Thailand: Phuket's old town

So what else is there to see in Phuket, Thailand? If you love old architecture, you might want to walk around Phuket's old town. I hired a car to visit the beaches of Phuket. And since I had a car, I made sure to drop by the old town to see its historic mansions and shop houses.

Most of the old mansions of Phuket town are well-maintained. Although some of the commercial buildings need attention. But it was definitely an interesting visit. Too bad I could not see the inside of the mansions since most are still private residences. The Chinese-influenced architecture is quite similar to those I've seen in Malaysia and Singapore owing to its close proximity to places like Penang as well as its shared history with the Straits Settlements.

Related entries
Beach hopping in Phuket (Rawai, Kata, Karon & Patong)
Sri Panwa Phuket

Thailand: Sri Panwa Phuket

Sri Panwa Phuket is no doubt one of the best resorts in Phuket, Thailand! I spent two nights in one of their luxurious pool villas one rainy September. Although I couldn't explore much since the weather was gloomy, the pool villa definitely was more than enough reason to stay indoors. The sprawling resort is nestled on a hill in Cape Panwa, the southeastern end of Phuket.

From the main reception area, resort transportation took me to my villa facing the ocean. Every villa has a gate for added security and privacy.

One of the main features is your own infinity pool which connects from the sun deck, bed room and living room all the way to the large bathroom (which has its own jacuzzi and sauna) at the opposite end of the main bedroom. A sound system provides relaxing pipe-in music all throughout the villa.

The room is no doubt spacious, with glass walls that offer a beautiful view of the sea. There were so many corners where I could work or relax and just look at the sea, depending on my mood.

For dinner, I'd eat at Baba Poolclub where a larger infinity pool provides more relaxation to guests.

Pizza is one of their specialties and I obviously choose something different: Tom Yam Pizza and Parma Ham Truffle Pizza. I also tried the Massaman Curry with Pork.

Breakfast was at the main reception area. Aside from the usual offering, they have local Phuket dishes. But these have to be pre-ordered the night before which I made sure to try: Phad Se-Ew with Chicken, Phuket Style Dim Sum, Roti with Chicken Curry, and Phuket Style Soya Milk.

The resort also has its own private beach if you want to stay away from the crowds in Phuket's public beaches.

My stay at Sri Panwa Phuket was extremely pleasing! How I wish I could visit again. Definitely highly-recommended, especially for those who want to spend their honeymoon in Phuket.

Bookings can be made through the Sri Panwa Phuket website.

Related article
Beach hopping in Phuket (Rawai, Kata, Karon & Patong)

Thailand: Beach hopping in Phuket (Rawai, Kata, Karon & Patong)

People don't realize that Phuket is actually a large island, a province of Thailand in fact. It took me an about an hour to get from the Phuket International Airport on the northern end of the island to my resort on Cape Panwa, the southwestern tip of Phuket. I stayed at what many consider to be among the best resorts on the island, Sri Panwa Phuket, an experience I will share in another post.

Phuket actually has quite a number of popular beaches. Unfortunately, I had a hire a car to take me to see all the beaches. It was a rainy September when I was in Phuket so the sun was not out. But I got to see Rawai, Kata, Karon and Patong Beaches, albeit under overcast skies.

My first beach stop was Rawai Beach which was closest to the resort, being on the south side of Phuket as well. It's not really popular for swimming but you'll find traditional fishing boats and long tail boats moored at the beach, which tourists hire for snorkeling and sightseeing trips to nearby islands.

Kata Beach (Kata Yai and Kata Noi) and neighboring Karon Beach are popular surfing beaches. Kata, with its village atmosphere, is more family-oriented, and a quieter version of party Patong. Kata Noi has the resorts, restaurants and tourist shops while Kata Yai is the less-developed beach.

Karon Beach is the second largest tourist beach of Phuket, with three kilometers of white sand. Most of the beach is public since a busy road separates the resorts form the beach itself. The beach is said to be the most upscale of the beaches of Phuket. 

Patong Beach is Phuket's party beach. It gets rowdy especially in the evening with numerous hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and bars to choose from. While accommodation here can get expensive, backpacker accommodation is also abundant in the area. It actually caters to everyone from budget to five-star.

At the time of my visit, winds were strong and waves were high. While it was surfer's paradise, swimming was not allowed in certain areas. So watch out for the red warning flags before you head for the beach. If these flags are up, please do heed them. Hopefully, I get to visit Phuket again now that there are direct flights from Manila.

We arrange tours to Phuket, Thailand. Contact us at tours@ivanhenares.com for more details.

Thailand: Bangkok day-trip to the Historic City of Ayutthaya

My family has been to Bangkok before. Having seen many of the major attractions in the Thai capital, my parents asked me to plan a day-trip outside Bangkok this time around. So we rented a van and motored to the Historic City of Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and capital of the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya from 1350 until it was ransacked by the Burmese in 1767. The trip to Ayutthaya takes about two hours.

