Phad Thai

Phad Thai is a very common Thai dish made from noodles, egg, chili, tofu, normally some shrimp, maybe some chicken, plus onion, fish sauce, nuts, lime... ingredients can vary. You can order Phad Thai in 10 different places and get 10 different tasting meals depending on the amount and variety of sauces added, the size and type of noodles used, type of meat added and so on... Phad Thai can be bland sometimes or it can be spicy, it can be dry or saucy. You get a lot of variety out of one dish! If bought from a street stall or roadside restaurant you're normally only going to be paying 20 - 30 Baht for your lunch - it's a cheap dish to make and thus a popular lunch all over Thailand, nearly as popular as Noodle Soup.

Close to where I work in Karon Beach, on the back road near the Baan Karon hotel, there's one of the most popular little lunchtime restaurants I have ever seen in Phuket. Every day workers in the local area flock here for lunch, and the most popular dish is Phad Thai. The restaurant does not really have a name except "the Phad Thai restaurant". They also do noodle soup with chicken or beef, a good Phad Gapraow with beef, a popular fried rice with crab. The menu is expanding - when I first ate here a couple of years ago they had only Phad Thai or Noodles and beef stew.

• Location on Google Earth





It's only a little place but it can be packed at lunchtime. You can get Phad Thai to eat there or take away - the take away is wrapped in a banana leaf. The cooking is all done by one guy, with others helping to serve noodle soup - you can see the huge bowls full of chicken and beef below - these are ladled over the noodles. The Phad Thai is cooked with quite a bit of chili, and you have extra bowls of chili sauce, prik nam pla and dried chili on the table in case it's not spicy enough for you.

 



I ate my Phad Thai in the restaurant today. Bear in mind that by Western standards this is not really a "restaurant" - a collection of tables in the dirt by the road outside someones house... but this is real local eating here in Phuket. If you want to mingle with the people, get on the back roads and get some Phad Thai right here! I tend to get food from here at least once a week as it's so cheap and close to work.... oh and very tasty!



UPDATE - 2010 - the place has been tarted up with a concrete floor and nicer tables, but still the same food and same price (40 Baht). Just before the Baan Karon Resort on the way from Karon to Kata on Patak Road. It's not a big obvious restaurant, folks, just a small local place. Do try to find it! Yes, I do need to update the photos! If in doubt come to see us at Sunrise Divers first. Only a few minutes away...

The Best of Jamie's Phuket 2007

Happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for reading Jamie's Phuket. This blog started in April 2006, and is still getting bigger. The idea? To show the "real" Phuket as opposed to the more popular tourist attractions. This is my Phuket, I tend to write about the places we go as a family, and places that interest me. Thanks for people who have written emails or sent donations, I hope that during 2008 this blog can continue to grow - plenty more temples to blog - sorry if you don't like temples... I do and this is my blog. Among other things, I want to write more about Phuket Town, get some photos from Chinese New Year festivities and I have said to my wife that we need to try some new restaurants as we have become rather middle aged and keep going to the same places.

The Best of Jamie's Phuket 2007

January was when we found The Beach Bar, a small local restaurant on the beach at Cape Panwa. We have been back many times in the last 12 months. Also in January, I had a look at Patong temple, a real haven of peace near the busiest tourist zone in Thailand!



In February, I finally blogged the Kata Viewpoint, probably the most famous view in Phuket. We must have been here 30 times - any time someone comes to visit we say "hey, want to see a great view?"... We also visited local temples around the Kathu / Ket Ho area where we live.

In March, my mother came to visit, I had a small holiday and we did as much as possible! Mother is in hospital at home right now, I like to see the photos of the happy times we had in March.

We visited Naithon beach - one of Phukets many quiet beaches, we visited temples and we took a longtail boat ride around Phang Nga Bay - an unmissable sight if you are coming to this part of Thailand





In April I took a long walk around old Phuket Town and must do it again one day! I still want to blog the Chinese Shrines and the market area. April 13th is of course Songkran day - waterfights, turtle releases, and a lot of fun! Same again in 2008!



In May, we stopped for a look at Boat Lagoon - step into another world.. Compare this to Rawai beach... same planet? Yes, it's all Phuket, it's all right here.





