Street Food: Pa Tong Go

I guess that I buy what can be termed "street food" almost every day. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but there are stalls selling all kinds of food all over Phuket, indeed all over Thailand. On the street corner near my workplace in Karon Beach you can find (either fixed in place or on mobile stalls) somtam, fried chicken, fruits, corn, pancakes, cakes and deserts, ice cream, sticky rice and more. Some stalls are more or less permanent, some are fixed to motorbikes and make the rounds, some are pushed on carts, some carried on bicycles. Mostly the street stalls sell snacks rather than meals, though there are also mobile stalls selling kuay tiow (noodle soup) or phad thai.

Pa Tong Go (or Pa Thong Go, or Pa Tong Ko, transliteration is a bit tricky with Thai words!), are small fried pieces of dough, a bit like doughnuts in the shape of, well, in the shape of a chromosome (or an X). You get them crispy or soft, varying in size and exact shape, depends exactly what stall you choose. The food stalls below are near my house in Kathu village.



There's a Pa Tong Go stall, a fried chicken stall and a Salapao stall. They always seem to be quite busy! They're only open in the morning. Pa Tong Go is not strictly breakfast food, but many stalls are only open early morning. The ones I know tend to be all finished by 9am. The dough is ready prepared at home, then cut into pieces as needed and thrown into hot oil. Only takes a couple of minutes to cook.

 

The stall in Kathu makes on demand, does not tend to have a pile sitting around, which is good, as Pa Tong Go are much better when hot and fresh, Once they cool down and go a bit soggy, well, they're not as nice - that's my excuse for eating as many as possible as fast as possible! A 20 Baht bag is good enough for me, though they can addictive and sometimes 20 Baht leaves me wanting more!



Another good spot is in Patong (note: in Thai, "Patong" and "Pa Tong" Go are not spelt the same) at the end of Soi Kebsup, not too far from the Holiday Inn on Rat U Thid road. When I was working in Patong in 2006 I used to get Pa Tong Go from this stall several times per week. It was a busier place than Kathu Village, always had a pile ready but they always cooked fresh ones for me :)





I just eat them plain, maybe dunked in my coffee, but you can see in the photo above bags of soy milk (white) and a sweet green cream flavoured with pandanus (or pandan) leaf, which some people buy to eat with their Pa Tong Go. Not sure about that myself. Pandan is an acquired taste, which I have not acquired! Thai sweet things do tend to be very sweet. Pa Tong Go I recommend eaten as they are, freshly cooked, with a nice cup of coffee. Enjoy!

More Phuket Bloggers

If you search hard enough around the internet or dig deeper into Google, you may find that Jamie's Phuket is not the only blog about Phuket or written by someone in Phuket. I keep an eye on some other people's blogs looking for different angles on Phuket, something I have not seen or thought of blogging about. Everyone has a different point of view, though I'd say all the blogs and bloggers listed below have one thing in common - all are Phuket lovers!

Although Jamie's Phuket (that's this blog) is my main blog, I keep several others which are updated with varying degrees of diligency. The Phuket Weather Blog is kept updated every few days, reporting on weather and local news, normally with photos that show the weather. There are lots of links to other useful weather sites too.

• The Phuket Weather Blog

I have a couple of others - We Love Phuket has a fair amount of information on things like cheap places to stay in Phuket and how to get to Phuket. Gets updated when I think of an article that does not quite fit on Jamie's Phuket. Another blog is Monk in Thailand, which is quite new, and mentions such diverse subjects as Darth Vader, Fig Rolls or how to pronounce Phuket. The Photo Blog I try to add some favourite photos now and then. Just photos, no words to get in the way. The Phuket hotels blog is all about hotels and where to book them online.

• We Love Phuket
• Monk In Thailand
• Phuket Photos Blog
• Phuket Hotels Blog

So, what about other people? These are some blogs I can recommend for Phuket information - and this is "blog" information rather than tour guide information (you know, always sunny, everyone smiles, Phuket is the pearl of Thailand). Blogs are becoming quite important to travel - you can get a local's point of view and check out other travelers reports too. Here are some recommended blogs. Some are updated more often than others.

