Editor: Irina
Today in our analysis: Thailand - Phuket - Patong Beach. Is Patong vacation suitable for everyone?
On our first trip to Thailand, we stayed at a hotel on Patong Beach. This is probably the first beach (and impression) of any tourist who decides to fly to Phuket on a more or less budgetary basis.
In no case will I dissuade you from choosing, as some (numerous, I must say) reviews about Patong Beach. On the contrary, I will try to emphasize its positive aspects, but I will also mention the negative aspects. Both my own experience of two trips to Phuket and my friend, who has been living here for 13 years, will help me with this.
Features and description of Patong beach
What is the most popular beach in Phuket? Even a baby will answer you: of course, Patong Beach!
Although relaxing in Patong with a baby, and with small children too, I would not recommend.
But if you are young (not only in age, but also at heart), active, love to have fun, and you are not embarrassed by the constant noise of the street, colorful crowd of tourists and loud music, then Patong Beach in Phuket is a great place.
This resort area is also suitable for those who ...
- She is not afraid to take rice with chicken from a tray from a Thai cook and does not hesitate to eat it sitting right on the seashore.
- Loves constant traffic, and for whom the first coastline in the location of the hotel is not important.
- Considers 24/7 availability critical - whether it's an open bar or a mango ice cream.
- "For" economical vacation, because the prices on Patong Beach are still lower than in other tourist areas.
I even heard a local saying: “Haven't you been to Patong? So you haven't been to Phuket! " (yes, yes, it is universal for any country ☺)
How to get to Patong Beach?
How to get to Patong from Phuket airport? If you are an independent and do not have a pick-up from the tour operator.
There are several ways, let's start with the most economical:
- Phuket Smart Bus: Finally, the authorities have moved to normal public transport from the airport to the beaches! The ride takes about 1.5 hours. Travel is paid with a special Phuket Rabbit Card, which can be purchased directly from the driver.
Price:
170 baht if paid on the bus (cash, no change)
150 baht if by Phuket Rabbit Card
Opening hours: 6: 00-21: 00 - Minivan (group transfer): at the exit from the airport, you can't help but run into racks with barkers offering a transfer to the hotel. A minibus for ≈ 10 people is dialed, it reaches the "terminal", where passengers are seated on other minibuses, depending on the beaches, and taken to the hotel. Travel time is 1.5-2 hours.
Price: 180 THB - Individual transfer: pre-order a car at KiwiTaxi, and you will be met by the driver in the arrivals hall with a sign. Conveniently, we have enjoyed in Montenegro and Athens.
Cost: 800 baht per car
Opening hours: around the clock - Airport Taxi: It costs about 800 baht to get to Patong Beach.
Patong Beach Photos
I'll show you a few photos right away in order to debunk the reviews about Patong Beach as the most NEAR and filthy place on the island. If this is "ugly", let's sympathize with all the tourists based in Patong :)
But of course, in the photo, the beaches of Phuket are all good, and which one to choose - you can't decide that way, you have to "dig deeper".
Phuket Tour Prices - 2021
Patong is the cheapest resort for a package trip. You can verify this by looking at the prices for these same vouchers:
- Travelata
- Level.Travel
- Onlinetours
These are online tour aggregators - they collect all offers from leading tour operators and sort them, depending on your wishes.
Our first trip to Phuket coincided with the first experience of buying a tour online. It turned out unobtrusively (they themselves chose the hotel for the price and comfort) and reliably, no difficulties. For the future, this solved the problem of traveling to agencies - now we are our own travel agents.
Prices for tours on aggregators are indicated directly from the tour operator, without surcharges. In the season of 2021, the cost of the "package" to Phuket starts from 90,000 rubles for 10 nights for two. All budget hotels are concentrated on Patong Beach.
Infrastructure of the beach and resort
Patong beach itself is short: only 4 km, and is divided into northern, central and southern parts.
Patong has three main streetsthat run along the entire area. In common people, for reference, they are called: beach (1 line), second and third. The main tourist infrastructure is concentrated here.
There is also the fourth street Nanai Road, where the cheapest hotels and guesthouses, and the fifth street - for lovers of solitude on a high hill surrounded by the jungle, with rare trips to the world.
