I spent a summer in Thailand in the late 1960s when my parents and brother lived in Bangkok. Together we explored Chiang Mai and Pattaya as well as the bustling city of Bangkok. Dan and I returned a couple times in the early 1970s when we lived in Japan. This is our first time to explore Phuket, the largest of Thailand’s 1,430 islands. It is situated at the southern end of the country, is 70% hills, and has a population of 300,000.

Many of us remember the 2004 tsunami which hammered this island’s western coast and tragically claimed thousands of lives. We passed memorials to the victims as well as evacuation route signs. Thankfully there is a better warning system now should the area once again come under threat. 

Everyone going ashore had to be tendered in and out from the beach. To guarantee that no sand got between our toes or moisture on our shoes we pulled up to a really long, maybe 300 yards, floating pier that took us from the tender to the sidewalk. Quite something and new to me.

Our bus, driver, and guide, who greeted each of us with a small handwoven fish, were waiting about a quarter mile from the beach. This short walk gave us an opportunity to stroll along the water and cement our first impressions of the island. My immediate impression was Cabo meets the Caribbean meets New Orleans. It is not the real Thailand according to our guide, who did not elaborate. Known for its 30+ white-sand beaches, lively nightlife, aquamarine water, limestone cliffs, beautiful resorts, and good shopping, it’s a huge draw for foreigners as well as Thais.

We made three fun stops on our tour today. Many Chinese have immigrated to Phuket over the years, so it is no surprise that Kio Thian Keng Saphan Hin Shrine was designed in the Chinese style. It has artistic images of various deities on its (busy) altars and a few life-size statues on the grounds. It is either new or impeccably maintained and makes quite an impression with its vibrant reds, gleaming white marble, and gold accents. Something new to me was a large, gold, vase-shaped ‘oven’ where worshipers bring ‘fireworks.’ These are put in the oven where they explode and either bring good luck or grant wishes.

The stop at a cashew factory was fun. Who knew that each fruit on a cashew tree produces all of one nut. No wonder cashews are so expensive. Although machines do most of the work now there was a demonstration of how the nuts used to be cracked by hand. Always on the prowl for gifts and goodies we enjoyed the large gift shop teaming with cashew treats as well as some fun handcrafted items.

Our last official site was Wat Chalong, reputed to be the most beautiful temple on the island. Temple is a misnomer because it is really a complex of magnificent, impeccably maintained buildings. There is a ‘fireworks oven’ there too but it is made of bricks and looks much like a tall kiln. White and gold are the dominate colors on most of the building. Those game to remove their shoes could go inside a few of the temples.

Fun firsts are always a treat for me. There were two more besides the temple ovens and the floating tender docks. The first was seeing stalls near the water where live fish of various kinds were for sale in quart-sized plastic bags. Fish release is a Buddhist tradition that promotes the concept of good karma. It can be done as part of a festival or not. Purchasers choose a fish that has been identified to bring a particular kind of good fortune: one kind for good health, one for grief, one for romance issues, etc.

The other fun first were the snake deterrents attached to utility poles. Think large bonnet-shaped woven metal baskets turned upside down and wrapped around the pole. A snake can shinny up the pole but only get as far as the basket before it falls down or skillfully turns around and goes back down. These baskets were all over town which leads me to believe snakes have not limited their whereabouts to the hills. Yikes.

Our tour took us around town on wonderful roads teeming with scooters, some with sidecars. We saw a Toyota dealership next to a mom and pop food stall which ran into a repair shop, a large single family home, townhouses with dwellings above and shops below, and an urban banana grove. We passed IKEA, lots of 7-Elevens, an old public bus converted to a barbershop, and, wait for it, an outlet mall! Money exchange kiosks are everywhere as are urban billboards. Just like in the other countries we have visited the rich and poor easily mingle and there seems to be no danger to the lone attendants at the money exchanges. Amazing really compared to how it is in the states.

We got back to the dock right after sunset just as the town was coming alive. It will stay alive we were told until around 4:00 tomorrow morning!

Before we left the ship this noon Dan arranged to decorate a table for us with fun things he brought from home. Once we were back on board and cleaned up we headed to our dining room for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at our one-of-a-kind table. Dan supplied us with fun headbands, so a few folks stopped by the table to comment on them and wish us a Happy Thanksgiving.

Our clocks will be turned ahead another hour before turning out the lights making us 13 hours ahead of home.

… Thai Trivia …

Thai baht (BHT) is the official currency.
1 BHT = $0.028 / 35.53 BHT = $1.00

Cashews are grown here now but are actually native to Brazil.

Siam, as Thailand was called until 1939, was ruled by an absolute monarchy for 700 years.
It was never colonized by Europeans. 

Thai is the official language; the national flower is the orchard; and
Buddhism is far and away the most common religion.

Thai inventions include: Red Bull, Thai boxing, the polyethylene prosthetic leg,
the tuk tuk, and an operating table for elephants.

Before their death in 1893 conjoined twins inspired the term Siamese twins.

Phra Phuttha Maha Suwana Patimakon temple is home to the world’s largest solid gold Buddha.
It is 15-foot tall and weighs approximately five and a halve tons!   

Thailand is the largest exporter of orchids and rice in the world.

Thailand is the same size as France and has 69 million people.