i'm just about done with a three week trip to phuket/patong beach. thought i'd pass along some info, etc.... i've been to patong 5 or 6 times, btwn 1996 and 2002. so this is my first visit in 5 years. in the interim i've gone to pattaya instead. last year i spent sept/oct/nov in pattaya. this year i was in pattaya feb/mar and may. i was interested to go back to patong and see how it felt compared to pattaya.

i flew from utapao near pattaya on bangkok air for 3,800B plus 1,000B for taxi. then another 500B for taxi from airport to hotel in patong. i think you can fly from BKK for cheaper but i'm just really, really sick of the traffic btwn pattaya and the new airport. it was a real treat to ride to utapao. took about 45 minutes and barely saw another car. some of the rides i've had from pattaya to BKK airport have been a little scary. maybe i'm just a weak ass. needless to say check in at utapao was a breeze and they had a decent restaurant. i'll always use this route from pattaya to patong in the future.

hotels:

horizon beach resort (btwn holiday inn and royal palm hotel and has walkway that takes you to the beach). i pre-booked this one for four days at 1,500B. includes breakfast and the buffet was one of the best i've had in thailand. has two pools plus fitness center. no in room internet. HOWEVER, NOT GUEST FRIENDLY. 3000B JOINER FEE (NOT A TYPO). i was pretty sure they would have the joiner fee but that seemed sky high. really didn't care as i had planned to relax a bit by the pool and use the fitness ctr and avoid too much evening action (remember, i came from pattaya so didn't need to hit it hard right away). did some recon of bars/go gos and that was about it.

lamai inn (there is also a lamai hotel which is probably better). this hotel was on the inland road about halfway btwn soi bangla and soi holiday inn. stayed here for two days at 500B/nt. nothing fancy and my window looked directly into another window at the hotel next door. not so nice. no joiner fee, no pool, no breakfast, no fitness center. just the bare bones.

rico hotel. 800B/nt. i think this was recently renovated. the keys and inside the elevator still say "hotel holidays". i guess they haven't quite finished the reno. i liked this placed. no pool, no restaurant, or fitness room. did have very good in room internet for no addtl charge. no charge for the ladies. hotel is right in the thick of it but not too noisy. it is on a side soi off of soi bangla (the main action). the rooms have a big new bed and actually have some nice decor (five paintings on the wall ??). you can walk about 30 seconds and choose from 5 or so restaurants so lack of food not so bad. one word of caution. hotel is at the end of the side soi and there is an old beer bar complex there. it is all messed up right now, maybe from the wave a few years back. they are doing some work but not sure if rebuilding or just taking out. if they open up again, this place could be a bit too noisy.

restaurants. i ate mostly at rio (below rock hard), green house (across from tiger disco), and hotel monte carlo patio (all have full view of soi bangla walkers). some friends had rented a villa in kata where the staff served dinner nightly so i ate there quite a bit also. also ate once at the rico restaurant which is a few doors down from the hotel (but do not deliver food to hotel). that one seemed a bit over priced but food was good.

go go bars. i used to hit playschool, rock hard and lipstick. i think lipstick is history. rock hard closed the downstairs club and it is now rio restaurant (staff is very cute....). i think that may have hurt their business as i've check in at the upstairs rock hard twice and barely any customers (like 5 compared to the 30+ or so that i'm used to from years ago). no customers in playschool. i did see a couple decent looking gals in each but nothing like the ratio that i recall from before. check the go gos yourself but don't pull the trigger to fast before you check some beer bars.

sharky bar. this is on the left front of the tiger disco complex. girls are in school girl outfits. most nights the girls have to dance on the bar top unless they are sitting with a customer who bought them a drink. i really liked this rule. that way you could talk a bit with a gal but then they'd get whisked away to the bar top when you declined the drink for them. various forms of underwear to look at as they danced on the bar. the big boss lady rings the bell about every hour (probably 30 minutes on big nights) and various free shots come around. they really serve up a fine brand of tequila...... i took a gal from here for a few nights. 500B bar fine, 2000B l/t. i asked for s/t the first time but she wouldn't do it. turned out good for me. she was a good find. even better, she had to go back to bangkok so it was easy to let her go after a few days.

tiger beer complex - i spent some time at sharkys as noted above. there was alot of action back behind sharky's under the tiger disco. really nice looking gals. definitely tour through there.

soi sea dragon - this used to be my favorite soi. i didn't see much this trip. i spent an hour or so here on several nights. girls in the tiger complex (not disco) were much better. things change but i wouldn't pull the trigger on a gal at the beer bars here before checking the tiger complex.

bar one - i liked this place alot. it is on the inland road about halfway btwn soi bangla and soi holiday inn (just before cristins massage and same side as cristins). two pool tables and a good dj that puts out some good tunes at a reasonable sound level. several pretty girls here. i took two different gals on different nights. 500B bar fine and 2000B l/t. if you like to shoot pool with pretty ladies and listen to good tunes (current music), this is the place. also had nice clean bathrooms, not like the stuff you get off of soi bangla. as with all bars, be careful on the lady drinks. on a relative to basis to what i've seen in pattaya, the girls at bar one can really drink.

