Tips and tricks for Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is a beautiful country and so does Bangkok. The city welcomes you with all its cosmopolitan texture and modern look along with the tradition old character in core. However, behind all the beauty of Bangkok, there still lies some evil big city spirit from which you need to protect yourself.

As usual everything starts at the airport upon your arrival! If you arrive to the new Bangkok Airport ( Suvamabhumi - BKK), you face with a stunningly modern and majestic terminal. Normally, everything goes smoothly at BKK up until you try to get a taxi. There are some stewards directing you to the taxis going to downtown, like in JFK. They normally ask you the destination. In this position, I highly recommend you to ask the ballpark taxi fare INCLUDING the highway tolls. Because you don't notice how much they charge, in the dark toll collection plazas in a language you don't know at all, for the highway (around 70 THB normally). The drivers might charge as much as the meter count (between 200-400 THB) for the highway which is not the actual cost obviously. So just for precoution, double check the taxi fare and make the driver accept that price before get on the cab. The other fact about the taxis at BKK is that they are extremely old cars. So don't be surprised if you get in a car which makes you fell it will stop in 20 meters. 

Among all others, the next taxi trick you need to be careful about is the meter trick in downtown cabs. When you get on a cab, be sure the driver starts the meter before moving the car. This mostly happens in the night. In order to avoid that you should specifically ask him to start it. Otherwise you may find yourself in an unnecessary and tiring discussion and finally you most probably pay much more. I can give you my experience as an example. I was going to a very close location during the night and get one of the cabs in front of the hotel. He directly asked me 200 THB and I asked to start the meter otherwise I will get off. After a very long discussion back and forward, he finally did and the total fare was 70 THB. So you do the math. As usual, you need to be careful with the cabs during the day as well! For instance, you may want to go a historical place like Royal Palace. They have a tendency to drop you at the entrance/exit where the conners are populated. So double check where they leave you and don't believe anyone comes and talks to you fast. You actually feel it because an average Thai, even in tourism sector, can't really speak that decent and fast english unless he tries to con you! The best way to avoid is to check the opening and closing hours of the monuments for that specific day and only talk to the people behind a ticket desk or something similar. The last but not the least tip about the taxi/tuk-tuk transportation is the "gem fraud". Most of the people know that the gem prices are extremely low as most of the them are mined and traded in Thailand. However, the fakes are also in sold. I can say there are much more fake gems than the real ones on the market. In Bangkok, the drivers are like the middle men. They usually mislead the tourists who ask for a reliable seller. Anyway, I don't understand why people ask for something to the drivers who is the most anonymous person. So they usually take you to a temple where you meet a "monk like" guy who sells the fake gems. You might be put such a good and trustworthy setup and eventually you may spend quite a lot of money, like order of hundreds of euros. So you'd better not to talk or ask anything to a driver and don't disclose any personal information if possible, like where you stay, who you are etc. 

After this short pause, coming back to the airport transfer issue, of course there are other options to get out of Bangkok airport. A frequent train line commutes between the airport and Bangkok.  You can select either the express line or the city line depending on the location of the final destination and speed. The express line goes Makkasan station non-stop. Whereas, the city line have several stations on the way toward its final destination Phaya Thai but it also passes by Makasan station. The final stop prices of the express and the city lines are 150 THB and 45 THB (varying between 10-45 THB), respectively. Makkasan station is very well connected to various locations downtown by metro lines. So my recommendation would be taking the fast line and metro combination to reach the final destination safe and quick as the price difference is minor. For the metro, the wisest thing would be enjoying 24h daily passes if you will travel in the city. The multi level - air conditioned "sky train" metro line is very well operated and saves substantial time as compared to walking.

Taxis and tuktuks can be another option to get around the city, especially the old town located by the river. But one needs to be smart while getting a cab as I have explained above. Taxis may cost between 50-500 THB which is around 1.5 to 13 EUR or 2 to 17 USD. So if you want to get somewhere quick they are good options unless you stuck in to a traffic jam like above. Besides there is a bus service available in Bangkok but I don't recommend it due to obvious reasons like pickpocketing, traffic jam, jam packed busses and hot/humid weather!

You solved your transportation! Now, it is time to wonder around... I won't mention about the historical places and must see location that you can find in any tourist guide or on any blog about Bangkok. What I will tell you is that this city is a shopping paradise! You can find anything and everything in the city for a wide price range. But there is one rule of thumb for Bangkok: Always bargain and don't buy anything for the tag price! 

