EL159 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WineOh Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Nai Harn beach. its the only place worth your time there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzzz Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) 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 Edited December 18, 2020 by zzzzz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Kamala and Nai Harn/Rawai are the places to be right now. Maybe check The Nai Harn, lovely hotel. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagfinnur Traustason Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 4 hours ago, stevenl said: Ludicrous post. I could say that about your 2 word post too, but I wont. ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT63 Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasingTheSun Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 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! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Posts and replies in violation of the following forum rule have been removed: 9) You will not post inflammatory messages on the forum, or attempt to disrupt discussions to upset its participants, or trolling. Trolling can be defined as the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet by posting controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nurseynutcase Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assi Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Have you ever considered a boat trip? Especially if you are with your family, there is nothing better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LALes Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Laguna is 90% open and good for upscale types. Pretty much a French and American enclave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPhibes Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzzz Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattaya Spotter Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) 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. Edited December 23, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPhibes Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteBuffaloATM Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Can recommend STAY Resort ( 5 *Self Contained / Onsen / Top Restaurant / Quiet/ Near Action/ Rawai/ Modern/ Full Relaxation / Great Pool Complex/ Large Gym) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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