Patong Beach 1974

[South]

Patong Beach 35 years ago. Shows what tourism does!

Pretty much the only building in the area. Restaurant in the day,

move the tables and chairs and it's a place to sleep at night!

[Boater]

great photos !,

[neverdie]

Ahhh, thats how I remember it.....chased my first girlfriend along there and we were the only too on the beach

Thanks for the pics, south.

[xen]

I first went there in 1986 and the development was already established at Patong.

Stayed at Karon for a week of bliss. The generators for the electricity went out at 10.00 pm. To make a phone call I had to go into Phuket township and book a call to Bangkok at the telephone exchange.

I thought it was paradise then .

[cognos]

Ahhh, thats how I remember it.....chased my first girlfriend along there and we were the only too on the beach

Thanks for the pics, south.

when you were 4 years old?? signed: when turtles ruled

[katasyd]

It's a shame what it has turned into.

If only we could go back and start over.

[metisdead]

I first went to Patong in May '85, stayed at Paradise Bungalows, was indeed Paradise back then. Quit going to Patong in '92, too much development for me by then.

[Atmos]

great pics, thanks, interested in the history

back then - what roads (unsealed I presume) were there on the island. Karon-Patong? Patong-Kamala? and so on.

Airport - or bus from Bkk?

cheers

[toptuan]

If only we could go back and start over.

Tried to, with the tsunami.

[LivinLOS]

It's a shame what it has turned into.

If only we could go back and start over.

I never understand this mindset..

So you want an unspoiled beach with no electric and services.. You know how long you need to drive to find this ?? A hour perhaps ??

My buddy runs a resort on Koh Phayam island, no electric, no cars, dirt trails etc.. Just a couple of hours up the coast.

If people really dont want any services, stick a pin in a map on the coastline and your more likely to hit a beach like that than one developed.. So go to one like your asking for.

[antony77]

I was there in 1963 with a group of 30 divers from The Thailand Sub Aqua Club. We caught 25 large Lobsters (cray fish) around the rocks on the north end of the beach!

[montrii]

I, too, knew Patong before it became what is now. in 1966 I was in the middle of my Peace Corps tour and it was April, when all the schools closed. A fellow teacher in Phuket invited a bunch of us down to teach a month-long seminar for local English teachers, and what a great time it was . . . on weekends we went out to Patong and Karon, and, yes, thanks for the pictures, that's the way it looked. No one, absolutely no one around on these amazing beaches. The first time I came back was 18 years later, in 1984, and it was still beautiful, but there were some bungalows and even a few beer bars in Patong. At that point I was able to go out in a long-tail boat in Patong Bay and scuba dive in clear water, saw lobsters and all sorts of great wild stuff under there. Coming back for the third time twelve years after that, things had already turned into what they are now, more or less. What a pity . . . can't turn the clock back, tho.

[phuketrichard]

great pics, thanks, interested in the history

back then - what roads (unsealed I presume) were there on the island. Karon-Patong? Patong-Kamala? and so on.

Airport - or bus from Bkk?

cheers

roads were everywhere EXCEPT Patong to Karon ( whihc was a track for motorcycles in the 80's)

Flights in and out to Bangkok, sing, Penang since the 70's

I moved here in '84 and its still as close to Paradise ( if u can stay away from Patong) as u can get.

[gvallee2]

lots of these places still exists in dominican republic, lots of expats too. Especialy french.

I remember riding my 4 wheeler for over 30mins without seeing a single building or person on a an empty beach (if you dont count the abandoned club med villas where everything was stolen by locals)

[gvallee2]

livinlos, if you're friends resort has many dirtbike style activities can you PM me the info?

[SirDougless]

It's a shame what it has turned into.

If only we could go back and start over.

I never understand this mindset..

So you want an unspoiled beach with no electric and services.. You know how long you need to drive to find this ?? A hour perhaps ??

My buddy runs a resort on Koh Phayam island, no electric, no cars, dirt trails etc.. Just a couple of hours up the coast.

If people really dont want any services, stick a pin in a map on the coastline and your more likely to hit a beach like that than one developed.. So go to one like your asking for.

My thoughts too. Still plenty of undeveloped areas in Thailand and SE Asia generally, so no point in complaining. No town/city is perfectly 'developed' as it happens over time and is controlled by different authorities.

[LivinLOS]

livinlos, if you're friends resort has many dirtbike style activities can you PM me the info?

He doesnt yet.. I was actually talking to him about gtting some KLX140's from Kwaker but the police visited the island and told everyone soon all bikes must have papers for the road even if there are no roads..

There ware waves and the like..

Phayam is actually a great break.. Makes a ranong visa run a mini holiday.

[LivinginKata]

2 posts not related to this Phuket topic have been removed.

[khundon]

Ahhh, thats how I remember it.....chased my first girlfriend along there and we were the only too on the beach

Thanks for the pics, south.

Bet you couldn't catch her now

Spent my months honeymoon in the Amari Coral beach hotel in 2001. Great place.

