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Post Info TOPIC: PHUKET - April 2008 - sorry it was just after Songkran


Lucky Phill

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PHUKET - April 2008 - sorry it was just after Songkran
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Well we opted to meet friends participating in the Aussie Cricket tournament in Phuket, unfortunately the event started just after Songkran...I really love Songkran, having experienced the incredible festival several times in Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya ..  you can read about Songkran Festival (link at the bottom of this article)

Travel Thailand website for Aussies                               TIP: TO SAVE DOWNLOAD USEAGE ON VIDEOS

The video is in 5 parts .. this is part 1 about 9mins...  

 We arrived (family group, mum n Dad 2 sons and uncle (me). We stayed at a terrific Hotel right on Patong Beach..  it's not promoted in Aus .. The Safari Hotel is about 100 mtrs from Bangla Road (Bangla road is the famous walking nightlife street of Patong Beach).The Safari Hotel is low priced quality with a great Seafood restaurant on the main road "the Savoey". Everyone walks past or frequents the Savoey because it's great food.

The trials and tribulations of a family holiday can be anything  - it was a variety of things for all of us - we meet up with aussie friends, played golf, visited lots of beers stops, restautants, beaches yada yada.. oops did I mention the nightlife .. part of the tourist thing is to see things new (in some cases go back again and again). The video to the left is 1st of ? several. To watch the others double in the video to see a summary. 

The video was made when a Thai friend was staying with us in Perth (they had input in the editing so some of the humour is Thai Style!!!!)

Our holiday was about a week in Phuket and then about 3 days shopping in bangkok .. most of it is caputed in the 5 videos

Significant comments about our Holiday 


FRIENDSHIP WITH THAI PEOPLE
It is very easy to make great friendship with Thai people.. (but you have to approach them). We quickly became good friends of the resturant manager and found ourselves out his home for diner with the Thai Family - that was special

BEING A TRAVELLER NOT A TOURIST
I insisted we go to "Moo Gadaar" (BBQ Pork) it's also known as 99 baht buffet.  It's not about being a cheaper spender .. it's about trying the local culture
It's generally for locals not tourist because it's all thai ie., no english menus or english speaking staff.  We used International sign language and once we got settled (a few beers) we had a great night - nice food (weird cooking system) it was s0000oo good we bragged about it for days and insisted going back with more friends and when we did the local staff were so pleased to see us (Thais love to have fun and see other people enjoy) we had beaming smiles as we were bouncing around the tables.. in fact this time we even tried to sing 

PLANNING A TRIP  - it makes the holiday so much more relaxing if you have some tips
Tips: 
Take a 2nd mobile phone and get a thai phone sim card so you don't have to wait for each other..
Time is short on your holiday and you don't want to keep each other waiting.. I'm probably impatient but I don't like people having to wait while I shop and visa verca so the phone gives everyone some freedom anyway more tips here  - Aussie Travel website = Tips


FLIGHT SCHEDULES 
The last memory seems to be the deciding factor (like the last guy that missed the winning Goal in footy - he gets the blame for the entire match)  Do yourself a favour and avoid a bad run home because it will leave a bitter taste about the trip.. here is a link to
TG flight schedules for Aussies..    -   
 
THE FLIGHT HOME - visit Bangkok
In the terminal in Bangkok on the 11.20pm flight home I see a lot of very tired faces (long day from phuket)....   why not give yourself an overnight rest in Bangkok..  I think most would say no way it's (Bangkok) a nasty place ...  for many years I would have agreed (based on my tourist perception)  but after many visits I proclaim it's the mecca of amazing .. so dynamic .. ..you just need someone to guide you into the culture.. and we are working on that with some tour ideas....   if you want to know more join this forum and and set your profile setting to receive weekly digest of news. 


FAMILY UNITY
I can't help think that Thai Buddhist culture generates a lot of wellness (Thai Smiles) to all that pass through and it makes for positive energy in your travel group.  As we all have a few testing moments (not that we had...  ha ha ha) I reckon the Thai harmony bets most other places and if you need wonder (do you own thing) your a lot safer in Thailand than most places (common sense prevails).

Here is the link to
Thailand Songkran Festival



-- Edited by Lucky on Wednesday 2nd of September 2009 09:14:17 PM

-- Edited by Lucky on Wednesday 2nd of September 2009 09:15:23 PM

-- Edited by Sawasdee on Sunday 4th of October 2009 01:48:52 AM

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