The "central" part of the city (around Nana, Phloen Chit, Chit Lom and Siam MRT stations) contains numerous shopping malls. Among all, Gaysom and Central World Plaza (between Chit Lom and Siam MRT stations) offers the most luxurious and relatively high-middle class shopping experience, respectively. Ploenchit and Big C shopping centers are more focused of middle range goods. In this places don't hesitate to bargain at all, especially for the souvenirs. Finally, Platinum and Palladium shopping centers on the river bank offers very cheap and wholesale type stuff. I highly recommend you not to miss all the vendors and hawkers just outside of those shopping malls. You might find the very same goods on the stands for half price! You can also find open markets, where you can find mostly clothing and food, at some fixed locations in the city. I recommend you to check them out to mixed with the real population of Bangkok.

During all that rush, don't forget to hydrate and eating. There are basically three main options to eat in Bangkok: eat on the streets, check out the food courts of the shopping malls and go to a fine restaurant. Frankly speaking, I didn't do the last one and don't recommend it because it is pricy for such a cheap city experience. Moreover, they offer foreign food which is not really special. The first option is actually very tempting but you need to have an insensitive stomach. if you have one that is the most tasty and cheapest option. You can have each course for less than 2-3 EUR. The intermediate option serves the best for the ones who don't want to spend so much on food and also don't want to risk the holiday much. Each and every shopping mall have a huge food court where you can find all types of asian food and also some global chains. The variety of the food is actually makes you have very hard time to select your meal. In this places, you can fix your lunch or dinner for maximum 10 EUR including drinks, dessert and a very large meal. 

Overall, Bangkok is a great metropolitan city which offers you all types of entertainment! So you should just do two thinks on your side to enjoy the city: get your plane ticket and spend money. Have a great travel and enjoy your stay in Bangkok. Don't for get to STAY SAFE!!!!!

Diving at the Shark Point, Phuket, Thailand

The las dive of the dive was at the famous Shark Point diving site. The place is know for the local leopard shark population who gives great pictures for the photo hunters of the deep sea. I came here to see them too. But it is just by luck to catch something underwater. I learnt that long before. Anyway, I worn my shorty to taste the water for the last time in Thailand till the next visit. So that made me even more excited and sad at the same time not only because the place was like a paradise but also I had to wake up from this tropical dream soon. 

The shark point is actually composed of a massive reef and a group of smaller ones located very close to the larger reef. The dive normally starts at the large pinnacle whose peak is just 2 meters deep. Then you may choose to take a turn around this one till 25 meters and then move to the second pinnacle and an see that one around 25 meters and ascend to 16 meters where the most of the beautiful things are located. If you are lucky you may see the leopard sharks during this part of the dive around the small reef. 

Nevertheless, the site embraces so many different species that you might not look for a shark meanwhile. That was my case at least! First of all the place includes many murray eels. You can almost see them every hole in the reef and they give great shots. The anemones, besides, host many clowns fishes. If you are a nemo like me then you will love the picture you take. There is also a beautiful sea horse on the west side of the 1st pinnacle and it is not shy at all. 

Apart from this particular beauties of the site, you constantly see the passing crowds of small fishes around you as well. This makes an extra flavor to the ambiance of the dive route. You may also see, like me, some interesting scenes. There were a dead murray being eaten by the other fishes slowly on one side of the 2nd pinnacle. Nature was calling and I was there. That might be the most interesting shot of mine up to now.

There were also several tritons wondering around with their funny and curious eyes looking both sides at the same time. I ended my dive again at the large reef but this time with a small sting ray slightly levitated from the sea bottom. It was moving so slowly that I thought this guy was really want some pictures to be taken.

Overall, I think the Shark Point was the best of all dive point I dived for the day.  The visibility was great. There variety of the fishes was amazing. And most importantly, we haven't seen any bamboo or leopard shark whose supposed to be seen at this point. As a final word, I can say that every diver must see the depths of Andaman sea one day. One should be very careful about the dive school and the dive boat in Phuket. I can definitely recommend the guys at Rumblefish Adventure but I have some doubts about Jolly Roger. 

Enjoy you dives and stay safe!

