Well what can i say,3of us arrive at tullamarine 10 pm friday night, and all very excited about going to Thailand for our first time. A friend of ours flew out the day b4 and was spending the night at KL and was to meet up and fly together to Phuket, Of course James was flying Business class and us 3.....cattle. Although i must say there was a bit more leg room on Malaysian Airlines than other carriers i have been on. Food was ok on the plane and Flight attendants were very friendly.
Arrived at Katathani Bhurri wing about 11 ish only to be told there was no record of our booking !!! you can imagine the look on our faces. We had booked it through a large Travel agency in Melbourne and thought all would be ok. After asking if there were any vacancies, we were told yes and that there are rooms for the 4 of us, we felt better but was still concerned about our booking. The poor lass obviously saw the distressed looks on our faces and made us feel very welcome and said do not panic, they would sort it all out. This they did with a minimum of fuss and we never heard any more. They gave us our keys and breakfast vouchers and we were off to our rooms whithin ten minutes of arriving. Phew!!!. The rooms are great, we had a nice view of the pool from the 3rd floor and aswell you could see the ocean. This resort is a fantastic resort, i can not praise it enough. Breakfasts are good Restaurants are expensive by thai standards but cheap by aussie standards, although i would stay away from the seafood/ steak buffet, even though all the food is cooked for you fresh i thought it was over priced..650 baht per person. We were lazy that night and just wanted to staay in.
There are a couple of Restaurants outside the resort, cheap and cheerful food as well as a guy on his motor bike selling burgers and banana pancakes around 60 baht for a burger, handy for an afternoon snack after our diving trip, and a great place next infact the last shop to book tours, we bought our water from her and she did our laundry, when it was time to book trips we were given figures half or less of what was the advertised price. We didnt want to negotiate a real cheap price as we wanted her to get the commision, esp as after what they have been through. Also if you want a place to stay at that doesnt have all the night life in your face Katathani is perfect, and is only a short tuk tuk ride to kata. It also has great child minding facilities for those who need them.
Well a couple of days were spent at the resort as there was tummy bug going thru the 3 of us...oh joy, wich im happy to say was caught in Melbourne and not from dodgy food lol.
So our adventures were Elephant riding thru the forests, kyaking, Scuba diving and a journey to James bond island. We were to go to Phi Phi Isalnd however after getting about 45 minutes into the journey the capatain told us we would return as there was a massive storm not far away, not even his speed boat would out run it. Gladly we were gived a full refund. We wanted to reshedule but had to fly to Bangkok in two days and we had those days already booked. Shopped in Phuket town but was dissapointed bu being hassled by taxi drivers wanting to drive us to their favourite taylors and shops. no thank, we may have missed out on something but after walking around for 5 hours we had enough. On the way back to the resort we came across a newish shoping centre called Central. Next day we were on the courtesy bus from Katathani and having lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Central....so cheap i couldnt believe it.. and of course bought a few items.
Also went up to Patong a couple of nights, a very intersting place but twice in ten days was enogh for me. Prefered kata/karon area personaly...Boy i sound old... lol.
If yo do go to Katathani and see the guys doing the free dive in the pool, say hi to Simon and english chap and also Jay and american, both are great instructors, My partner who had never dived b4 and was very nervous had a great time because of the manner in wich these guys acted. Look forward to going back there next year and catching up with these guys, and to do some more diving.
But b4 we knew it it was time to go to Bangkok, We were all sad leaving Katathani, but a new adventure was to begin.
This leg of the flight, Phuket to Bangkok was in business class! how could you not it was only $15 au extra if you did the upgrade while booking your flights in OZ. This Leg was on Thai Airlines, it was great sitting up front, but the seats were tired and so were the staff.
Stayed at the Sofitel in silom, a very nice hotel and close to lots of shopping. Caught the overhead rail line often in the afternoons and did taxis/tuk tuks in the morning when there was not much traffic. went to do a tour of the temples but got ripped off. We thought it was 800 baht for the four of us but it was each and was told it would be a wonderful trip around the canals then onto the temples and back to the hotel.. oh no. we motored down the canals not stopping arrived a t a pier and had to pay 20 baht each to alight..... then left to our own devices...not happy. We discovered after finding out own temples and headed back to the hotel that the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong Pier mmmmm oh well all its all part of learning curve.
Found some great restaurants and great shopping. One great restaurant was on the street, didnt realize it was part of a Hotel till one of us went to the loo. it was oposite direction to the markets on silom road and was about 100 meters away from Sofitel... awesome food and a waitress who was very entertaining and and liked joking around. 2 days would have been enough for me in Bangkok and extra days in Phuket. Next year we will fly direct there now that Jetstar flies direct, it will be intersting to see what there service is like, although this time we will be sitting up front!!! We will be Staying at the Katathani as well and take some more friends of ours too. Then we will have time to do even more tours and see the wonderful country side.
Some work mates have already booked their holiday next year on our recommendation.
We were lucky with the weather, An Afternoon shower for 30 minutes then clear and then One day of storms the rest were warm and clearish.
Cant wait for next.
Cheers
Rodney

fantastic report rodney....you obviously had a ball....good to hear
kylie

Hi Rodney, welcome back . Thailand does get to you eh. regards Maureen

well its good to be back as my backyard is full of gum trees, oh the smell of gum trees :-) Arrived sunday orning in Melbourne had an hours nap and then had to head of to the country for our AGM with the car club we belong to. ( MX5 ) Then work monday morning. Im currently looking for flights on the internet now. Work mate got a deal at Katathani 14 days with breakfast and lunch or dinner included for a $1000.
Just want to say thankyou to all on the forum who offered advice and suggestions, hope to put them to better use next time. :-)

Im sorry Bali but it will be a longtime before i return to you. :-(

Welcome back Rodney, that was a good read, looks like we have another Phuket addict!!
Cathy

Great report. What a great dea with Thai to upgrade to Business for only $15 AUD, how did you find out about that??

Also I wanted to ask about the James Bond Island tour, did you do full or half day? What did it entail? and finally What was the cost?

Cheers

Ang

Great report Roady

Makes me want to be there now. Well Done!!
Kazba

Awesome report Rodney, I actually felt like I was there the way you described some of your events, sounds like everyone that goes to Thailand has a wonderful time. We are off in 39 days Yippee can’t wait. Cheers, Pete.

I dont think i have ever heard of a bad report from Thailand.
Bet you are counting down the days, or hours ???
You will have a great time, and yes i think i have become an addict to Thailand/Phuket. :-)

We are leaving here tomorrow and SOOOOOO don't want to go home!!

I and many others know exactly how you feel....... :-(
Safe journey home Tina

Yes we are Roady, 37 days to go.Yahoo!!!!
Cheers Pete.

Hi Roady, We flew business class Melbourne to Bangkok with British Airways - awesome service and then Business Bangkok to Thailand with Thai airways- Must say I am glad that the extra money got us a Danish pastry LOL, wouldn't spend the extra with such a short flight again, it's was definately more than $15.00 but not really worth it, but I wanted to make sure that we had the extra luggage allowance, silly when you think about it.........
Anyway as a snob who has way too many frequent flyer points who also believes the front of the plane is better, it isn't on short domestic flights........

Hi Gillian,
Well for one who is always down the back of the plane will now be flying upfront all the way, the extra leg room is worth it.
Enjoy your points :-)

Great report Roady

I'll be phuket on Sep. 19th. and it's very useful.
anzurya

Thanks Anzurya, have a great time. :-)
Cheers
Rodney