phuket, phi phi, phang nga

Phuket, Phi Phi Islands (Krabi Province) dan Phang Nga Bay are all located in the southern Thailand. They are famous for the breathtaking views of their beaches and waters. Our activities for our vacation on Nov 13-15, 2004 were mostly swimming, snorkelling, and sightseeing. Sand so white, sea so blue, a perfect weekend getaway. We booked our tour package in Bangkok for 6,000 Baht/pax and took Nok Air (1,250 Baht/pax - one way) for about 1 hour from Bangkok to reach Phuket International Airport. The airport is so strategically located on the beach that passengers can see directly to the sea and surrounding islets.


Day 1 : Phuket Island
Arriving at the Phuket airport, we were picked up by the tour organizer taking us straight to our sightseeing tour. There were only the two of us plus the driver and the guide :-). We went to Khao Rang (Rang Hill) to see the Phuket town from above, Chalong Temple (housing one of Buddha's relics), Pearl farm/shop, cashew nut factory, gem factory, and last was Promthep Cape. Promthep has the most southern tip of Phuket Island (which takes form of a turtle), from where one can see the 3 famous bays : Kata, Karon and Patong. We had lunch in one of the nicest restaurant we had been, it is located by the beach where we could see the yacht around the waterfront. We were then driven to our hotel: Deevana Hotel. It is located on Patong Beach, the most famous beach on Phuket, with a strong resemblance to Kuta Beach in Bali. In the evening, we went around Patong beach and had our dinner at one of the street hawkers. By the name itself the word Phuket is coming from Malay word Bukit which means hill. A lot of places and islands in Southern Thailand are in Malay due to close proximity to the Malay Peninsula in Malaysia & Malay achipelago in Indonesia.

Day 2 : Phi Phi Islands & Phuket Fantasea
The word Phi Phi might originate from Malay word Pi Api (Fire). We were picked up by the tour agent at 08.00 by van and they delivered us up to the ferry harbour. We then took a big boat/ferry to Phi Phi Islands which could contain up to 100 passengers. The guide was bilingual (Thai and English) and was - surprisingly - very fluent conversing in English. The first stop was Phi Phi Don (Big Phi Phi) Island. We were not dropping by the island yet, but istead just took some nice pictures of the island with its limestones and yachts. Then we headed towards Phi Phi Ley (Little Phi Phi) where we had our snorkelling in the Maya Bay (which became famous after being used as setting for Leonardo diCaprio's The Beach movie). The snorkelling equipment was provided by the tour operator. After about 1 hour of snorkelling, we proceeded back to Phi Phi Don to have lunch. We were given free time on this island. Phi Phi Don had a lot of hotels, shops, and dive schools, even a 7-11 school. One can have many other activities besides swimming and sunbathing, such as parasailing, canoing, etc. At 16.00 we were all back to our boat to go back to Phuket.
Evening time, we went to Phuket Fantasea which is located on Kamala Beach for its dinner and shows. It was such a well organized package which included hotel pick up. Phuket Fantasea is a kind of mini theme park with a spectacular performance. The show was amazing. It involved many kinds of animals, from elephant, chicken, goat, etc. It also has a magnificent lighting and special effects. The kinnaree (angels) seemed so really flying above the grounds. It was like the whole hall was used as stage. Before the show, visitors can have dinner (buffet, included in the ticket price, normal fare = 1,500 Baht) and/or going around the theme park. We had chance to take picture with a tiger pup. The show finished at 23.00.


Day 3 : Phang Nga Bay
We were picked up by our tour agent at 08.00 by van, picked some other visitors then went straight to Phang Nga province. Our co-visitors were an Israeli guy, Thai couple, and.. surpisingly an Indonesian family! First we visited Monkey Cave, like its name, it was full of monkeys. Then we took small motor longtail-boat, cruising along the mangrove forest, passing by beautiful limestone hills around Phang Nga Bay National Park. We stopped on Koh Phing Kan and James Bond Island (the island was featured in one of James Bond movies). After enjoying our time there, we took our long tail boat again to go for lunch on a Muslim floating village. Some of the residents speak Malay, hence we just spoke Malay to them. After lunch, we were back to our pier, then took van to go back to Phuket. We were dropped at the airport, then took our Air Asia flight back to Bangkok.