cristins - the soapy deal is still going strong. i stopped in at one of the sabai deals in pattaya and saw a bunch of hogs behind the glass. never even took a gal. in cristins it seemed better. i usually go about 2 or 3 pm. took BBB three times. she is a master. used to work at embassy massage in bangkok.

for the newbies, a general reminder to make sure you ask your girl what she does and what she doesn't do before you take them out. don't be shy to go through the whole menu. i had to discard a few because they said no BJ (covered or uncovered).

girls, patong versus pattaya. i sensed a much higher ratio of good to bad girls here in patong when you consider each separate bar. obviously there are more hot girls in pattaya but you can spend some time and money finding them (which can be fun at times). i just hate having to look at the ugly hogs when i'm relaxed with my girl at her bar. even if i take my girl to another bar in pattaya, then i may be looking at ugly ladies again. this is beer bar to beer bar, not talking about go gos. the go gos in pattaya blow the doors off patong. i'm still in patong for another 4 days and will not visit a go go bar.

phuket country club - 1,650B for nine holes after 2:30. 3,000B for 18 (anytime). rental clubs 800 to 1000B. caddy fee 250B plus the suggested tip of 250B. 300B taxi from patong. 500B for van that dropped me in patong and took the others to kata.
there is a chicken stand around hole 13 or so. i ate there in 1996 and it is still there. i don't go for cart food much but this is good chicken and i stop here every time. have a snack (i think 20B) and then eat in the clubhouse when finished. lastly, the beer stand right by the chicken stand is your last chance for beers. buy a couple if you want to make it through the last few holes (they'll bag em up with ice).

some other general comments:

300B to kata beach each way. don't fall for the 500B or even the 350B.

don't eat at "on the rocks", a restaurant at the south end of karon beach (part of some hotel). i ate their once with my group of friends and two of the five of us spent the night on the toilet gripping the trash can for the blow chow at the same time.

walking around patong was a real treat. they've got nice path going along the beach (like pattaya but this one is actually complete and not falling apart every two sois). also seem to have new sidewalks. i remember it took forever to walk from the holiday inn to bangla as throngs of people attempted to walk/shop. same thing on the inside road, nice space for walking. they also close down bangla to traffic at night to create a mini walking street like pattaya. i don't think they did that in 2002.

hope this wasn't too long and provides some help. you'll spend more money in patong than you will in pattaya but it was a nice change for me. i think the first month or two of low season in patong will be my schedule for years to come.

Great Post and very informative, I'm heading to Phuket in December and will keep your tips in mind.

Buick - good to see Phuket getting some coverage. It usually comes off second best in comparisons with Pattaya - for good reason in many cases, but you have identified some of its plus points. I agree with your assessment of the Soi Tiger beer bars. On a good day the girls dancing on the bars here can beat almost anything that Bangkok or Pattaya has to offer. I keep on meaning to post my own Patong Beach roundup report, and maybe now I will. As a taster, here is a pic of some Soi Tiger girls entertaining us farangs.

Icarus

Photo: Jagger Bar

Good report. I havent been to Patong in a year or so, but I enjoyed it all the times I have goen there. Last visit, 11/06, we stayed at the Yorkshire Inn, which is a nice hotel on Soi bangla about a block past the Tai pan Disco. It has simple rooms, but we opted for the Suites, which were quite nice. The owner is an Aussie and a former PGA golfer. THe location was great and totally girl friendly. Close to Tai-pan, Tiger and Soi Eric area. I have had a lot of luck on Soi Eric, especially the Batchelor bar and the Hawaii Bar. Lots of hotties there. I enjoy lunch at Molly Malones on the Beach Rd as well. It was good to see the area rebounding from the Tsunami. The Thai people are resiliant. Mojo.

Thanks for the details. I'll be in Phuket in late 07. I appreciate your info to help guide the way.

Nice report and guide all rolled into one. Many people overlook Phuket because of the perception of high prices and limited women.

I used to feel this way until an airline called Air Asia came along and a roundtrip ticket was 1300 baht. Guess what? That's about the cost of a hired car from Bangkok to Pattya. Now my financial excuse was shattered and being a diver I felt I had an obligation to go once.

I've been twice now and am heading back in September. Pattaya has a larger quantity of girls but not necessarilly higher quality. You will find hotties in Phuket and hotels that are comparable in price and quality to Pattaya. C&N hotel and their resort are good choices as they're well run, low priced and 100% guest firendly.

Also, when you're not mongering there's world class beaches to enjoy, all manner of watersports, golf, bungee jumping, shopping malls etc. A much more multi-dimensional and more laid back place than Pattaya.