Phuket Town is dreamy, sleepy, and somehow serene. There’s nothing much to the place, but as you walk around it’s easy to notice the difference between here and Bangkok. Whereas in Bangkok one is lambasted by smog, people walking haphazardly, and general chaos, here in Phuket Town things run at a much slower pace. There is still traffic, and there are almost as many soi dogs as in Bangkok, but the air is clear, there are cool breezes all around (it’s not raining yet), and the people are somehow more receptive to strangers; they are open (yet pensive), welcoming, and relaxed.

Getting around Phuket Town (and most of Phuket for that matter) necessitates the need to either ride a motorbike or make use of motorcycle taxis. It is both dangerous and expensive. There are so many bikes here; all day and all night they buzz through the streets. I was told that someone dies as a result of a motorbike accident every 36 hours. Those aren’t particularly good odds for the half-million or so living in Phuket province.

Strolling through Phuket Town I came across nothing much besides restaurants, rundown shops selling all manner of things, guesthouses and tour operators, and the occasional go-go bar or other, nondescript drinking establishment. Patong, the center of nocturnal activity in Phuket, is 15 kilometers away. Phuket Town is not exactly close to the beach. I’m yet to feel the true sea air, but today I might try and find hat mai kao again. Hat mai kao is a beach that I stumbled upon last time I was in Phuket. It was amazing because there were none of the resorts, sun loungers, or tourists you find in Patong. Actually there was nothing there at all; not even shade. It was just a beach, and the only way to get there and back was to take a songthaew followed by a motorcycle taxi, the driver of which I had to take down his number or else I wouldn’t have been able to leave.

Phuket Town is only really of use for aimless urban walking and occasional sitting and reading. For those purposes I have utilised its strengths to the full. There aren’t many tourists around; I guess they don’t find much point in staying for prolonged periods in Phuket Town. Their loss; although I can understand why - it is relatively boring.

Phuket Town apparently has city status. It’s official name, from what I can gather, is Phuket City, although nobody refers to it as that, and they are yet to get round to changing any of the signposts. It’s almost a town caught in an era of days gone by. Aesthetically I’d say it’s similar to Penang in some respects. There are only 60,000 people living here, making it a little smaller than Bath, the city in which I grew up (more or less). Phuket itself is a small province of only 543 square kilometers, making it one of the smallest (about a third the size of Bangkok), although it enjoys its status as Thailand’s largest island.

Here’s to island life; here’s to its morphine-like qualities.

Techno’ tags: Phuket, Thailand, Phuket Town