Hi All.

 

I live in Chiang Mai. We were thinking of a weeks break somewhere in Phuket in January. We generally avoid Patong and mostly prefer the quieter beaches in the North of the island, normally 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, but am hearing so many stories of whole areas being essentially closed due to obvious lack of tourism.

We ve got no problem finding a nice resort, be it Pullman, Marriott etc but at night we prefer to go out to eat, typically Italian/ Pizza, or Wine Bar type places....but not much fun if lots are closed....

Any guidance/ advice would be much appreciated about which locations are still open for business at this difficult time.

Thanks!

Nai Harn beach.

its the only place worth your time there.

Patong, kata, karon are 90% closed

Suggest you look at Kamala,  if you want to be able to walk around everywhere, plenty of sea view hotels/gh's,  restaurants on the beach, a beach club an if you got spare cash; the Novotel or Intercontinental. 

or Nai harn, rawi if u will rent  a bike

Chen Talay / Laguna if you have the $$$.....;lots open

Kamala and Nai Harn/Rawai are the places to be right now.

 

Maybe check The Nai Harn, lovely hotel.

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

Ludicrous post.

I could say that about your 2 word post too, but I wont. ????

The Boat Avenue area of Cherngtalay is open and getting a bit livelier.

The Friday evening market is attracting more people than a month ago.

Plenty of good quality restaurants to choose from and some good deals to be had on hotels.

Not everyones cup of tea but I don't find it as expensive as some people make out

On 12/18/2020 at 7:25 AM, EL159 said:

Hi All.

 

I live in Chiang Mai. We were thinking of a weeks break somewhere in Phuket in January. We generally avoid Patong and mostly prefer the quieter beaches in the North of the island, normally 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, but am hearing so many stories of whole areas being essentially closed due to obvious lack of tourism.

We ve got no problem finding a nice resort, be it Pullman, Marriott etc but at night we prefer to go out to eat, typically Italian/ Pizza, or Wine Bar type places....but not much fun if lots are closed....

Any guidance/ advice would be much appreciated about which locations are still open for business at this difficult time.

Thanks!

As others have said, Kamala is your best bet by far.

Have fun!

 

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_{Kata is incredibly quiet but plenty of Italian restaurants remain open.}

_{No beach bars per se but drinks are available close by.  Boring really so wouldn't recommend it}

Have you ever considered a boat trip? Especially if you are with your family, there is nothing better!

Laguna is 90% open and good for upscale types.  Pretty much a French and American enclave.

Teens and I are staying Karon Beach for a dive trip in early Jan.  Have not seen that much closed there.  It will be a bit of  shlep to walk to EAT in Karon, our favorite falang restaurant, nut the food will just taste better!  They do a good lamb shank and such.  They have Limoncello, can't go wrong with a Limoncello aperitif.

19 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

Teens and I are staying Karon Beach for a dive trip in early Jan.  Have not seen that much closed there.  It will be a bit of  shlep to walk to EAT in Karon, our favorite falang restaurant, nut the food will just taste better!  They do a good lamb shank and such.  They have Limoncello, can't go wrong with a Limoncello aperitif.

Just about everything is closed in Karon along the beach road Only places open are on the main road

I'm currently on a staycation from Pattaya and staying at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel at Mai Kao Beach. It sounds like you are already familiar with this area so I will just tell you it's very quiet and peaceful right now. All the hotels are open and there seemed to be at least 50% occupancy midweek (Christmas week) last nite. All the resorts restos are open and from my walkabout, it appears most, if not all, of the restos at surrounding properties are open too. Bill Bentley, Coffee Club, etc. at Turtle Village are also open. Some of the beachside independent bars and seafood restos, like Micky Mike, are open as well. As you know, this isn't a honky tonk part of the island so if a beautiful beach is what you want, I'd say come on down.

Follow up 1/1/21 Karon Beach dive trip.  Staying at Baan Karonburi resort.  Only a couple of high end resorts open other than this and that might be why so busy.  We walked the beach road around to the main road as one big loop.  Only a few restaurants open (five we counted)  Ghost town.  One was O-Oh Farm.  Food was really fresh, a find given the current conditions.  Last night went to Costra Nostra all the way to Chalong for dinner.  We were the only cutomers not speaking Italian.  Tiramisu was perfect but Limoncello was warm :-(.  Will definitely return.  Every local has said, north of Patong or south/south east of Kata for anything really open.  Diving has been good.

Can recommend STAY Resort ( 5 *Self Contained / Onsen / Top Restaurant / Quiet/ Near Action/ Rawai/ Modern/ Full Relaxation / Great Pool Complex/ Large Gym)