[katasyd]

It's a shame what it has turned into.

If only we could go back and start over.

I never understand this mindset..

So you want an unspoiled beach with no electric and services.. You know how long you need to drive to find this ?? A hour perhaps ??

My buddy runs a resort on Koh Phayam island, no electric, no cars, dirt trails etc.. Just a couple of hours up the coast.

If people really dont want any services, stick a pin in a map on the coastline and your more likely to hit a beach like that than one developed.. So go to one like your asking for.

Look at what it is now.

It's a cesspool of greed and filth.

I really should have clarified my original post, i was refering to the horrible urban planning or the lack of it over the years.

The place could have been magnificent with a little foresight.

[mikebike]

I never understand this mindset..

So you want an unspoiled beach with no electric and services.. You know how long you need to drive to find this ?? A hour perhaps ??

My buddy runs a resort on Koh Phayam island, no electric, no cars, dirt trails etc.. Just a couple of hours up the coast.

If people really dont want any services, stick a pin in a map on the coastline and your more likely to hit a beach like that than one developed.. So go to one like your asking for.

Phayam is a wonderful place for chillaxin' - but its about a 3.5/4 hour drive from Rawai to the pier in Ranong and what, an hour/hour and a half ferry ride? Frig, the last thing Phayam needs is dirt bikes... yikes.

[LivinLOS]

Phayam is a wonderful place for chillaxin' - but its about a 3.5/4 hour drive from Rawai to the pier in Ranong and what, an hour/hour and a half ferry ride? Frig, the last thing Phayam needs is dirt bikes... yikes.

Yeah Phayam is 3 hours drive sure.. But as soon as your off the island, the beaches past Kok kloy (??) are empty and deserted just like Phuket 70's..

[Gonsalviz]

I stayed there in 1978. Patong Beach Hotel had been built by then but the beach pretty much looked the same.

Much better in those days.

Hey I know, lets build another Tesco/Lotus.

Thailand has forgotten what tourism is about.

Thanks for the pics.

[phuketrex]

Bangla Road 1984ish>>>

[phuketrex]

[South]

roads were everywhere EXCEPT Patong to Karon ( whihc was a track for motorcycles in the 80's)

Flights in and out to Bangkok, sing, Penang since the 70's

I moved here in '84 and its still as close to Paradise ( if u can stay away from Patong) as u can get.

Sorry, Phuket, the whole island, is now a long long way from paradise .... and it will never ever recover its beauty that it once had. Your conception of paradise is a long long way from the norm.

[KarenBravo]

Sorry, Phuket, the whole island, is now a long long way from paradise

Not really.....go off island north, or east about 50 kilometres.

I've been to lots of "paradises". Frankly, after a couple of days, they're boring as h3ll.

A pity you didn't take a picture of Bang Tao back then. I believe it resembled a moonscape because of the water-cannons due to tin mining.

Edited December 31, 2009 by KarenBravo

[thaiwanderer]

Not really.....go off island north, or east about 50 kilometres.

I've been to lots of "paradises". Frankly, after a couple of days, they're boring as h3ll.

A pity you didn't take a picture of Bang Tao back then. I believe it resembled a moonscape because of the water-cannons due to tin mining.

Tin mining in Phuket since 1500's AD - paradise? Though would have been worse if Tantalum industry had been allowed.

[cotambear]

I think the lack of planned development, and the lack of civic society in the form of widespread corruption and the vice grip of local hoods like the tuk tuk cartel, is a real tragedy. I also think the idea of the paradise desert island (first half of The Beach) is a myth, akin to the myth of the rural idyll.

You can try it yourself by getting a longtail to abandon you on an uninhabited island. After 6 months on raw cocunut and mussels, covered in mossie bites and with a raging toothache, you`ll get that signal fire going.

Edited December 31, 2009 by cotambear

[WOOHOO]

roads were everywhere EXCEPT Patong to Karon ( whihc was a track for motorcycles in the 80's)

Flights in and out to Bangkok, sing, Penang since the 70's

I moved here in '84 and its still as close to Paradise ( if u can stay away from Patong) as u can get.

Sorry, Phuket, the whole island, is now a long long way from paradise .... and it will never ever recover its beauty that it once had. Your conception of paradise is a long long way from the norm.

The 'norm' according to who? I think it's a bit too subjective for you to decide what the norm is. As people have pointed out, Paradises are only that, because they are an escape from reality, something very different from every day life. When it comes down to it, most people would be dribbling messes if they had to actually live in them for any length of time. How many people would actually want to live in Patong back in the time that photo was taken? Visit yes, live, not many. So sentiment aside, yes Phuket is a still a paradise for me and many others. Today, you have choices that you didn't have back then. You still have plenty of beaches far better than the one in the photo, all the way up to the bustle of Bangla, and everything in between. So to hanker after the Patong in that photo, makes no sense to me, and maybe is a sign that you've reached that age where you say the words 'In my day' and 'I remember when' far more often than is healthy.