and we were at Perth airport just 20 minutes later. And this being Perth, really just a big town, the airport was very quiet. Perth international airport has scant options for food and drink so it was a croissant and coffee that got my engines started.

When we originally booked this trip, I was my frugal self. Ever the Yorkshireman. Looking for the cheapest fare. This turned out to be with AirAsia. This turned out to be a mistake. In the months and weeks leading up to the flight, AirAsia kept rescheduling our flight. I nonchalantly flicked their last email across to Victoria, with a cursory, “just an FYI, no action needed”.

Imagine my surprise when she immediately came back with, “how come we now have 15 hours in Singapore airport and don’t fly to Phuket until the day after?”.

She had me there. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the email from AirAsia. They do say that relationships succeed when they build on each others strengths. Attention to detail is not one of mine.

Complaining that “she would never listen to me again“, Victoria found us an alternative flight and so it was that Singapore Airlines had us away from Perth in good time for our four and half hour flight to Singapore. On the same timezone as Perth we had wheels down in Singapore at around 11.30am.

Changing in Changi

Being slightly concerned that our bags might not have time to meet the connecting flight we visibly slumped when scanning the departures board at Changi airport. Our connecting flight to Phuket was delayed by almost two hours. Our bags would have plenty of time to make the flight and we now wouldn’t land in Phuket, Thailand until 3.30pm, accounting for the loss of one hour time difference.

Thankfully, we were in a great place to be inconvenienced. Regularly voted the best airport in the world, if you are going to be delayed anywhere, Changi is as good a place as any. Huge, well organised, and blissfully air conditioned, Changi airport has such amenities as sleep pods, a hotel, gardens to explore, and even a cinema. We just needed food.

If you have been to Singapore you will know how expensive it is. Now, if you have been to an airport, you will know how expensive they are. What a perfect storm. An airport in Singapore. After an eye wateringly expensive, and very tasty, lunch and obligatory Tiger beer, served by robots, we were soon in the air.

Grabbing a ride in Phuket

Arriving at airports in South East Asia is always a little manic. Once you clear customs, which was a lot more hassle in Thailand than it is in Bali, you are out into the throngs of waiting taxi drivers. All seemingly shouting at once, and with the unbearable heat and distinctive smells of Asia suddenly hitting you, it is very easy to get disoriented. I try to minimise this by being as organised as possible for our arrival.

Despite thinking I had sorted everything out in advance, I always seem to have trouble using the esim on the phone when we land somewhere new. And so it was in Thailand. I couldn’t connect to the network and whilst I could order my Grab (Asian Uber) whilst on the airport wifi, when we went out to meet the car I lost the connection.

And, in what is common when landing at a foreign airport, we have a frantic search for the Grab pick up point. When we finally found it I saw that my phone had dropped off the wifi. With no wifi connection to confirm through the Grab app which car and driver I was looking for, I was thankful that I had the foresight to take a screen shot of my booking. Experience had taught me that little trick.

Kata Bound

Sat in the comfort of our lounge at home, looking at the little map of Phuket, things never look that far away. After an hour and a half in Thai traffic I was left wondering why we didn’t pick a hotel nearer the airport. It had been a long travel day and I needed a cold Singha beer.

Even before checking into the hotel I had almost made a big mistake. Almost paying for the Grab ride twice. Still thinking of our extensive use of the app on our travels through South East Asia I thought the app settings still defaulted to “cash”. In places like Cambodia and Vietnam, drivers wouldn’t pick you up if you wanted to pay by card through the app. Cash remains king.

On arrival at the hotel in Kata beach I was trying to pass over the money for the ride, 1000 baht ($47) to the driver. And in fairness, he looked shocked. I didn’t know why and with me not speaking Thai, and him not speaking English it took me a while to work out that I had already paid. By the bank card linked to my Grab app. Props for his honesty.

Aurico Kata Resort

For once we arrived at the hotel in daylight. We seem to have acquired this habit over the years of arriving to our hotels just as we should be going to bed. We usually check in, get shown our room, and promptly go to bed. Not so today. We arrived at the Aurico Kata Resort in good time and whilst having a look around the hotel Vik brought some very good news to my attention. At the pool bar, there was a daily happy hour(s) between 5pm and 7pm. And, as luck would have it, we were coming up to 5pm.

We relaxed with a couple of happy hour Singha beers (80 baht each / $3.70) around the pool, taking a moment to breathe at the end of a day that started with the alarm waking us at 4am. The pool area was huge, with a lot of sun loungers and swim up pool bar that we would find ourselves at in the coming days. Our room was by the pool with direct access from our deck.