What's On At Saphan Hin?

[phuketsub]

Does anyone know what is going on at Saphan Hin Central Stage area this weekend...I went past there last night and saw a lot of activity, but didn't have time to stop. I don't see any info about it in any of the local new outlets...thanks for any info provided.

[noob7]

Phuket Food Festival (was my first guess)

Because:

~50% food stalls plus the usual 'Expo' sales

Live music, water garden 7.30/8.30/9.30pm, kids fun.

But should be 2 weeks before, I think.

Edited October 6, 2012 by noob7

[Old Croc]

Vegetarian Festival starts 14/10.

[BabyJebus]

does it matter? It's always the same food stall repeated five hundred times with bad quality ingredients. Then its the same broken down kids game and the same crap from china they sell at every other market. There will be 5mins of the same old kid's dancing class and then some old wannabe hiso will shout in the microphone for a few hours about his new car, his new pants and his new watch.

The "reason" for the "festival" isnt very important.

[noob7]

Vegetarian Festival starts 14/10.

Food Festival, not Vegetarian Festival!

Maybe they rescheduled it? When was the Sapan Hin Race thing?

I was there yesterday, but didn't see (eh, look) for any sign.

The water fountain is a bit lame. They forget about the right lighting, me think

And a lot of people were irritated, as the 'star on stage' did a bit of the song Khan Huu.

Also the dancers weren't dancing very sexy, not even with 'it looks like' long legs, because of pumps

[stevenl]

does it matter? It's always the same food stall repeated five hundred times with bad quality ingredients. Then its the same broken down kids game and the same crap from china they sell at every other market. There will be 5mins of the same old kid's dancing class and then some old wannabe hiso will shout in the microphone for a few hours about his new car, his new pants and his new watch.

The "reason" for the "festival" isnt very important.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[pagallim]

does it matter? It's always the same food stall repeated five hundred times with bad quality ingredients. Then its the same broken down kids game and the same crap from china they sell at every other market. There will be 5mins of the same old kid's dancing class and then some old wannabe hiso will shout in the microphone for a few hours about his new car, his new pants and his new watch.

The "reason" for the "festival" isnt very important.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Hmmm, a match made in heaven methinks

[phuketsub]

does it matter? It's always the same food stall repeated five hundred times with bad quality ingredients. Then its the same broken down kids game and the same crap from china they sell at every other market. There will be 5mins of the same old kid's dancing class and then some old wannabe hiso will shout in the microphone for a few hours about his new car, his new pants and his new watch.

The "reason" for the "festival" isnt very important.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

As long as they have beer I will find some way to enjoy it; still vexed about the "reason" though...I know a lot goes on down there but I didn't think it had at last morphed into a sort of "endless party" ...anyway I will try to get to the bottom of it and report back to y'all.

[stevenl]

does it matter? It's always the same food stall repeated five hundred times with bad quality ingredients. Then its the same broken down kids game and the same crap from china they sell at every other market. There will be 5mins of the same old kid's dancing class and then some old wannabe hiso will shout in the microphone for a few hours about his new car, his new pants and his new watch.

The "reason" for the "festival" isnt very important.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Hmmm, a match made in heaven methinks

Yes, well put. I had the same feeling.

[Old Croc]

Vegetarian Festival starts 14/10.

Food Festival, not Vegetarian Festival!

The web site says it's the Vegetarian Festival!

http://phuketvegetarian.com/

[phuketsub]

Vegetarian Festival starts 14/10.

Food Festival, not Vegetarian Festival!

The web site says it's the Vegetarian Festival!

http://phuketvegetarian.com/

I don't think they would start this early; ten days of firecrackers and self-mutilation is enough fo reven the most robust ma song and the official start day is over a week away....

[pagallim]

I have it on reliable authority (the wife) that every festival that takes place at Saphan Hin, it's the same stallholders offering the same food. Having been to a couple of them, I can confirm that it's not very good (the food that is).

The Vegetarian Festival is a different ball game, and you should try and get food from the stalls that will be erected near to the various Chinese Temples that will be participating.

[BabyJebus]

I have it on reliable authority (the wife) that every festival that takes place at Saphan Hin, it's the same stallholders offering the same food. Having been to a couple of them, I can confirm that it's not very good (the food that is).

The Vegetarian Festival is a different ball game, and you should try and get food from the stalls that will be erected near to the various Chinese Temples that will be participating.

99% of them will taste worse than the year long vegetarian restaurants. It's all fried food anyways and its always the cheapest and oldest cut from supercheap. Thais from the big cities are money grabbing demons and they definitely have no love for their own culture. There is 0 culture in phuket and going to those festivals is just supporting the destruction of their heritage.

In 4 years in phuket i have found only one small shophouse restaurant that actually makes thai food as good as in the West/expensive restaurant.(fresh ingrediant and real chef, not just some burnt khao pat and gutter drenched kapow) They also charge the same price as those who make you want to vomit for the basic meals while giving 2x more meat/veggies and the same rice portion. Makes me sad for this race

Edited October 6, 2012 by BabyJebus

[pagallim]

In 4 years in phuket i have found only one small shophouse restaurant that actually makes thai food as good as in the West/expensive restaurant.(fresh ingrediant and real chef, not just some burnt khao pat and gutter drenched kapow) They also charge the same price as those who make you want to vomit for the basic meals while giving 2x more meat/veggies and the same rice portion. Makes me sad for this race

Care to share your recommendation? Actually, much of the vegetarian fare isn't fried, or at least that's what I've found, much of it is steamed or even marinated and raw. I have to admit, rarely (no, very rarely) do I go to restaurants in what could be termed tourist areas (though make an exception for a particular cuisine - Sabai Sabai for example). My wife also has a food industry background, and we eat excellent, reasonably priced meals out often. We also have friends from the UK who visit us once or twice a year, and love Thai food. The meals they eat with us here are on a different level (higher, more enjoyable) than those they have become used to in the UK.

