Phuket

Travel Advice for Seniors: Phuket

We didn’t intend to stay in Phuket on our trip through southeast Asia. We thought we’d be catching a flight back to the States after our three- and half-week trip through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. However, our airline had other plans for us!

We arrived Phuket airport all packed and ready to head home on a very long flight through Doha. I used a third-party booking website to book the flights. Our flight was with one airline and the second flight with another, both booked through the same airline.

To make a long story short, after about three hours of frantic calling we found that the airline booking agent had not entered the correct codes for the second carrier, so there was no record of us on the first flight. We were booked on the second flight from Doha, but NOT the first flight TO Doha.  First, the booking carrier tried to tell me that I needed to call the third-party booking entity and that they were not responsible. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS DELAY TACTIC! I later found out that with this particular carrier, this coding mistake happens fairly often. Also, always remember to print out any carrier information and changes to your flight and have this paperwork ready in case of any problems.

So, it appeared a given that we were not going to be able to fly out same day and we inquired on when we could get the next flight out. Here’s the clincher…we couldn’t get a flight out for FIVE DAYS!

This is where the part about hiring a private touring company comes into play. The driver/guide who dropped us off at the airport was instructed to stay with us until we went through security. Thank goodness! It would’ve taken at least three times as long to find out what was happening on our own. Also, she happened to know someone at the airport who books hotels and was able to get us a hotel room at a hotel not far from the airport.

Also, before you start wondering, we were fully reimbursed for our hotel and meals and our flight rebooked without fees. However, besides being a major inconvenience to start, it ended up being one of our favorite places on the entire trip!

It was a quick hop over to our hotel, the Maya Phuket, for the next five days. The hotel accommodation was fine, and the breakfast buffet was filling, usually serving a brunch type selection of food. It was not fancy, but the food was good. It was right next to a convenience store, so we could stock up on snacks or sandwiches any time. There wasn’t a whole lot else in the area and it was mostly commercial, but we did have a couple of walks to check out the shops.

The very best thing about this stay and the reason we loved it so much was that Sirinat National Park was within walking distance. This is a beach-side park that features a pristine and more importantly, nearly uninhabited beach. Same white powdery sand and same clear crystal blue water. The hotel provided us with beach towels and every day we took a light lunch and three towels and headed to the beach to watch the planes land in the airport (at a distance) and to watch the water lap at our toes.

There was an attended booth at the entrance to the park that tried to collect an entrance fee, mostly from the tourists. I say tried, because the first time we paid, she gave our money back to us as she didn’t have any change and sometimes they just looked the other way when we intently walked by. Not trying to cause a national incident, but it did seem unfair that no locals had to pay to enter. Perhaps “looking the other way” was a courtesy.

There was also a pool at the hotel, but why bother when the beach is so close!

Since we were there over a weekend, we also attended a festival at the beach featuring some local politicians who were putting on the festival. We heard several musicians singing American songs with varying degrees of success, and the best part was all the festival food booths. A very enjoyable day, not to mention the heartbreakingly beautiful sunset.

We’d start each day with a buffet breakfast, go to the beach and read our books for a bit and generally hang out and have a few snacks. Then usually we would find a restaurant within the park area to have a late bite to eat. There was also a very nice nature trail going through the park and getting a bit of exercise in such a beautiful area was a pleasure.

Even though we had stayed at a very nice (and pricey) inclusive beach resort in Khao Lak, we found that we liked doing our own thing better. It made the five-day inconvenience a pleasure!  

Where we stayed: Maya Phuket. Breakfast included. Nice hotel, centrally located.

How we got there: Quick cab ride from the Phuket Airport.. This was part of a four-week private tour through Southeast Asia, touring Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

General Accessibility Information: Thailand is generally not considered very handicapped accessible, with limited wheelchair accessibility in most places. Some tour operators offer accessible tours, and some high-end hotels are accessible. Some attractions in larger cities have wheelchair access.Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements.However, see our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.