Thailand - Plan And Review Phuket City Tour

Rich, mystical and with a cultural heritage that spans eons, thailand opens its secrets to those who wish to leave behind the stresses and worries of everyday life. Hey All -> Photographers,seekers of the exotic, seekers of adventure, heritage fans, culture marvellers,  lovers, naturalists, luxury seekers and hedonists - Come to Thailand.

I am a Nature Lover . Any place which has Blue Sky , Crystal Clear Waters , Green Mountains and Jungle lures my Travel Lust . Phuket is a composition of all of the above and hence Ideal place for me . Phuket became my dream destination after watching two movies Partner and Man With The Golden Gun .

HOW TO REACH THERE : I started my Trip from Delhi Indra Gandhi International Airport .
There is no direct fligh to Phuket . All flights are routed to Phuket through Suvarnabhumi International Airport Bankok . Due to this reason , I had to book a connecting Flight to Phuket .All my booking were done through Renowned Travel Agent "SOTC" .
Note - Some of the airline websites have "Suvarnabhumi International Airport " as thier display options instead of Bankok .

HOW MUCH TIME WOULD IT TAKE : It took around 7.5 hrs to reach Phuket . This includes waiting time of 2hrs in between connecting flights .I started from Delhi at 12:05 a.m IST . I reached 5:35 a.m Thailand Time .The Flight duration was 4hrs . Then I had a connecting flight to Phuket at 7:50 a.m which lands there at 9:10 a.m .
Important Note - Thailand is 1hr 30 min ahead of India .

HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST :  The whole Trip would have Cost us around Rs. 1,10,000 for both of us . This includes some shopping as well :-
1) Delhi - Bankok - Phuket
    Phuket-Bankok-Bangalore         -      Rs. 54000
After the commencement of new Low Cost Airline Air Asia , India - Bankok sector has become quite cheap in 2010 .Even the Thai Airways fares have come down .

2) Deewana Patong Resort -              Rs. 12,800 for 3 nights and 3 days .
The resort was amazing . That resort is equivalent to a 5 star Indian Resort .
The package also includes airport to resort Transfers and vice- versa
Complementary American Breakfast .

3) Phuket City tour     - 40$ / Person
    One Full Day Phi Phi Island Tour through Cruise (Includes Lunch)- 40$/Person
    One Full DayJames Bond Island Tour through Cruise(Includes Lunch) - 40$/Person
   Total for both of us in 2009 would have been around Rs. 12000
4) Water Sports  :-
    We did Scuba Diving - around 1500 baht  or  Rs.2325 / person
    Under water Aquarium - around 500 baht or Rs. 775 / person
    Snorkelling - around 1200 baht or Rs. 1860 / person
5) Under Water Camera  - 600 baht or Rs. 930
6) Tourist Visa Stampings - Rs. 3400 for both of us .
Visa can be taken on arrival as well.It saves around Rs. 400. But Since we had less time between connecting flights , Its better to have visa stampings before travel .This saves time and you can plan your trip better .
In case you plan to take Visa On Arrival  . Please carry following Documents :-
(a) Passport or Travel Document with validity not less than 6 months .
(b) Visa Application Form Completely Filled out .
(c) Two recent photographs of the applicant (3.5 cm *  4.5 cm)
(d) Confirmed Plane tickets , paid in Full .
(e) Evidence of a adequate finance (20,000 baht per person or 40,000 baht per family )
(f) Chennai applicants in addition to the above mentioned documents have to carry self attested photocopy of application form and all other Originals .
7) Rest we spend on Shopping .

WHICH IS THE BEST TIME : Best time to visit this amazing country is Mid of December till 2nd week of Februaury .It is costliest at around last week of December to 18th January . The rates are sky high on 25th Dec and 31st december and 1st January night . Whoever opts for stay on 31st and 25tth December has to pay a mandatory fee of attending special events organised in the resorts .
Super Saver Advice - Travel after 18th January . This time around Weather is almost the same as on new year, but rates or tarrifs come down by 30% - 40% .

HOW IS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE :  GREAT GREAT GREAT........................

I had never seen Crystal Clear Waters or Green Sea before visiting Phuket .  We took off at around 12:05 a.m on 22nd jan 2009.We were served with 2 rounds of drinks followed by sumptous Indian dinner . I preffered white wine and a small Scotch .We landed at Bankok airport at around 5:35 a.m Thailand time . We had a connected flight to Phuket at around 7:50 a.m . Domestic Terminal is far far away from International . Though there are lots of automatic walkovers throughout the airport , yet it took us around 20 min - 25min to locate the Correct departure Gate .Its really a huge airport .

Again we took off for Phuket . Even the domestic travel had complementary beakfast which was good in taste .When we were about to land , we could see beautiful hills submerged in water . The feeling was great .
Landing was amazing . We felt as if we are about to land in water since the Airport is beside Sea .

My wife made a wish that some big car would come to recieve us. To our surprise a Big Black Nissan Sedane was there with a driver and guide .Guide was holding the display card of my name . It took us around 1 hr from airport to our Resort "Deewana Patong Resort" . We got freshened up and got ready for our city tour .

We started with the KATA beach , which was first active beach where i touched the crystal clear waters , took some snaps . Then we headed for Karon beach . The roads were neat and clean . Everything seemed to be perfect .

We saw some Pooja Samagri near some trees . This is a custom of thailand which symbolises , that they believe in Life after death . This offering of food and drinks is made in thier memory of thier loved ones who have departed .

Next Stop was Karon View Point - The view point is at some height and offers a beautiful view of all three beaches - Patong , Kata and Karon .We had a chilled and extremely sweet coconut worth Rs. 30 baht . It was worth it .

Then we mooved to our next destination RAWAI beach . Rawai beach is not an active beach . It is basically a way for Cruises and Ships .The beach is not accessible as well .

The next destination was Kinnary House . This is a place for some adventurous and entertaining sports activites . We rode 4 wheeler Short Scooter in Woods and through some steep topography .I forgot the cost , but the experience was amazing .I also did some shooting and scored  66% hits on Target .

The City tour ended with a wooden emporium PHUTHAI - The emporium is full of beautiful products made out of wood . We did some shopping for home and came back to resort .

After that we tried some street restaurants . Had our dinner , did some chotu motu shopping like 1 cut sleeves T-shirt , Beach Fotwears and came back to resort .