Wheelchair Accessibility In Phuket

[jdwphuket]

Hi,

I'm writing an article about wheelchair accessibility in Phuket for the Phuket Gazette. I'd be really interested to hear from and possibly interview any wheelchair users either living here or who have spent some time here. If you're able to help, please PM me.

Many thanks

Dan

[Nampeung]

Hi, I left Phuket before I started using a wheelchair but, from memory, I'd imagine it's pretty bad there access wise. The only way to go in many instances would be driving the chair on the road which would be lethal due to all the crazy drivers on the island !! Some of the larger resorts have ramped access but you'd have to then have a suitable taxi/vehicle to get you there. I don't think the prospects for independent wheelchair travel are good in Phuket at all. Please let us know when you publish the article

[Zpete]

Wheelchair access on Phuket, ya joshing, rite?

I would say wheelchair access anywhere in Thailand would be like finding a bargal virgin.

Mite be someplace.

[Nampeung]

[Old Croc]

Wheelchair access on Phuket, ya joshing, rite?

would be like finding a bargal virgin.

I've met several.

That's what they told me.

[steelepulse]

I've seen the same guy buzzing around the beach road in kata for years on his motorized wheelchair. I also see him in the road behind club med on the main road which seems kind of dangerous.

[huggybear]

Hi,

I'm writing an article about wheelchair accessibility in Phuket for the Phuket Gazette. I'd be really interested to hear from and possibly interview any wheelchair users either living here or who have spent some time here. If you're able to help, please email me at [email protected].

Many thanks

Dan

I saw a guy yesterday at Kata Beach who is here quite often.

You might take a cruise down there and interview him.

[thaigerd]

Forum member Simon43 runs a small resort which has wheelchair accessibility.

Gerd

[Nampeung]

Yes Dan you should call Simon43, can't remember the name of his resort, think it's near Phuket Airport

[thaigerd]

Yes Dan you should call Simon43, can't remember the name of his resort, think it's near Phuket Airport

http://www.phuketairporthotel.com/

[Sir Burr]

There's a bloke in the Chalong - Rawai area that has come up with an ingenious solution.

He is wheel-chair bound, but, he has a Honda Wave with a side-car. The back of the side-car has a wooden ramp that can be raised and lowered. He just wheels himself into the side-car, slides over to the motorbike seat and away he goes.

The controls on the motorbike have been modified so that he only needs to use his hands.

Met him in quite a few different bars now, so, he does get around.

[simon43]

Dan came up to see me a few days ago about this subject, (we actually met a few days before at the rice-harvesting festival).

There is also a French expat who many will have seen in Bangla road. He has a wheelchair and a small motorised external unit with wheels that he uses to pull his wheelchair along. I see him most nights in the bars on Bangla.

I personally feel that Phuket needs all the tourists that they can get - and some simple thought prior to road and pavement construction could make life much easier for both wheelchair users and for other disabilities (think blind people and electricity pylons in the middle of pavements etc).

Why are there no disabled public toilets (with global key system) on Bangla Road? It really does not cost much to install facilities and ramps etc for those who are wheelchair-bound but still want to party!

Simon

[Nampeung]

Good points Simon. Does anyone know if their is a representative for/of disabled people in Thailand who deals with this kind of thing?