The beach and the second street, with access to the very center of the beach, are connected by the famous Bangla Road, the center of Phuket's nightlife. The clubs and bars on Bangla Road are open (I would say they rumble) until the morning. The most popular one for dancing and dating is Illusion... Music, discos, shows for adults, bright lights, alcohol, transvestites and eccentrics - this is Bangla. Not everyone likes it.
Exchangers in Patong are ku-u-u-chau, so don't worry about having Thai coins for shopping. Currency exchange (dollars) is more profitable to do in large bills (50 and 100 dollars). Russian rubles can be changed freely in almost all exchangers.
Patong is a sandy beach. The sand is fine and light yellow in color. The entry into the sea is smooth and long. Palm trees grow along the coast, creating a narrow strip of shade.
Most of the beaches in Phuket are public and free. In Patong, sun loungers and umbrellas can be rented only in specially designated places:
- at the Holiday Inn Resort,
- opposite Patong Tower - the tallest building in Patong,
- opposite Bangla street,
- opposite Patong Marina Hotel
- and opposite the Graceland and Charm Hotel.
Price for a set of "2 sun loungers and an umbrella": 200 baht (450 rubles) per day. Many tourists sunbathe on their beach mats and towels - this is not prohibited and completely free.
By the way, smoking on the beach is only allowed in special smoking areas OUTSIDE the beach. The fine is up to 100 thousand baht!
Cafe and prices in Patong
The currency in Thailand is Thai Baht. 1 baht = 2.2 rubles (multiply by 2 for simplicity).
There are no problems with food in Patong. Hundreds of cafes, dozens of makashnits (food carts), from which you can buy cheap pad thai noodles or fried chicken right on the go.
What are the prices in shakers?
- Tom yam soup - 100 baht
- Pad Thai noodles - 70 baht
- Som tam salad - 50 baht
- Portion of fried rice with kao pad seafood - 60 baht
On every corner there are shops where for 80-100 baht they will mix smoothies from tropical fruits - mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon. Well, a cold coconut for 50 baht, perfectly quenching thirst in the heat, is a Phuket classic!
Patong has two large daily markets:
- Malin plaza
- Banzaan Fresh Market ...
... where you can not only buy clothes / souvenirs / fruits, but also just eat “without leaving the checkout”. Choose some meaty squid or fat king prawns at the seafood counter, and the seller immediately prepares them to your liking. And, by the way, the fact that Thais cook over-spicy dishes for absolutely everyone is a myth. Usually sellers are immediately interested in what kind of hot dish you should make, and most often they cook everything fresh and serve it on the table with a set of spices: soy sauce, oyster sauce, chopped chili peppers, garlic, vinegar.
Patong Beach is international, and there are restaurants of almost all cuisines of the world. Therefore, it will not do without several Russian restaurants, where there are both Olivier and dumplings (to feed the capricious adults children):
- Spice house at Jungceylon Shopping Center
- Gingerbread man opposite the Natural Resort hotel, popular with Russian tourists
A domestic lunch consisting of salad, dumplings and a drink will cost about 300-500 baht per person.
However, most tourists still prefer the local cuisine. And here I can advise the famous buffets or cafe-samovars, as they are called in Phuket.These are establishments where you pick up raw seafood, meat or semi-finished products on your plates without restriction and cook them yourself on a special grill. The price of pleasure is the same 300-500 baht per person. Again, you can eat without restriction. I rent a location for lovers of unlimited Japanese cuisine: cafe Shabushi at the Jungceylon mall, 450 baht and eat like slaughter.
Entertainment and excursions in Patong
About entertainment.
There are almost no iconic "sightseeing" places in Patong, all the main attractions of Phuket are located in other areas.
In Patong you can swim and hang out, walk a lot and shop in shopping malls Jungceylon and Central Patong... I like Jang Ceylon: here you can have a tasty lunch and buy at the sale of clothes, cosmetics, perfumes and souvenirs. There is also a huge supermarket Big C (Big C) and a department store Robinson (Robinson).
On every corner and even on the beach, you will be beckoned for a Thai massage. The quality of Thai massage is different - so how lucky.