It had been several years since I last visited Ayutthaya and it was raining during that trip. So I was looking forward to this visit, especially since the sun was out this time (after several days of nonstop rain). Since the city is mostly ruins of the ancient capital, and noting we had my young niece with us, I decided to start the day with an elephant ride around some of the historic monuments to get her excited.

Among the temples you get to see is the Wat Phra Ram which you won't miss because of the lagoon in front of it. The elephant ride is one activity you should do to encourage young people to appreciate the heritage of the place. We also got to feed the elephants after the ride which was really fun.

With that done, we proceeded to the temples. Note that each temple has its own entrance fee which costs more for foreigners. Our first stop was Wat Phra Mahathat วัดมหาธาตุ, also known as the Monastery of the Great Relic. Walking through the temple, you will notice rows of headless Buddhas and leaning prangs.

But one of the highlights of the visit would be the Buddha head engulfed by the roots of a fig tree. Remember to kneel or squat when having your photo taken since the Thais consider it disrespectful if you are higher than the Buddha head in the photo.

After a sumptuous Thai lunch, we visited Wat Ratchburana or the Monastery of the Royal Restoration. The highlight of the visit would be the main prang and royal vihara. After two temples, my family was all templed out. So we called it a day but stopped by Bang Pa-In Summer Palace พระราชวังบางปะอิน on the way back to Bangkok.

More photos of Ayutthaya, Thailand in the Ivan About Town FB page.

How to get to Ayutthaya, Thailand
Aside from renting a private vehicle, there are several trains and buses which conveniently connect Bangkok to Ayutthaya several times daily. In fact, they are very cheap! During my previous visit, I took the train going there and an air-conditioned bus going back.

The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok
During our visit to Bangkok, we stayed at the Westin Grande Sukhumvit which was conveniently located close to the BTS Asok Station. The hotel is quite memorable to me since this was where the opening ceremonies of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest were held.

We spent a comfortable two days at the Westin. And I enjoyed their breakfast buffet spread!

259 Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel. No. +66 (2) 2078000
Fax No. +66 (2) 2552441
E-mail: bangkok@westin.com

Thailand: Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai's Colonial Suite Room & Dheva Spa

Chiang Mai, Thailand (November 24, 2010) Many of my friends were asking me to post photos of my Colonial Suite Room at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi is no. 18 on Conde Nast Traveler’s list of Top 100 in the world.


The gargantuan resort was built in what used to be a rice field. But it feels like you are entering an ancient Thai city with temples, palaces and stately colonial buildings. Surprisingly, everything was built from scratch. But the attention to detail, authenticity of architectural design and the scale of the buildings are impeccable.



To preserve the character of the place, they kept patches of rice field within the resort where guests can even plant rice.



Anyway, here are photos of my room. Here is what you see when you enter the room. There’s a small room complete with guest toilet.


This is the living room which has a work desk and TV.


The main bedroom is very stately. And the bed was so comfortable, I slept soundly last night.


But the bathroom is definitely something. I think it’s as big as the bedroom itself complete with a walk-in closet and bathtub jacuzzi which I’m about to use in a while.


Both the bedroom and living room have exits to a porch where you could relax outdoors. It offers a view of the other grand buildings that comprise the Colonial Suite wing. And mind you, the resort also has close to a hundred villas of various sizes, mansions even.

Anyway, I’m off to the hotel spa now.


Acupuncture treatment at Dheva Spa and Welness Center
We all go to spas to get relaxing massage treatments and find relief to our stress and body pains. But more than the usual massage, spas today understand that clients want results. And at Mandarin’s Dheva Spa and Wellness Center, the treatments go beyond the usual massage.

The spa complex itself is an intricately carved Lanna-style structure and quite interesting to explore. Before getting any treatment, the spa consultants meet with you to find out what treatments can best address your concerns. I got a personal consultation with the resort’s own traditional Chinese medicine trainer and specialist Ken Rosen, who hold’s a Master’s Degree in the Science of Traditional Oriental Medicine (MSTOM).


After filling up the forms and answering Ken’s questions, he said the I needed an acupuncture treatment. Part of the diagnosis requires a tongue check-up, taking your pulse before reaching a diagnosis. So we proceeded to the acupuncture room for my session with needles.


The needles are usually kept on you between 20 to 30 minutes. Rosen explains that the needles reboot the nervous system. The nervous energy tries to push the needles out until equilibrium is reached. He explains that acupuncture needles are solid and are not designed to cut through flesh unlike the usual injection needles. They push tissue aside, let the nervous system grab it, reject it, accept it and thus reboot the system.


It was a bit uncomfortable at first. But after a few minutes of deep breathing, it felt much better. And I could sense that it did work. And I felt very relieved during and after the treatment.


Acupuncture is just one of the many traditional and conventional treatments available at the Dheva Spa. Before getting our treatments, we had a small tour of the spas facilities which included even traditional baths among others. A herbal garden behind the spa was the source of herbs and spices for many of the spa’s treatments.

Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi
51/4 Chiang Mai – Sankampaeng Road
Moo 1, T. Tasala, A. Muang
Chiang Mai 50000
+66 (53) 888 888