This is my second time in Phuket. The first time we zipped right through from the airport to the clipper ship in the marina with no time to spare. So I came back here to do it right.
Phuket is a hotbed of decadence. If Pattaya is Sodom, then Phuket is Gomorrah. A friend described it as "too touristy and overrun by Eurotrash". This is certainly true, but there are still lots of good things about Phuket. For example, there are beautiful islands you can visit just off the coast of Phuket, such as Koh Phi Phi.
Phuket of course will always be remembered as one of the major sites hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. It sustained heavy damage and widespread flooding, but there aren't many signs of that now. It's been rebuilt so that the obvious signs of the tsunami are gone. But the legacy of the tsunami remains with the many "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs all over town. And of course the memories of the tsunami linger in the minds of the locals here who lived through it. I talked to some of them. One of them described lots of gold jewelry floating in the streets, due to the tsunami hitting the jewelry shops and washing their inventory out.
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