Baba Dining Lounge held another successful party last night. Those guys at Baba really know how to throw a party. Baba is one of the more sophisticated bars in Phuket. It’s not even a bar really, more like a lounge, restaurant type of thing. At night, when they hold parties, they go all out, with bands and DJs and all sorts.
The crowd is a bit like the folks you see at Bed Supperclub in Bangkok. The Baba crew are always there doing their thing, so the parties can feel a little cliquey. The music was decent last night, with Bonnie Anderson providing live vocals. Unfortunately, she was joined by a bald guy who we can only describe as a bad version of the guy from the Audio Bullies.
Otherwise it was fun all round. The drinks were cheap enough, with cocktails and wine set at only 100 baht a piece. We each got three vouchers for three drinks and there was no cover charge at the door.
Be sure to check out Baba when they have a special event.
Thailand’s budget-airline crisis has been hitting hard here in Phuket. Flights to Phuket have all but dried up. First, One-Two-Go was hit with a 30-day suspension of all its flying operations. Then, Nok Air suspended its Bangkok-Phuket route.
Local newspaper the Phuket Gazette reported floods of calls and emails from irate travelers in Bangkok trying to get to Phuket, but unable to catch that elusive flight.
Nok Air stepped up its game and has recently announced that it will reintroduce its Bangkok-Phuket flights, albeit only on Saturdays and Sunday.
The route will reopen this Saturday. It’s good news in the sense that there are no more flights connecting Phuket with Bangkok, but ultimately, it’s still not enough. Air Asia’s flights are full and even THAI is having trouble meeting the demand.
The airlines really need to step up and make their positions clear because there is now so much uncertainty with regards to catching flights to Phuket.
Phuket Wan yesterday broke the news that low-cost airline Nok Air has cut its routes from Bangkok to Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Rai and Ubon Ratchatanee. From a Phuket point of view, this means that Thai Air Asia is the only budget carrier operating a Bangkok-Phuket route after One-Two-Go was slapped with a 30-day suspension this week.
This doesn’t bode well for budget-conscious travellers in Thailand. Air Asia has yet to make a move with regards to its service, but we expect there will be some sort of price hike or route cut in the neat future. The days of cheap flights from one end of Thailand to the next could soon be over. Better get back on those buses.
Internet in Phuket has been a real issue for most of us. For a long time, there just wasn’t a decent way to get Internet access in Phuket. We’ve been rocking the CAT CCU-650 USB modem (10,900 baht) for a while and for a 900-baht-a-month service, we haven’t been all that impressed.
This morning, however, we started a download on uTorrent and what d’ya know, we had a download speed peaking at close to 100Kbps for the first time – ever. We don’t know what has happened to the Internet speeds in Phuket, but everything just got a hell of a lot faster.
Youtube videos now play without the need to pause the action for a few minutes. This is great news for people subscribed to one of CAT’s services. Elsewhere there are still problems with the Internet around Phuket, but CAT has certainly stepped up its game, most likely because of competition from TT&T and TOT. CAT is no longer the only service offering fast Internet speeds in Phuket.
CAT recently rolled out its new CCU-680 USB modem, which, according to local computer guru Woody Leonhard, doesn’t offer much of an upgrade aside from making programs such as Skype run a whole lot faster.
CAT’s USB modems are a great way to get Internet access without needing a phone line. Most of the island is covered, so you can travel around and stay connected. We’ve actually been as far as Khao Lak and still had service. Bangkok is not covered, however.
We’ve had a decent spell of Phuket weather over the past week or so. The only time it has been raining has been at night or early in the morning. The great thing about Phuket weather is that no matter how wet it may be at one point, you can be sure that the rain won’t last long. Furthermore, once the rain stops, everything in Phuket will be dry faster than it takes you to get your raincoat off.
Phuket weather shouldn’t really be a factor in whether you have a great holiday or not. There is heavy rain at many points during the year, but even during the wettest months, the Phuket weather is forgiving.
It’s not as if it rains for 30 days straight. People often fear the Phuket weather, but we don’t really get the same flooding as you see in Bangkok. Also, Phuket weather doesn’t bring the whole island to a standstill, as the rain in Bangkok can.
I guess we have the luxury of being next to the sea. Phuket weather is hot all the time, so the addition of rain is usually welcomed and will actually help you cool off.
Nana Plaza in Bangkok is a curious place. We’ve been there three times and didn’t have a problem with it. Cheap drinks, people-watching, amazing burgers – it is what it is. We were surprised to hear that Nana Plaza is coming to Phuket. Some of the guy’s behind the Bangkok plaza have secured a government lease to open something similar in Patong.
We were surprised to hear about this because we had been under the impression that Patong was moving away from this kind of entertainment. Patong is definitely the place for a Nana Plaza, but we wonder how this will affect tourism in Phuket. We suspect that Nana Plaza will attract many people to the island who would otherwise not have ventured this far south. Perhaps families will start looking to other areas, such as Kata-Karon.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. If you want to own a bar at Nana Plaza, they are seeking investors. This is probably one of the few times that you might be able to earn a decent ROI on a bar, but nothing is guaranteed.
The marketing campaign looks pretty full-on. From the website: “[Nana Plaza will be marketed all over] the world via the internet and a huge presence all over the island with billboards, T-shirts, baseball caps, a radio show and much more.”
We’re not sure of the date they are planning to open Nana Plaza.
Nana Plaza will take over the soi that runs parallel between Soi Bangla and Soi Seapearl. It seems like these guys know what they’re doing so we have no doubt that this will be a success as long as they have the right police connections and can keep their bars open late. There will even be lasers on Rat U-thit rd.
After a weekend in Bangkok, we are straight back to Phuket. It’s amazing to see the difference in the bars and clubs in Phuket as compared with Bangkok. The Phuket nightlife scene has a lot to offer, but it still has a long way to go before it can compete with the bigger cities.
One of the things that we’re always happy about in Phuket is the fact that there are so many great restaurants. Although there isn’t as much street food as in Bangkok, there is still more than enough to keep us happy.
We’ll be going back to Bangkok again this weekend. Don’t get us wrong, we love Phuket, but sometimes you need to go shopping or party in a big way that you can’t usually do on the island. But still, it is nice to be back in Phuket, where everything is so much more calm than in the capital.
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Phuket Vogue is a resource dedicated to bringing you up-to-date information about restaurants and nightlife in Phuket. This website is constantly expanding to bring you the most vogue clubs and eateries on the island. Whether you want to party in Patong or dine out in Phuket City, we have the info for you. We love Phuket. Privacy policy