June 2007... as the summer started, which is "low season" in Phuket, we went to Paradise Beach a few times. Just along the road from Patong, but another world.



Also in June, Koh Sirey featured on the blog, a quiet part of Phuket to the east of Phuket Town with small restaurants, sea gypsies and a hilltop temple.



July 2007 featured (among other things) the best milkshake in Phuket at Mama Noi, Buddha Mountain, where a 45m high Buddha is nearing completion, and an early morning visit to Chalong Temple, Phuket's largest temple.

 

In August we visited Phuket Zoo (again). The kids love it. I am not a zoo fan, but cannot deny my kids the chance to see a tiger, elephants, monkeys, crocodiles, a "Twocan Toucan", deer, camels...



As the low season dragged on in September, we took a visit to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project and Bang Pae Waterfall, and I also took some time to write about Karon Beach and some information on Buying a House in Phuket.



October is the month when the seasons change.. the high season and low season fight a battle and the high season wins, though the low season always has a few last minute surprises (see my Phuket Weather Blog for more).... In October we tried the Dino Park Mini Golf.. yes it's a bit touristy but hey.

October was the highlight of the year for me - the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. I took photos on 2 mornings of the street processions in Phuket Town. You have to see it to believe it. This is real. This is something special.





In November, we finally went back to Layan Beach, a lovely quiet spot in the north of the island, and we also made our Krathong for the Loy Krathong Festival, one of Thailand's most important traditional events - you float your Krathong for good luck, happiness and to give thanks to the goddess of the water.





As the year rolled to a close, in December I tried to introduce a bit of tradition with an article about our Buddha Shelf, I added a thingy about LateStays - a great place to find Phuket Hotels at the last minute, and the year ended as it began with a visit to The Beach Bar which had been closed for half a year and I am very happy to have it back!

Happy New Year, I hope 2008 (or 2551 in the Buddhist calendar) brings you happiness and success. Please do keep reading Jamie's Phuket!

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Ton Sai Waterfall and Khao Phra Thaeo

Ton Sai waterfall is on the other side of the mountain from Bang Pae Waterfall in the North East of Phuket. It's easy to get to - just turn east at the main junction in the center of Thalang town and you drive about 5km through rubber plantations (see location on Google Earth). The two waterfalls have their source on the same mountain, Khao Phra Thaeo, which is Phuket's largest untouched area of forest and is officially designated as a National Park. Entry fee is 200 Baht, or free if you arrive after 3pm. We stopped for a look a couple of weeks ago after spending an afternoon at Layan Beach - I can't resist the lure of free entry!



We just went for a quick look at the waterfall, get a bit of jungle air (it's very jungly round here) and a little bit of exercise. There was a sign for a 2km nature trail, but I didn't think my kids would thank me for that. Apparently you can even hike over the mountain and join up with Bang Pae falls - not for the faint hearted I would say. The forest is said to be home to wild deer, monkeys, wild boar and even bears - I read that somewhere, but I somehow doubt the presence of bears... I have also read that the area was used during the filming of Good Morning Vietnam (which was mostly filmed in Thailand).





Like Bang Pae there were a fair few locals splashing in the water and playing on the rocks. Watch your footing - some steep rocky paths around the falls. Like all other waterfalls in Phuket, the cascade is not small, and yet not hugely impressive, although it might be after heavy rains. There are several little waterfalls and you can hike higher up the hill if you have enough energy. Yeh, it's quite nice but rather tiny if you have seen Iguassu, Victoria falls, Niagara...





My daughter enjoyed making a mask from giant fallen leaves...



Well worth stopping in for a half hour. If you come after 3pm. Worth coming to the Thalang area where you can also find several temples, the Thalang museum, and if you head round to Bang Pae to see the other waterfall and the Gibbon project, add on a seafood lunch at Bang Pae Seafood, well you've got the makings of a good day out away from the crowds.

LateStays.com - Last Minute Phuket Hotels

If you need a hotel booking in the next few weeks - LateStays.com is the place to look for Phuket, Thailand and many other destinations....

