Jamie's Phuket Blog

Now that we're (hopefully) living in a post-Covid world, let's look at the Top 10 Phuket Hotels for high season 2024. It's time to visit Phuket again! This "best hotels" list on my blog is subjec...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2022/08/top-10-phuket-hotels.html

Phuket island has been a port and a crossroads of the sea for many years, so it's no surprise that you find a mix of cultures and religions in Phuket. The island has quite a fascinating history. ...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2021/06/chinese-shrines-in-phuket.html

Where to begin? How was 2020 for you? It's been a shitty year for many people. If you are one of those idiots who thinks Covid-19 is a hoax, or if you refuse to wear a mask in a shop, or if you a...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2021/01/2020-year-not-in-phuket.html

The 2024 Phuket Vegetarian Festival (aka Nine Emperor Gods Festival) is taking place from 2 - 12 October 2024. The dates change every year, as it's based on the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2023 th...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2016/04/phuket-vegetarian-festival-schedule.html

Yes, this is the Phuket Blog, but Krabi is very close to us ... We had a 2 night trip to Krabi back in April 2017 and I really wanted to visit Railay Beach. I'd been in Phuket since 1999 and some...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2017/09/railay-beach-and-phra-nang-beach.html

Phad Thai is known as the "Thai National Dish" although let's be fair, it was declared as such by a military government in the 1930's .. based on commonly found fried noodles (Chinese style) but ...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/11/thai-street-food-phad-thai.html

Finally I have done this again! It was back in 2010 that I hiked up to the Phuket Big Buddha from Karon. A hike from nearly sea level up to nearly 400m above sea level. You can find the old blog ...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2018/03/hiking-to-big-buddha-from-karon-beach.html

I saw this video a while ago and now found it on YouTube. A couple of minutes showing a drive along part of Patong beach road and turning into Bangla Road, way back in 1988, just before any huge ...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2020/03/patong-beach-in-1988.html

After living in Phuket for so many years I am not sure why it took us so long to start exploring the Krabi area. I think maybe it's the distance .. a bit too far for a day trip really, but when w...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2018/11/exploring-krabi-again.html

This is a Thai hip-hop song called 'Welcome to the South' by a group called Southside who are from (or some of the members are from) Phuket. Now, Phuket is well and truly in the south of Thailand...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2020/05/welcome-to-south-thai-hip-hop-from.html

Want to dive in Phuket or the Similan Islands? You should contact Sunrise Divers! I came to Phuket in 1999, not with any plan to stay forever, get married and raise a family, but simply to find w...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2011/03/diving-phuket-with-sunrise-divers.html

I remember reading a few years ago that the Travel Channel had done an episode of 'Bizarre Foods' in Phuket .. forgot about that until today and found it online and watched for the first time. Th...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2020/03/bizarre-foods-in-phuket-travel-channel.html

A tune from 2013 - Snoop Lion (not Dogg at this time as he'd converted to Rastafarianism after a trip to Jamaica in 2012) featuring Rita Ora. They stayed in Phuket to shoot this video, I know Rit...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2020/02/snoop-lion-torn-apart-ft-rita-ora-video.html

Back in 1999, I arrived in Phuket for the first time by bus from Bangkok and had my eye on the On On Hotel, as recommended by my good old Lonely Planet guide. The On On hotel had recently been us...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2020/01/the-memory-at-on-on-hotel-in-old-phuket.html

The year 2019 has been a big change. If you follow me (and please do) on Twitter or Instagram you will have seen that my family and I are no longer in Phuket. I did not make the decision lightly,...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/12/2019-very-different-year.html

A great little video that shows the road still under construction between Patong and Karon beaches in Phuket, back in 1988 (11 years before I arrived in Phuket!) Before that I guess you had to re...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/12/video-patong-to-karon-beach-in-1988.html

1993 sounds pretty recent, right? Phuket tourism was already fairly well developed, but I think there must have been a lot of changes in the 1990s. I came to Phuket in 1999 and lived the first ye...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/11/patong-beach-in-1993.html

If you follow me on social media (Twitter or Instagram) you may have seen that, after nearly 20 years in Phuket, I headed back to the UK mid 2019. Reasons? School/education for my kids, a new cha...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/05/our-house-for-sale-in-phuket.html

Back in 1999 when I first arrived in Thailand, Phuket airport was considerably smaller and quieter than it is now. Although Phuket was already a very popular tourist destination, and had been ste...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2018/06/phuket-airport.html

I've not had too many run-ins with snakes in the many years I've been living in Phuket. Never seen a really huge one except at Phuket Zoo.. oh and I have seen banded sea snakes many times while d...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/10/snakes-in-phuket.html

A very nice video by Art Thomya, featuring Phuket's very own Kritchaya (Chaya) Na Takuathung, exploring some local foods and local Phuket restaurants. I have eaten at a few of these places, and o...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/08/7-great-local-restaurants-in-phuket.html

When this blog first started back in 2006, a large part of the idea was to show that there is a lot more to Phuket than beaches, hotels and nightlife. A lot more. In my 19 years living in Phuket,...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/07/10-things-to-do-in-phuket-town.html

There are lots of great views around the Phuket area (see Hills and Viewpoints for more). We have a mix of hills and ocean here (the name "Phuket" comes from the Malay word Bukit which means Hill...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2016/05/samet-nangshe-viewpoint-wow.html

I think this blog has made it clear we're not a rich expat family dining at 5 star restaurants. Sure we can splash out a bit now and then, but in any case, I am really not into restaurants that s...

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2019/04/cheap-eats-gomen-restaurant-in-kathu.html

The popular Songkran festival is one of those "love it or hate it" events. It can be viewed as fun, but some people like to complain about it getting a bit silly and losing its traditional roots....

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2011/04/songkran-photos.html