I recently spent a weekend in Phuket, at a resort on Nai Yang Beach. Usually I stay in backpackers or cheap hotels but for once I had some points to use with Agoda and a friend had advised me the beach in the north, Nai Yang beach for a weekend getaway. So I booked two nights at The The Imperial Adamas Beach Resort, a 5 star resort on the beach, away from the bustle of the island. The hotel is really nice, large room with huge bed, swimming pool going around all the rooms (with direct access to those at ground floor), swimming pool with infinity edge next to the beach, and the vast beach of Nai Yang. I know some will say that this is not the real Thailand but hey, it’s good to rest.
View from the Room at the Imperial Adamas Beach Resort
Swimming pool of the resort
Program of the weekend: Nai Yang Beach and its nice restaurants (and very cheap), the classic thing: a tour combining snorkeling and Ko Phi Phi (the famous beach of the film ‘The Beach’) , Fantasea, a show on the history of Thailand involving animals including elephants and of-course the famous beach of Patong.
Nai Yang Beach
From the hotel, a 10 minute walk on the beach (or 5 minutes by taxi at night) leads to the beach of Nai Yang. In comparison with Patong, Nai Yang is super quiet and relaxing, the beach is hosting small restaurants every dozen meters with excellent food. Accompanied with a super fresh fruit juice, it’s paradise. The street from the beach is a happy organized mess, electric and phone wire loose, tourist shops, restaurants, backpackers, groceries shops but surprisingly little traffic. When I was there, a pair of Australians who seemed to live there for a long time were busy helping locals to set up a bakery.
The road along Nai Yang Beach
I then went to Patong with the shuttle provided by the hotel. Big differences with Nai Yang! Large shopping centers, crowded (and dirty) beach and plenty of tourists everywhere… Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I was only there during the day, I did not had the chance to see the famous Bangla Road with its hostess bar mixing young Thai lady boys and pretty girls with alcohol flowing abundantly where many tourists have adventures worthy of the movie The Hangover. But nothing by day except the strong smell of lust in the atmosphere.
Patong Beach
Phuket, 1 hour 30 minutes away by plane from Singapore (or Kuala Lumpur) is a nice island escape for a few days (a weekend of 3-4 days) that combines natural beauty (invaded by tourists): Ko Phi Phi, the James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan in The Man with the Golden Gun) and the ideal place for a bachelor party !