So this is it, the tourism capital of Thailand. The beaches of Patong in Phuket never fail to attract hordes of tourists any time of the year and with good reason. Patong Beach is long and has soft powedery white sand that has consistently made it rate as one of the best beaches in the world. As I was walking down the strip of beach at Patong, only then did I realize how long that strip was. It took me a liesurely hour to get from one end to another, this includes all photo taking.
Patong Beach is a very happening place. There are all sorts of activities you can do here aside from the usual swimming. You can rent a jetski and have loads of fun there. For the more adventurous, you can try para-sailing where you get dragged high above the water, the ride always comes with an assistant though to make sure that nothing untoward happens to you. It sure looks like a lot of fun though.
For the less adventurous ones, you can rent a chair at the beach with umbrella and relax the day away. There are, of course, massage services lurking all around the area if you just so happen to need their service. The beach seems to be very well organized with the beach area itself neatly lined with chairs for sunbathers. The resorts and restaurants are a good distance away from the water. It seems that there is not trace of any damage wrought by the tsunami that hit Phuket some years back.
I can’t help but make comparisons between Patong Beach and another island paradise I have been to, Boracay in the Philippines. In my opinion Boracay still has the better sand. The Patong Beach seems to be longer though and much more organized. Boracay on the other hand, the water itself its cluttered with outrigger canoes that will naturally get in the way of swimmers. I didn’t really like those and not only that, some of the outrigger canoes come with huge sails that act as ads. Quite unsightly. One big downside to Patong Beach is that the place may not exactly be that family friendly, since prostitution is quite rampant here.
Thailand seems to have mastered the art of making and island paradise. It is easy to get here and it is easy to get things done too. If you want to get a taste of the good life here in Phuket, Patong Beach is the place to go to. There are other beaches in the area but I didn’t have time to visit them, though Patong Beach is definitely the most accessible one of them. To get to the other beach you have to go through the taxi mafia which seems to operate there. A motorcycle taxi will bring you there for 200 Baht. And the funny thing is there is no public transporation to go to the other beaches from here. Go figure.
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It looks like Boracay’s main beach is longer than Patong by half a km. And yes Boracay’s white sand is often recognized as one of the softest in the world if not the softest. Boracay has added more trendy fastfood chains and ritzy resorts which I noticed on my recent visit (Aug 2013). I love the beach of Patong too but still I prefer Boracay for that island feeling I get with all the coconut trees lining the beach.