- The cost of an hour of regular Thai massage is 300-400 baht,
- massage with coconut oil - 500 baht,
- foot massage - 200 baht.
All sorts of extreme water activities are offered along the coast. Parasailing, banana or frog riding, catamaran rides. These entertainments are not cheap (15-minute parachute flights - $ 50), but they are also unsafe (frequent "splurges" for money after riding a jet ski), so I strongly do not recommend them.
About excursions.
Holidays in Thailand are closely related to excursions. From Patong, of course, you can go anywhere.
Prices for excursions in Phuket (most popular):
- Similan Islands - from 2000 baht per person
- Private Maiton Island (for a relaxing beach holiday, like in the Maldives) - from 2500 baht
- Lake Cheolan - from 2000 baht
- Khao Lak National Park - from 1000 baht
Tourists are also very fond of sightseeing tours in Phuket - there is something to see, and this type of "acquaintance" is actually convenient and informative. And it saves you from the temptation to stick to the "hotel-beach-hotel" route, because in the heat it is dreary and lazy to go somewhere on your own.
Tripster reviews are popular in Phuket - this is our domestic service, where guides or just local residents who speak Russian offer joint walks around the world. We love Tripster dearly and actively use it in travel, went and went on excursions in Montenegro, the UAE and Mexico. I suggest you also see what is in Phuket:
Transport
You can move around Patong and to neighboring beaches in the following ways:
- By municipal bus, stopping at the southern part of the beach street. For 40 baht, you can get to the large Central Festival shopping center in Phuket Town or drive to the final and wander through the authentic painted streets of the Old City.
- Along the entire coast of Phuket runs Smart Bus (smart bass)... From the southernmost beach of Rawai all the way to the airport and back, driving through all of Phuket's main beaches. Cost: 50-170 baht per person (one stop - full route). A special travel card is required. Smart bass is convenient, it made the beaches of Kata Beach, Karon, Kamala, Surin accessible to any tourist - earlier you could only get to them from Patong by taxi or bike.
- Taxi or knock knock... Drive inside the beach - from 200 baht. To the neighboring beaches - Kata Karon - from 400 baht, to Surin Beach - from 600 baht.
- Motobike taxi... They go only inside Patong Beach without going to neighboring areas, from 100 baht.
Rent a car and bike in Phuket
- Motorbike rental: from 250 baht per day, depending on the bike model. There are many rental offices, you won't have to look for a long time.
- Car rental: from about 600 baht per day in low season and from 800 baht per day in high season. Pick up a car on Myrentacar.com and read our article on how to rent a car in Phuket.
And now for more details.
It's almost impossible to drive around Patong by car. Constant traffic jams, one-way traffic, lack of parking spaces. A car in Phuket is needed for trips outside the island or for trips to distant beaches.
“If I have to drive to Patong by car, it is a lot of stress even with my 10 years of driving experience. It’s very narrow, it’s difficult to get to the right place, there’s an hour-long standing on a crowded street, and motorcyclists also jump out of every corner. ”
Katya, who lives in Phuket.
A motorbike (scooter) is just that. Slick, maneuverable and you can park everywhere. But again, driving experience is required. Because one mistake can end, at best, with skinned knees and a quick farewell to the sea (with wounds, swimming in the sea is a dubious pleasure).
Russian license for driving a car or bike is suitable. And they should definitely be with you, since in Patong the police check foreigners especially carefully. There are always police posts here, so you won't be able to drive by.
In general, it is necessary to observe the rules of the road abroad.
If you need to wear a helmet, wear it. In Phuket, the fine for his absence is 500 baht.
And don't drink while driving. If a police officer stops a drunk driver, a fine of $ 1,000 FROM will arrive - and this is if an agreement can be reached. In the worst case, immediately imprisonment, trial, deportation.
Review of Patong
Patong is far from the leader of the list of "Phuket's best beaches". Yes, it is dirty, noisy and hectic here. But how could it be otherwise if this is the most important and famous beach? Thousands of tourists pass through it, and, I believe, Thais are still doing well with such a flow.