Diving at King Cruiser, Phuket, Thailand

I'm not gonna lie! After the terrible visibility at Kho Doc Mai, I needed a pallet cleanser to fresh up the taste of Andaman underwater. We have reached our destination for the second dive of the day. The king cruiser is located between Kho Doc Mai and the famous Phi Phi Island of the beach movie. You can actually see it if the visibility is good. Anyway, we started to suit up in our lovely boat Jolly Roger with ultimate interference of the mothers and wives at the divers area. I guess there is no need to talk about the super respectful customers of Jolly Rogers anymore after the previous article. 

I wish to say that the visibility was great in King Cruiser but I was not. However, it was not supposed to be great anyways. So this time the disappointment is less than previous time. Nonetheless, King Cruiser was hiding much more for us! The place is great for the lion fish chasers. Lion fishes are thriving around the wreck. I have seen at least 8 as individual and in groups. So the wreck was not really a deep one. The rock bottom is around 30 meters and most of the must-see parts of the wreck is around  16-18 meters. So she lets see her for an almost hour long dive.

Apart from the all the crowds of fishes and the sneaking hunter lion fishes, there are a couple of places you should check when you dive King cruiser. First of all don't forget to take a pee! Well yeah! On the back of the boat you can see the toilets of the cruiser. The ceiling was opened and the toilets are visible. So fun time! 

The other hot spot of the site is the chimneys of the boat where a shrimp colony was thriving. They are not shy at all and you can have great picture over there too. The color of them were so crisp and the scenery was amazing!

The gate of the vehicle deck is almost completely destroyed. Thus you can go in and have a nice trip inside the parking site of the cruiser. If you have a good flash light, I believe you can see many beautiful things inside.

All and all, King Cruiser dive was a great experience and it is a location for all levels of divers. She gives beautiful shots and you can see many different rate sea creatures down there... or up above. We have accompanied by a giant jelly fish during our ascent. The combination of sharp sunlight and the jelly fish gave great pictures to make this beautiful place unforgettable. 

Diving at Koh Doc Mai, Phuket, Thailand

In the boat Jolly Roger, which I have mentioned in detail in the previous entry, that was the first dive of the day at Koh Doc Mai. This little island has a very nice reef underskirts of her! You can think of it as a very large reef that you can wonder around. The dive can last a reasonable amount of time without turning around of the island more than once. The depth of the reef is around 30-40 meters if you keep yourself close to the vertical cliffs. Therefore the site is quite suitable for a range of divers from beginners to the experts.

Normally, the site supposed to have a good visibility especially in the early morning and for calm surface as you can see above. However I was not that lucky I guess. The visibility was quite poor and it was not possible to have a good shot unless you go for a macro shot. Nevertheless, the fauna down there was really great. Especially the nudibrach population was quite stunning. Other than that you may check out the groupers, box fishes, and random gang of fish crowds!

However the impressive part of the dive was, for me, to see the bamboo shark hiding underneath a big rock. I assume it is a regular inhabitant of the neighborhood because I encounter similar sceneries on other websites before.

Overall the spot is a nice dive point with variety of the fishes. I totally recommend you to check out if you pass by Phuket to dive. I hope you will be luckier than me and have great visibility so that 100% or your shots are clear.

Diving in Phuket Island, Thailand

Phuket, as I have mentioned before, is a great island to have a laid back holiday. She contains all necessary ingredients: tropical weather, golden beaches, turquoise sea, gorgeous people, good food... On top of all, there is another great feature of the island. That is the beauty of Andaman Sea's underwater life and uncountable number of diving points which are accessible from the island.

When I get to Phuket, I am not gonna lie, I didn't think to dive. I had good time under the Balinese sea and I hadn't had the time to make a search about the dive centers there. However, I hadn't also know that there was no way to hide from my destiny. As soon as I settled down in my "temporary hotel room", I realized the dive center across the street. Despite I spent such a long time to recover from long Bali-Phuket flight and the shuttle ride, the dive center was still open. ...and I knocked the door of Rumblefish Adventure. There I met great people. They were quite friendly and helpful. They explained me how diving business runs more or less and it actually has nothing to do with any other place I have dived before. 