• Baan Jochim Phuket - Mark is a teacher at a bilingual school in Phuket.
• Lana in Phuket - Lana is also married with 2 kids, but she's a mum.
• The Lost Boy - Matt worked at the Phuket Gazette newspaper and has been a regular Thai blogger for a few years. He now lives in Dili.
• Matt's Phuket - Not updated much, but Matt likes to exlore the back roads.
• Tim in Phuket - Tim is a hotel manager and (like me) enjoys the local side of Phuket life.
• Jim in Phuket - Almost my mirror image - married, 2 kids, living in Phuket, guess we'll meet for a beer one day!
• Phakawan's Blog - Mostly in Thai, Wan works with me at the dive shop.
• Cathy and Gary - They don't live here, but often visit Phuket. Their site has loads of information.
• Lisa in Phuket - She and her husband are teachers at an international school.
• Alasdairs Blog - Al is an old Phuket hand, lots of stories to tell.
• Glenn in Phuket - Glenn hikes, plays guitar and sells thermal clothing online!

If you have a blog about Phuket or know a good one, please let me know!

Update.. Hey! Matt, the Lost Boy, has a top 100 Thailand Blogs list, where does he get the time? You can find Jamie's Phuket in there and the Phuket Weather blog too. If you're looking for Thai related blogs, check it out... Please vote for my blogs!

• Top 100 Thailand Blogs

Happy Blogging!

A Working Lunch

One of the joys of living and working in Thailand is the abundance of street food and cheap local restaurants. Within a few minutes walk or bike ride of my office in Karon Beach, there's a huge selection of dining options from the well known Phad Thai shop to Noodle stalls, the local Som Tam lady, the slightly pricier Mama Noi (but Mama Noi's banana shakes at 20 Baht are a steal), and several small local restaurants that you probably wouldn't look twice at, BUT are the best place to get cheap local food.



There are also places to get "Western" food - such as English breakfasts and my (occasional) favourite - egg, bacon, chips & beans at the Pineapple Guesthouse, and the Pineapple just opened a small cafe there too for cheap Thai food. There's even a pizza place round the corner, but somehow pizza is a bit too heavy for a quick lunch.

And everyone, it seems, eats out for lunch. The little local restaurants are busy. The Phad Thai place is always packed - and here's why... It's cheap, even on a lower local wage, a 30 Baht lunch is not going to kill you. Mind you, with prices of staple foods such as rice increasing dramatically worldwide recently, I was shocked to be charged 35 Baht this week for my Phad Thai! These places rely on high volume of local trade to make a profit, so prices are kept as low as possible - their costs are usually minimal - no rent, family run business (no staff costs), often outdoor or open air, so no lights, aircon or fans to run, and food is basic. Just what you need for a working lunch!



Today I got a plate of fried Kana (aka Kale or Chinese Broccoli) with "Moo Grop" (crispy pork), with a fried egg on top (Kai Dao) - had a proper working lunch, got it to take away and eat in the office - see photo above. Often do this, as it means I can eat in the aircon :) The little restaurant where I bought it can be found just over the road from Mama Noi, opposite the Siam Commercial Bank on the back road of Karon Beach.

Happy eating!

Songkran Festival

Another year rolls in. Here in Thailand you have several New Year celebrations to choose from, or you can have all of them... Aside from 1st January, you also have the Chinese new Year and the traditional Thai new year, Songkran, which used to be the date for changing the year on the calendar. Thailand only adopted the Western New Year in 1940. Songkran is one of the biggest celebrations in Thailand, mixing tradition, family and of course plenty of Sanook (fun). The traditions still apply - New Year is a time for cleaning your home, and wishing elders good luck by sprinkling them gently with water. Buddha images are also cleansed. We started our Songkran this year with some tradition...

 

And then took a drive around Phuket Town. Much of the town seemed very quiet, as the local police have been really trying to make things safer this year, with water throwing only supposed to be in designated areas to prevent accidents. We started to wonder where all the people had gone... maybe all gone to Patong as we had done last year? Finally as we headed down Phuket Road towards Sapan Hin, we found the center of local festivities. The road was lined with people throwing water and full of pick up trucks loaded with local folk and large barrels of water. Little chance of traffic accidents here as the traffic was moving so slowly, but that gave me the chance to snap some photos out of the window...

 









We decided against Patong Beach this year, though I would have liked to see some of the big bikes, as the Phuket Bike Week coincides with Songkran, but getting to Patong involves busy roads and too much traffic - it took an hour to drive there last year from home, a trip which normally takes 10 minutes. Instead we took a break and went for a quiet lunch by the beach, then headed home where the kids were given free reign to throw water at mum and dad.





• More Songkran 2008 Photos on the Songkran 2008 Blog

Wishing you all a Sawadee Pee Mai from Phuket. If anyone has some cool Songkran photos please leave a comment with a link to the photos!

