One option is the small red songtaews that the drivers often refer to as tuk tuks, they clearly are not tuk tuk’s but do the same job. A typical journey would be the hill road from Patong Beach over to Karon or Kata Beach, or vice versa. Traveling across the island to Phuket Town will be more costly, it just may be more cost effective to take a local sightseeing tour check out the sightseeing link on this site, or hire a private taxi off the street, but make sure the details and prices are clear before setting off, you don’t want any surprise expenses.
Phuket Town, the provincial capital, is located on the east of the island, around 20km from the popular beaches where much of the tourism is located. It is an interesting place. There are far more Thai nationals living on Phuket than western visitors, but it is the visitors that you notice on the west coast beaches. Phuket Town is just like any other small provincial Thai town with many things going for it, it’s pleasant and sub tropical and has a casual feel to the place. There is a Robinson's Department Store which makes for a nice place to go and escape the heat. In that shopping center there are a few other shops. You could go up the hill see a monkey or two, and get a pleasant view over Phuket Town or go down and see the port with all of the fishing boats. There is a large Central Shopping center in the center of the island, between the beaches on the west coast and Phuket Town, and Patong Beach has the very large Jung Ceylon shopping center .
Phuket Southern Thailand is a magnificent place for a holiday and if you are on a tight budget, you will be able to have a great time if you do some pre planning, as tourists continue to visit Phuket in record numbers try to secure some cheaper accommodation well in advance online before you leave home. And if you decide to go to Phuket by air, the airport is a bit of a distance from the main beach areas and it will cost you around 500 baht to get a taxi to reach one of the West coast beaches. You can grab a less expensive share seat in a minivan.
The west coast beaches of Phuket, namely Patong, Karon and Kamala and Kata beaches are almost entirely tourism based economies and the local Thais are fully aware that, it is the visitors that contribute to the prosperity of the area.
There are many day trip options available from Phuket. Two of these in particular are well worthwhile. The first day trip is the one that takes you from your accommodation to the harbour at Phuket Town then cruising on Phanga Bay and James Bond Island. Phanga Bay is the province immediately north of Phuket and is famous for its limestone cliffs and rock structures that jut out of the water and are so scenic. Many of the day trips to Phanga will include a visit to the James Bond Island, it was the location for the movie, "Man With The Golden Gun". There is usually a visit to one of the island based Muslim villages where lunch is served, and it’s interesting to explore and get a feel of village life. There's usually also a stop at some of the small offshore islands where you get a chance to sit in the sun for an hour or so, soak up the sun's rays and go for a swim in the crystal clear, warm tropical waters. A lot of the time is spent cruising around the scenic bay.
The second day trip that is well worthwhile is over to the small paradise like island, Koh Phi Phi. This is the island where every girl's heart throb Leo Di Caprio filmed the movie, "The Beach". This island is stunningly beautiful and I think it is one of the most idyllic places on the planet. You can stay overnight or for a couple of nights, but accommodation prices can be expensive. There’s a lot of diving operations operating off Phuket and the diving in the area is really excellent, for all local tours follow the sightseeing links on
www.seeitsoon.com.au