In Phuket, the dive boats and the dive centers are almost completely separated. When you go to a dive center, as an experienced diver, they will show you the schedule of the available boats with their route of dive points. Every combination has its own price roughly changing between 1000-1500 THB/dive. According to your preferences and experiences, the guys at the dive school help you to choose the appropriate dive boat. Here the things start to bifurcate. You may be accompanied by the dive buddy/leader from the dive center or you may stuck with the guys of the boat or the buddy might be a freelance instructor, like in my case. So this separation of power has its own benefits and disadvantages, which I will explain later. Anyway, the complete gear is supplied by the school for 500 THB/day. You can also rent dive computer for around 300-500 THB/day. In my case, they were quite cool to me and let me use their good old Aladin UWATEC computer.

In the morning, a shuttle bus picks you and your gear up from your hotel and takes you to the harbor where the boat is. From this point on, you are with the dive boat crew and thus I will try to summarize my experience about the dive boat called Jolly Roger and her crew. I will tell about the three dive points of the day, Koh Dok Mai, King Cruiser and Shark Point,  in separate entries.

She is quite long, pretty new and well maintained dive boat. The main deck is composed of a preparation space for the divers and the dining room. There you can have a fresh and substantial breakfast in with lots of varieties. They also serve the lunch in the afternoon and it is also equally good. Highly recommended! There is also an espresso machine, cold and hot water and several munchies at your disposal at anytime on-board. There is also on-board WiFi which is very convenient. There are two shower/toilets right next to the preparation area. The upper deck is very roomy to socialize with the other divers, as well. Beer is also serve on-board but subjected to charges. From all the facilities provided, she is a great dive boat. But nothing can be perfect right. Here are the beasts inside the beauty!

First of all, the service crew was acting kinda weird! They were shouting to the customers here and there when people were trying to board. The people who guides you talks mostly in Russian because they and most of the customers were Russian but sometimes they forget there are people of other nationalities. I have to say that the order in the boat was a bit chaotic. Of course that was my experience with the customers of that day but it seemed to me that the profile is more or less the same in every trip after I shared my experiences with the other divers in Kata Beach. The space you prepare for the dive, although it was quite large, was stuffed by non-divers. Especially, the moms and the wives were everywhere and messing up with your gear. Coming back to the lunch room, people were leaving their leftovers on the tables and nobody were collecting them. Of course you are supposed to return your stuff but as you can imagine not everyone was taking care of. In the dives, there were no regular order to get in to the sea. I think for that may of diver (more than 30) the dive masters  need to do some planing before the dives. However, it seems to me the ones of the boat were coordinating themselves without letting know the other dive leaders. And finally on the way back, the shuttles were totally messed up. The chances are you may be left in the harbor if you don't understand Russian because they stop doing regular announcement in any other language. Thus you  need to go an ask if your bus is actually arranged.

To sum up, I think Phuket is a great place to dive. The underwater was flourishing. And that was a great boat in terms of all of the amenities inside. If you are a guy of luxury and can arrange the whole dive for his group, you may want to go for this boat. Otherwise, I recommend you to think twice and go for a second best option.  

Omni Tower Hotel, Bangkok

I have been in Bangkok during the float alarm on November 2012. I made my travel plans much before and there must have been some disaster happening for real that I deviate my tip to tail flight and travel plans. Hence I didn't cancel anything but I had to arrange some hotel high enough! Omni Tower seemed to me very convenient in this sense and also had a relatively fair price for a 4 star apartment complex, thus, I made a studio reservation for 1600 baht per day. A week later, 2 days before my arrival to Bangkok, I realized by luck that the prices of the executive suites reduced to the same level. Therefore, I wanted to change my reservation like all of wise people would do. For that I just canceled the old reservation and finally made a newer reservation for the suite and I was ready to go.

The hotel, which is composed of a 33 story tower and its neighboring service building, is located very close and nicely connected to the modern center of Bangkok through Sukhumvit Avenue, Phloen Chit, Chit Lom and Nana station. If you really want to be around this area, it is a great option. You can reach everywhere with public transport or very low paid taxi fares. Don't forget to make the drivers start the meters before driving. This a common scam in Bangkok and the taxis waiting in front of the hotel usually have the tendancy to do the opposite. Besides the location advantage, there are also many drawbacks associated with the hotel itself as well and they welcome you since the very first moment you arrive to the hotel.

