[eastbay]

I'll be there from June 9th to the 12th. Anyone else?

It would be awesome to have tea and a nice visit with a reader from this site in such a remote place.

And, in Singapore from the 12th to the 23rd too!

[Carlhole]

Sorry, I'm going to be in Nantucket that day.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'S')orry, I'm going to be in Nantucket that day.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'S')orry, I'm going to be in Nantucket that day.

[TheDude]

Wow, RE and Monte returning on the same day!

Have fun, eBay. I see how Phuket not surprisingly tops the list of the World's 10 Most Mispronounced Places, ahead of Oaxaca and La Jolla. I say...to heck with it...

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')'ll be there from June 9th to the 12th. Anyone else? It would be awesome to have tea and a nice visit with a reader from this site in such a remote place. And, in Singapore from the 12th to the 23rd too!

[Aaron]

I can't find my way to Nantucket
I had a map but forgot where I stuck it.
I found it one day
and was on my way
But Eastbay had left so I said Phuket.

[MD]

Whenever this crew gets together,
expect them to talk stormy weather.
But still they will grin,
and say it's no sin,
after all we're just birds of a feather!

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')'ll be there from June 9th to the 12th. Anyone else? It would be awesome to have tea and a nice visit with a reader from this site in such a remote place. And, in Singapore from the 12th to the 23rd too!

[RdSnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')'ll be there from June 9th to the 12th. Anyone else? It would be awesome to have tea and a nice visit with a reader from this site in such a remote place. And, in Singapore from the 12th to the 23rd too!

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RdSnt', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I')'ll be there from June 9th to the 12th. Anyone else? It would be awesome to have tea and a nice visit with a reader from this site in such a remote place. And, in Singapore from the 12th to the 23rd too!

[coyote]

There once was a doomer in phuket
Just visiting, but as things would luck it
While in that strange land
The shit hit the fan
And he paddled back home in a bucket!

Just kidding, EB, have a great trip.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '3') days in Phuk et and 9 days in Singapure? Business trip, I hope?

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('coyote', 'T')here once was a doomer in phuket
Just visiting, but as things would luck it
While in that strange land
The shit hit the fan
And he paddled back home in a bucket!

Just kidding, EB, have a great trip.

[Micki]

Phuket used to be my favorite but most of it is bit too busy and touristy for me.
Besides I'm off to Sunshine coast for 2 weeks on the 6th.

We're you planning to stay? Patong? Some crazy night life there.
Just make sure you check the ladies shoe size and if they got an adams apple before the flirt goes further. You'll understand once you dropped by Soi Katoey

[eastbay]

Thanks for the tips Micki, but I haven't been in a bar socially for decades. My wife and kids and I are more into hitting the temples and beaches of which there are quite a few in and around that town which, incidentally,was built entirely by the real estate bubble and cheap oil.

Or was it a real estate bubble caused by cheap oil. Oh well, either way works for me. Tourism in that ex-pat dominated city is 50% what it was early last year which means it'll be nice and quiet while we're there.

[Micki]

Good for you. I had some very close friends who lived there 5-6 years running bars and guesthouses etc. and the bar scene, as fun as it can be if you are with the right group, is still a pretty sad affair.
(I liked the good ol days when the bars stayed open as long as you had money . 10.30AM was my record and then an unsteady MC ride home. Wouldn't do it again though.)
Phuket is perfect for self-drive, so hope you are planning to rent a car. For the family I also recommend doing the FantAsia up in Kamala (if it is still there). It was better than expected and our kids really liked it.
Otherwise just grab a tourist map and hit the road. You find stuff to see and do everywhere,
Enjoy.

[smallpoxgirl]

Wasn't Phuket pretty well devastated by the Tsunami?

[Micki]

Not that bad (compared to say Acheh)
khao Lak, which is on the mainland just north of Phuket was hit bad and Phi Phi islands too.
On Phuket it self it was, going from memory, mainly Patong and Kamala beach (and Kata/Kata Noi?), but these have since long recovered. (I think it was just one big hit, not a 5mile deep wave like in Indonesia)
Patong is the main touristy spot on the island and they have a road that goes parallell with the beach. Basically the wave flushed over the first first row of shops but it didn't flush away the whole place. Just a lot of rubble, and destroyed interiors/stock etc. But the buildings stood.
Heard that some people also got trapped in an underground parking (Ocean department store) and in an underground little supermarket they had there. They didn't make it.
Anyway, you won't see any traces of any of it now.

[eastbay]

SPG, I called my friend who lives on the oceanfront a few days afterwards and he said it wasn't much at all!

A map shows how the force went westward from Indonesia and not much power made it up and around the northern tip of Indonesia toward Phuket. Oh they had some serious high water, but not the horrifying tsunami felt elsewhere.