Songkran is coming!

There's just a few more days until Songkran, one of Thailand's most famous festivals, also known as the water festival, or more specifically, the water fight festival. Not sure who to blame for this, as Songkran is actually the traditional Thai New Year (January 1st has only been the start of the year here since 1940). This always used to be (and indeed still is) the time for Thai people to pray to Buddha, clean their houses, and sprinkle water on their elders as a show of respect. The traditional aspect is still there, but as a tourist in the beach areas, what you will see is lots of water, lots of partying, lots of drinking and lots of fun! Just be prepared to get wet. Do not carry valuable electronic devices in the streets of Patong. Get a camera with a case like a snorkel camera if you want to take photos, or do what I did last year and stay in the car and take photos through the window!



Last year we had a busy day visiting Mai Khao Beach for a local turtle release ceremony (turtles symbolise long life), then took a break before heading into Patong. I think this year we'll take it much easier, do the traditional cleaning, take the images from the Buddha Shelf and clean them outside, maybe visit a temple.. we just got a new car and I don't want to drive around and get it dirty :) We'll see - we might just decide to go and join some friends at Patong Beach, have some drinks and throw water around. See you there!

• Songkran Photos 2007
• Songkran Photos 2006

Jamie's Phuket Songkran 2007 in the Phuket Post

Get a copy of the Phuket Post newspaper! The editor contacted me last week to republish some of the Songkran 2007 blog entry in their paper (see photo) and online too. Wow - I was quite happy about that, nice to know someone likes this blog! There may be more of Jamie's Phuket in the Phuket Post in the future....

Sapan Hin (Phuket Town)

Over the next few months I want to explore and blog various areas of Phuket Town (now officially called Phuket City). It's a town full of interest, history and the best place for taking a peek at the "real" Phuket away from the tourist zones. I did blog about Old Phuket Town previously, but that blog entry just covered a few square blocks in the center of town!

Sapan Hin is a large open area in the south of town (see location on Google Earth) - follow Phuket Road from the center and keep going. You'll pass Bang Neow chinese shrine on the way and the Phuket Immigration office. As you reach Sapan Hin, theres an odd shaped monument in the center of a traffic circle - it's apparently meant to represent a drill bit and is dedicated to the tin mining industry that made Phuket rich.



As you continue, you pass sports facilities - there are several sports halls (we have been to watch my father in law play Takraw here) and a Muay Thai stadium (there are weekly fights every Friday), tennis courts, an ICT center plus a small stadium and open playing fields. The Sapan Hin area was built on reclaimed land, designed to provide space for public facilities and a recreation area near the town. Sapan Hin is right by the ocean which is slowly reclaiming the reclaimed land. There is currently work in progress to prevent further erosion...







In the morning you'll find people out jogging or exercising or just sitting enjoying the fresh sea air. There is a mangrove walkway here too, and it looked like the old wooden walkway was being replaced when I was there last week. The shallow seas here, along with mangroves and mudflats make this a good place for birdspotting - have a look at Ike Suriwong's Birds of Phuket for more information.

At the south end of Sapan Hin there's a Chinese shrine, one of many in Phuket Town, which has a large Thai-Chinese population. This shrine is called Kiew Tian Shrine, and plays a major part in the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival - all the street processions end here at Sapan Hin.





Before saying any more, a word of warning. Sapan Hin is a nice area to walk around, and I would say is quite safe in the day time. At night, different story. I have read many times of gangs fighting here, drugged up kids, people being shot, drinking gangs gathering etc... Not a place to be wandering around late at night. Not at all.

Having said that, Sapan Hin's large open areas are used regularly for minicipal festivals and concerts. We were there just a couple of weeks ago for the Food Festival - keep an eye on the Phuket Gazette newspaper for upcoming events.

On the west side of Sapan Hin, the Bang Yai canal flows into the sea. Years ago the canal was probably rather cleaner... Looks very green now and I am sorry to say there is a fair amount of garbage in the water. The canal flows right through Phuket Town. At Sapan Hin, you can find many small fishing boats using the canal as their "port". The boats are mostly small longtail boats rather than larger fishing boats which are found at Rassada port on the east side of Phuket Town, about 4km from Sapan Hin.





Along the canal there is a nice pathway with recently planted trees. I read on Ike's Birder blog that Sapan Hin was dirty and in need of some work - looks like it's being done! Good, as this area is for the people and needs to be looked after. I like the "old world" feel of the boats along the canal.