Thailand – June 2016
Bought a Scoopon deal for 10 nights including airfares, transfers and accommodation and breakfast for $AUD1099 each.
First stop was 5 nights at Cape Sienna just north of Phuket. Situated on a hill near Kamala Beach. Rooms all look due west with uninterrupted views of the ocean.
Great hotel with all the modern requirements. Big buffet breakfast was included and had room service meal one night which was not expensive and quite nice. We don’t normally eat in at hotels but we were sick of getting caught in the rain the whole time. Unfortunately, we picked the wrong time of year to visit as it rained the whole time we were there.
In between rain storms, we did a lazy walk to Kamala Beach around lunchtime one day. Surprising to see very few restaurants and shops open. I guess they knew it was the rainy season and there would not be too many tourists.
Did the usual trips in to Phuket to eat, shop and generally look around as all good tourists do. Found the prices in the restaurants surprisingly similar to Australian prices. Not what we expected at all. We had been led to believe that prices were much cheaper and that was one of the attractions of Thailand. I’m sure if you went to other places other than the usual tourist spots though that this would be different. Our problem was that we had been to Bali so many times and had expected to see restaurant prices similar. However, that proved not to be the case.
The highlight of this stay though was the day we went to the Phuket Thai Cookery School which we booked through the hotel. We had been to a few other cooking schools in Bali and Vietnam and this compared very favourably with those experiences. Expert chefs who have personality with a sense of humour make these schools. Location on a beach and only a small village nearby make it a great experience. Highly recommended.
After 5 nights at Hotel Sienna, we were transferred to Kho Yao Resort on the island of Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga Bay, between Phuket & Krabi. Fast speedboat ride for about 50 minutes was pretty. Crossed a channel of water that had a similar look to Halong Bay in Vietnam but without the higher cliffs.
The resort prides itself on it’s attention to eco-tourism. Had the usual for these types of island resorts with big buffet breakfast and good size meals. Alcohol prices were the same if not more than Australian prices.
Because of its location at the northern end of the island, it is reasonably remote from the rest of the other hotels and local inhabitants.
One nice feature is that they pride themselves on employing over 70% of their staff from the local island. They run compulsory classes each day for the staff teaching English. I heard them speak bits of other languages but not sure if they were taught or just picked up languages from tourists. The owners are doing their best to help the locals earn a living and get skills for the future.
Overall, a pleasant “tourist” trip but not enough to get me back. I’m sure though that the more adventurous tourist would find more exciting things to see and do.
