So what do you do when on a beach holiday in Phuket, Thailand? Laze in the sun and eat all the Thai food you can of course! If anyone tells you that eating Thai food with kids in tow is not possible and that you have to settle for Western food or Fast Food, don’t believe them! We had Thai food every single meal and the kids ate fine.

The Orchid – Opposite Katathani

If you decide to stay at Katathani like us, don’t miss the awesomely authentic Thai food found just across the street from our hotel at a restaurant called The Orchid. In fact we only discovered it on the 2^nd day after trying some other cut-throat restaurant on the same street, which was catered more to the Western palate and currency conversion. Their Tom Yum Goong, Beef Fried Rice, Curry Powder Prawn/ Crab, Fried Banana with Ice-cream and sundaes became our staples for every lunch until the day we left.  We wished we had found the place earlier and the kids were happy to have their local beef fried rice plus a sundae of their choice at every meal. :p Come on! It was a holiday after all! 🙂 Everything was really value for money!

 

 

Tuk Tuk Rides

Because we spent the day just lazing about in the pool and enjoying the waves in the sea, we could only afford to explore Phuket in the evenings. We would take a cab from the hotel to the places we wanted to visit in order to get an estimate of how much each trip should cost and use that gauge when ‘bargaining’ for a Tuk Tuk on the return. The fortunate thing was the fact that we met very reasonable taxi and tuk tuk drivers on this trip and no one tried to fleece us. We found that we were always quoted the same/ correct rate for the return Tuk Tuk ride and it made the entire experience a lot more pleasant. The kids were also really thrilled to take their first Tuk Tuk ride of the trip and they were very intrigued by the fact that some Tuk Tuks were more fancy than others (loud hiphop music + colour changing lights). Unlike the smaller Tuk Tuks in Bangkok, the ones in Phuket can sit 6 adults comfortably so we only had to hire one since we had 4 adults and 2 kids. Definitely a must do with the kids if you head to Phuket!

Kata Night Market

Our aim on this trip was to allow the kids to experience some of the night markets/ food markets without being caught in a human jam. We ended up at 2 different markets on 2 different nights.

We made our way to the Kata Night Market on our first night and have to say we or I was slightly disappointed. Things were rather quiet and we later realized it was probably due to the high supply of night markets all over Phuket. Nevertheless, the kids were very happy that they got to pick their own fruits choices to ‘create’ their own fruit juice. Jah picked a grape + lime combination which somehow turned out better than what the adults chose. We got our fruit juices and took a customary stroll through the market, picked up 2 t-shirts for the kids and then tried to find a place for dinner.

Thank goodness for our mobile wifi and toddler carriers which came in super handy. It allowed us to navigate our way through the streets of Kata with the kids safely on our backs and head to dinner. We even found a Pancake stall near the restaurant we had dinner at, yummy!!!!

Malin Plaza Patong

The 2^nd night we headed to Malin Plaza Patong which was more of a food market. There were shop spaces for souvenirs and clothes etc but very few of them were open. We decided to make a zipline for the food and also to look for a table to settle down at. Yes the nice thing about this market is the fact that there are tables and chair set up for you to consume the local street food bought from the stalls. We picked up some local fried food, Pad Thai for the adults, non spicy noodles for the kids and desserts all round. It was a nice experience even though the food may not have been the yummiest we have had or the most value for money.

This might not be the most adventurous Phuket itinerary for families but it was certainly something a little different for us. Perhaps the next time we head to Phuket, the kids will be old enough for an island hopping tour..although I’m hoping it doesn’t happen too soon. We definitely still appreciate our afternoon naps and are perfectly happy to just laze on the beach and load up on Thai food 🙂

JahBella’s Mummy