After spending 10 days here, we came to the conclusion that it is normal in Patong. The drunken and - sorry - stinking Bangla Road can be simply avoided (it's just a small street in a large district). The problem with a deserted and clean section of the beach is solved by 1000 extra steps to the left or right from the center. But here it is cheap (you will definitely not be able to persuade a Thai to buy a bike for 150 baht a day on Karon or Kata), many cafes and hotels are inexpensive.
So for myself, I will say this: negative reviews about Patong Beach in Phuket are exaggerated. Here you can be comfortable - and beautiful! - spend a vacation.
Is the sea in Patong clean?
The sea in Patong is considered not the cleanest in comparison with other beaches in Phuket. Some tourists even say that Patong is a dirty beach. This is due to the huge number of tourists vacationing here, as well as the parking of water transport near the coast. These are cruise ships, jet skis, parachutes for parasailing, bananas and other water activities. Of course, there is rubbish on the beach and on the promenade, but Thais always clean up quickly and try to keep Patong beach clean.
However, the northern part of Patong, in the area of the Graceland, B-Lay Tong and Charm hotels, is very clean, so I recommend that you rest, drive, go swimming here. Also in this part of the island there is a cozy coastal park with very beautiful palm trees along the sea - the photos are awesome!
Entering the water, depth
The entry into the water in Patong is very good. Smooth, calm. Unlike the Maikhao beach, where, after taking two steps into the sea, the depth immediately begins up to the neck. There are almost no waves in Patong during the storm season (August, September).
Pros and cons of staying in Patong
Pros:
+ Developed infrastructure (inexpensive transport, many markets, cafes, shopping centers).
+ Everything is within walking distance.
+ There is an active evening and nightlife.
+ A wide selection of accommodation for different budgets, hotels in Patong do not "bite".
+ Easy access to other parts of Phuket Island.
Minuses:
- Not quite comfortable for families with children.
- Noisy.
- There are a lot of tourists both on the streets and on the beach.
- The beach is not very clean compared to the beaches of Kata or Surin, for example.
- A lot of water equipment near the coast.
- Little shade on the beach.
- Few free parking spaces along the beach.
- There are almost no hotels with direct beach access.
Hotels on Patong Beach, Phuket
1 line.
Patong Beach in Phuket and hotels on the first line are incompatible objects. Almost along its entire length, the beach is separated by a carriageway. To become lucky with the first coastal, it is better to settle in the following hotels:
- 4 * Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa
- 4 * The Charm Resort Phuket
- 4 * Beyond Hotel Patong is a fairly new chain hotel
- 4 * Clover Patong - suitable for lovers of activities, since next to it is the Surf House surf club, where you can take a surfing lesson for $ 30 per hour.
2 line.
On the second street from the beach, you can already choose more budget hotels. I recommend taking a closer look at these hotels:
- 4 * The Lunar Patong
- 4 * Duangjitt Resort & Spa - this hotel has a gorgeous territory that is so rare in Patong
And 3 star hotels:
- 3 * Ibis Phuket Patong Beach
- 3 * Tony Resort
- 3 * Baumanburi
3 line.
On the third street from the beach, there is a fairly large selection of hotels for economy recreation: from hotels for overnight stays to quite comfortable and cozy accommodation. I recommend taking a closer look at the hotels:
- creative 3 * The Marina Phuket
- 4 * Bauman Residence
- 3 * The Natural Resort - with its own green area (this hotel is convenient to relax with a child).
When is the best time to go to Patong?
When is the season in Phuket? Here the answer is unequivocal - the season in Phuket is all year round. Sometime hotter, sometime rainier, in winter it is more expensive, in summer it is cheaper. But you can go on vacation to Phuket all year round.
Air and water temperatures are stable - from 30 degrees. The hottest months: March and April, the air temperature rises to +33 and above. In the summer (from May to October), cloudy weather is not a sentence, but a bit of coolness. And a chance to get sunburned in a couple of hours, and not in half an hour, as in the burning Thai sun.
Unlike many other beaches in Phuket, Patong does not have very big waves during the rainy season. This is due to the fact that Patong is slightly cut into the island, and the waves, reaching the coast, lose their power and weaken. Therefore, when choosing a beach for recreation directly in the summer months, it is worth paying attention to Patong.
