Hi, my boyfriend and i will be travelling to phuket in late feb 2010 and will be staying in Patong for the first 4 weeks while doing a tefl course through TEFLplus.

1)Has anyone done a tefl course through them, and if so was it worth it?
2)What are some good places to go on phuket as a photographer?
3)Is Patong as crazy as everyone says it is?
4)What are some good hotels and places to eat?

okay if i carry on i could be here all day, woudl just like to know as much radom info as i cant get pretty much :)

Thanks

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lis

Hi Lis,

to the forum.

I dont have any knowledge about the TEFL course but perhaps someone else here can help.

Phuket is a photographers dream. Stunning land and seascapes confront you everywhere but the most interesting subject are the people. They can be very shy so be discrete or ask permission but they will provide you with some excellent shots.

Patong is indeed "crazy", too crazy for me these days but if you want plenty of nightlife, it is the place to be. I much prefer Kata beach to the south or Kamala to the north. Much nicer, more beuatiful and still plenty of great little bars and restaurants.

Hotels and eating options are so diverse and plentiful that it is difficult to randomly recommend something without knowing a little bit more about you and what you want, as well as your budget. Would you prefer just a comfortable bed in the best location or do you want "resort" facilities with all the trimmings and dont mind being a little further out. You can find it all but expect to pay big bucks as Feb is still high season. I would recommend looking at some of the properties on Agoda, work out what suits your budget and then list a few and we can give you an idea of what to expect from each of your choices.

Ask all the questions you want, there are many good people here who love Phuket and will be more than willing to help.

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I love Thailand this much

The most crazy place is down bangla road. There are so many eating options that they are too numerous to list. there are good places (seafood) on the front there is a good food court off bangla road.
Can't help with the TEFL sorry.
Surin beach is a wilder one for good photo opportunities. Be careful if you go there about the water as the currents are very strong. There are lots of other good photo opportunities around Phuket. Even the people and the antics of some are good.
You budget for your hotel will determine what you are looking at. As you are there for 4 weeks I am only presuming that you are not looking at the top end as these can run into very expensive.
One thing for sure you will find a bit of everything there travel a short way out of Patong and you will see a different Thailand all together.

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

I agree with Shanek that agoda is a good site to find good hotel deals. So far I had done all my travel arrangements on my own, but those were for our Europe jaunts. This time also I started planing our Thailand trip in our usual way and browsing quite a few sites we zeroed on to agoda. But to my utter surprise with the same catagory hotels the travel agents of Delhi were giving me much better prices for custom made packages. May be this is due to large group tours they undertake. With airfares falling due to entry of more budget flights and being less expensive Indians are looking more towards destinations like Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam.

You may find some info on the tefl coarse at the Ajarn website.
And for Phuket info, check out Cathy & Gary's Travel Pages. Cathy has done a great job putting the website together, and there's LOTS of great info on Phuket.

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"It’s all relative"

Thanks so much for all this info guys, really appreciate it :) will let you know how the trip goes.