If you are visiting Phuket, you are going to need a place to stay. Be it hotel, guesthouse, resort or rented appartment, everyone needs a place to lay their hat. When I started this blog, I was intending to ignore hotels, but realised that they are rather important and maybe I could make some recommendations. So every now and then I add a recommended hotel to the blog along with some online booking links.

There are so many hotel booking websites, it's hard to know where to start. The main hotel site which features on this blog (Agoda) is now joined by another great site. I was emailed a couple of weeks ago by the company that owns Phuket.com about a partnership with their well known LateStays.com. The Late Stays website is all about late bookings. Need a hotel tomorrow, next week, 10 days from now... soon? This is the place to look. The website shows availability and lowest available prices for hundreds of Phuket Hotels. You can choose to view most popular hotels or look for availability by area. Very useful for peak periods such as Christmas and New Year, or Songkran.

The LateStays.com site covers much more than just Phuket. You can book hotels all over Thailand and in many other countries from Singapore to Scotland. Availability and prices are updated daily, so it's easy to see what you might be able to book. The site naturally tends towards mid price and higher end hotels, so it's not the place to look for low budget guesthouses (but you can see my review of Low Budget Places to stay in Phuket).

So, if you are coming to Phuket or anywhere else in Thailand, or anywhere covered by LateStays, and have not booked in advance, LateStays.com is the place to look. Happy Travels! See you soon!

LateStays.com - Top Links

• Phuket Hotels
• Bangkok Hotels
• Krabi Hotels
• Phang Nga - Khao Lak Hotels
• Chiang Mai Hotels
• Hotels all over Thailand
• Recommended Phuket Hotels on Jamie's Phuket

Karon Temple (Wat Suwan Khiri Khet)

Having worked for several years within walking distance of Karon Temple, you might think I'd have been for a look around before, but that was a few years ago before this blog got started. The blog needs feeding, and I find temples to be good eating. Phuket is full of temples, though many visitors here don't bother with them - after all, if you have stopped in Bangkok, chances are you've "done" temples already, but Phuket has some notable historical temples and every community has it's own. I find every temple has something different, and all have a certain peace about them.



Karon Temple is about half a kilometer from the beach along Patak Road. If your hotel is towards the north end of Karon Beach, the temple is easily within walking distance and certainly worth a few minutes of your time.

• Karon Temple - Location on Google Earth



It's quite an attractive temple and while I was there several monks were working around the grounds keeping their temple neat and tidy. The main building is guarded by 2 huge snakes whose bodies continue round the entire building. The doors and windows are engraved with scenes from the life of the Buddha. As I walked around, a couple of temple dogs came to visit.







Another building is guarded by rather bizarre blue monsters... these are called "Yak", supernatural beings that feature in old Buddhist texts. They scare off spirits and keep the Buddha images inside safe from harm. Inside is a distinctive black Buddha image along with a couple of rather Hindu looking images - a cow and a statue of Kali. The two religions are closely related - read more here: Buddhism and Hinduism.

 

Rather like Patong Temple, if you visit Karon Temple you can find a little oasis of peace just off the main road and close to the tourist zone. With temples like this so close to the hotels, there's no excuse not to visit!

• Karon Beach Hotels
• More Temples in Phuket

Fresh flowers on our Buddha Shelf

Just about every house in Thailand will have a "Buddha Shelf", a personal shrine where prayers can be said, a mini temple in your own front room. Everyone's shrine is different, featuring images that are important personally. Our Buddha shelf does not actually have a Buddha image on it - the central figure is a statue of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn).



December 5th was the 80th Birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an ideal day to clean our Buddha shelf, change the flowers and say a prayer. Some people change the flowers weekly, we tend to be a little less diligent.. the old flowers were not looking great...

 

King Rama V needs pink roses, which were his favourite flowers. You'll find flower shops all over Phuket, indeed all over Thailand... all selling flowers for Buddha..roses and garlands just for the thousands, maybe millions of Buddha shelves all over the country.

 

With the shelf clean, fresh flowers in place and a fresh glass of water, next step is to light the candles and incense and say a prayer.

 

The Buddha shelf is an important part of the home. Some houses have a shelf collection and many different Buddha images or statues of Kings. We do try to look after ours and it always looks great with new flowers and after a spring clean. The room looks brighter and fresher...