We went in what is considered the low [tourist] season, as it's monsoon time over there, but to be honest we were really lucky with the weather, it was monsoon the day we arrived and a few days of cloud here and there, but otherwise lovely and sunny! Theiir currency is Thai Baht and is around £1=45 THB. They speak Thai, but many will know some English (probably from all the tourists!
In Phuket, we stayed in the most popular tourist town, Patong. Which in hindsight was a bit of a mistake; Patong is very noisy, busy and for lack of a better word: brash. The market (and shop sellers) will stop at nothing to get your attention, you'll be offered a Tuk Tuk every few steps and watch the traffic- it's 3-7 people a moped there!
We did still enjoy Phuket and had a great time there especially when visiting the giant Buddha and Wat Chalong Temples. We even managed to get some scuba diving done on a small island, Racha Yai to the south of Phuket Island- and I'm now hooked!
We also visited the popular Koh Phi Phi islands (where the beach is filmed), and stayed on Koh Phi Don, and took a day trip out to Koh Phi Leh, with the famous Maya beach (the beach in the film). It was beautiful, it's easy to see how it was the location for the 'paradise' scenario created in the book/film.
Koh Phi Phi was a lovely place to stay, much more relaxed and chilled out than Patong, with little restaurants and bars along the beach and a small market.
I 'd love to go back some day, but probably to a different part of Thailand like Koh Samui, Koh Lanta or Koh Tao.
Have any of you been to Thailand- Patong or Koh Phi Phi in particular? What did you think? Would you go back?