A good measure for authenticity is always to look around, and see how many Thais are eating in the same local restaurant.

[BabyJebus]

i posted it earlier

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=phuket+thailand&hl=en&ll=7.916489,98.372031&spn=0.020084,0.02135&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=64.409204,87.451172&hnear=Phuket,+Thailand&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=7.916489,98.372031&panoid=JdyJqCIsNqJRV9Ev6JjNVQ&cbp=12,298.42,,0,6.15

its where the hair salon was

Always filled with thais every night in the open air seating they built outside the front. Everything you order with seafood is actual seafood that they cut and mix together instead of buying the cheap prepackaged one. I dont remember how this meal is called but my favorite there is the crispy tempura morning glory with thick orange sauce and seafood. You get a full calamari and 3-4 large shrimp and other small stuff and 2 handfull of morning glory. I can eat 2-3 khao pat and this salad makes me full for a good 2-3hrs easily. 70baht. Actual chef cooking it.

But back on topic. If i were to take jamie's blogs about all the festivals we have around here and holidays and remove the text and show an expat the pictures of a few events, they would NEVER be able to tell which event it was. Most thais it would be the same. Rememember phuket's day? The massive parade near Queen's park. What was it? Cheap food and 1hour of wannabe old hisos walking down the street with signs and 10 class of kids dressed up in traditional clothing rest was a bunch of kids wearing their school clothes holding up a crappy banners. Rather stay home and watch some dumb tv like jersey shore or honey booboo

[phuketsub]

...Getting back to the original intent of my opening post:

The fair at Saphan Hin is the 3rd annual festival put on by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation - Phuket City Municipality Branch (DDPM-Phuket Town)...It started on September 29th and runs through the 8th

I found it highly ironic that the people in charge of disaster prevention would allow beer, but this event had Chang on draft! I wish it had been Singha or Heineken.

As for all the (largely irrelevant) comments about bad food at the vegetarian festival, the dishes we ordered mostly very good and one, the yum naem, was excellent.

I couldn't agree less with the comments by BabyJebus that that Thai food here is worse than at Thai restaurants in the West. My experiences with Thai restaurants in the New England and Florida is that they are inauthentic, bland and scandalously overpriced.

I have been accused of being 'low-brow' before, but I like these types of festivals and appreciate all the quirkiness on offer. To this effect, I attach a few photos taken yesterday.

Getting off-topic a bit, does anyone know if the red flags were up at the island's west coast beaches yesterday?

[grumpyoldman]

"As long as they have beer I will find some way to enjoy it;"

A bit off topic but does anyone know the people that organized the Bike Week thingy at Nai Harn a weekend or two ago?

For whatever reason they decided to only serve Chang Light. I mean really, Chang Light !!! What the hell, did they flip a coin over which of the shittiest beers in Thailand they should serve?

Beer Chang is bad enough but then to go with the light?

[phuketsub]

"As long as they have beer I will find some way to enjoy it;"

A bit off topic but does anyone know the people that organized the Bike Week thingy at Nai Harn a weekend or two ago?

For whatever reason they decided to only serve Chang Light. I mean really, Chang Light !!! What the hell, did they flip a coin over which of the shittiest beers in Thailand they should serve?

Beer Chang is bad enough but then to go with the light?

On the topic of Chang, is draft Chang safe to drink? I swore off Chang about 10 years ago and haven't had a drop since..but I am wondering if the draft is free of whatever makes the bottled version a slow poison...

[KarenBravo]

"As long as they have beer I will find some way to enjoy it;"

A bit off topic but does anyone know the people that organized the Bike Week thingy at Nai Harn a weekend or two ago?

For whatever reason they decided to only serve Chang Light. I mean really, Chang Light !!! What the hell, did they flip a coin over which of the shittiest beers in Thailand they should serve?

Beer Chang is bad enough but then to go with the light?

It's not what beer they chose, it's about which beer company will help sponsor the event and give them cheap beer.

If you had bothered to look closer, there was a full service bar that had spirits at 80 Bt, cocktails at 100 Bt and many beers that weren't Chang.

[phuketsub]

"As long as they have beer I will find some way to enjoy it;"

A bit off topic but does anyone know the people that organized the Bike Week thingy at Nai Harn a weekend or two ago?

For whatever reason they decided to only serve Chang Light. I mean really, Chang Light !!! What the hell, did they flip a coin over which of the shittiest beers in Thailand they should serve?

Beer Chang is bad enough but then to go with the light?

It's not what beer they chose, it's about which beer company will help sponsor the event and give them cheap beer.

If you had bothered to look closer, there was a full service bar that had spirits at 80 Bt, cocktails at 100 Bt and many beers that weren't Chang.

A Full Service Bar! Holy Mackerel! Too bad I brought my own supply of beer and didn't survey the laoscape more closely. Might have to go back tonight...

[pagallim]

A Full Service Bar! Holy Mackerel! Too bad I brought my own supply of beer and didn't survey the laoscape more closely. Might have to go back tonight...

Think you'll find KB was referring to the Bike Week event the other weekend at Nai Harn, not Saphan Hin.

[phuketsub]

A Full Service Bar! Holy Mackerel! Too bad I brought my own supply of beer and didn't survey the laoscape more closely. Might have to go back tonight...

Think you'll find KB was referring to the Bike Week event the other weekend at Nai Harn, not Saphan Hin.

Ah, right you are...my bad. One would definitely need a full service bar handy to deal with the big bike enthusiasts...