Although the hotel looks pretty luxurious and chic, you have to carry your luggage to the reception. There are bellboys but not smart enough to help you up. It is a very warm welcome especially if you arrive in the night. "-1". There was another great surprise waiting for me. After I checked in, I was given the key of the apartment and an RFID card to access the elevator hall. The bellboy then realizes that he needs to help you and takes you up to the room and also carries your luggage. So far so good. But the problem was actually the room itself. They gave me, accidentally or on purpose, the studio room. This I haven't figure out and thus I don't want to say something accusing. And you can't easily distinguish between the studio and the one-bedroom suit if you haven't stayed in this hotel before because they have similar surface areas and big enough for one person. Anyway, I doubted and wanted to clarify if they mixed something. They have claimed that the reservations were mixed but they have never reached my latest reservation and they were not willing to give me the room I reserved until I showed them my reservation on the phone. So it was not that innocent. "-2"! Anyway, I had what I wanted with some struggle but I was nervous at the end. 

Coming to the rooms, I can say the rooms were pretty large for both studio and suite. The furniture and appliances are quite old if you are willing to use them. The view is very nice if you want to stay on the 27th floor. However the room service is terrible. The first morning I put the "clean my room" sign on the door and went out. When I come back nothing was cleaned or changed and it was quite late. I called the reception and asked for it. In return they tried very hard not to do that and finally even asked for extra money for the towels they changed. How cute isn't it? "-3". That was cream on the pie to hate the place to be frank. So even this is quite enough not to recommend the place alone. But the stories never end. When you enter the rooms you see that they offer free sightseeing tours. This was not true, either. When you ask they say all of them are cancelled due to float but when you go to the palace or the temples by yourself you see that there is no float and no cancellation of any tour. "-4". I continue. In the reservation, it says in the reservation that breakfast is included in the price. Don't expect anything better than an hostel breakfast. I guess that was the most terrible breakfast I have ever had after the one I had in a hostel in Paris many years ago. But the difference is that one was a student hostel for 21€ in Paris the other was a 4 star business suit for 1800 bath in Bangkok. I leave the evaluation to you but "-5". I guess the only things good about the hotel were the location and the view that you can see below. Other than that I cannot recommend you the hotel at all. It is much better to find other options in Bangkok.

Kata Beach Center Hotel, Phuket

In my experience, accommodation is something that you need to pay attention the most in Southeast Asia especially after I experienced the four star, false paradise: Ecosfera Hotel in Bali. But this time in Phuket, I was quite lucky on lodging because I booked Kata Beach Center Hotel. This is a cozy three star hotel which is run by a lovely Dutch family. The hotel is in a small center, Kata Beach center, for hotels and restaurants located in the northern part of Kata settlement. Kata Beach Center Hotel is composed of three buildings with the facilities on the ground floors and the rooms on the upper floors. The main building is with the reception and lobby. Another one, on the opposite side, has the restaurant, swimming pool and bar. The last one is roughly 50 meter away, at the end of the street towards Patak Rd. This building has the jacuzzi, sauna and spa. Among all, I only had a chance to check out the massage although that was the only paid service. It was very good and the price was not expensive. You can get a reduction, actually two times if you have two massage, with a discount voucher given by the hotel upon your arrival. I recommend you to have the aloe vera massage at least once especially at the end of your stay to release all stress on your skin. Other than that, they also have a motorbike rental service through which you can rent a bike for 250 baht per day! Which is quite a deal in Kata where you have to pay 400 baht for a 7 km ride to Phatong beach by taxi or tuck-tuck.

The rooms were not better or worse that it is promised but exactly the same as you see on-line. No disappointment! Though they have everything in the rooms: almost 100 channel international satellite TV with LCD screens, digital locked safe box, A/C, fridge with cold water (they didn't charged me the water I had during my stay!), electric kettle with tea bags and instant coffee etc. I had a chance to experience the double and twin rooms in two buildings due to my mistake on reservation on booking.com. I forgot to ask for the double room hence they put me in the available room which had two single beds. I booked for 4 nights. That would be quite sad to be squeezed in a small bed for all the time. I asked them to change and they changed my room in the next day with a big smile. I really appreciated their attitude towards this problem and this way of approaching customers and their problems was the same throughout the stay. Moreover, the room service was great. They were cleaning my room and changing the towels, upon my request tag on the door, everyday and making it like it was at the beginning. What I liked most in this hotel was the way they value the customer satisfaction through good service and a sincere smile.

Overall,  I had a great time in Kata Beach and a significant part of this satisfaction was thanks to the gorgeous people of Kata Beach Center Hotel. I highly recommend you to check out their web site for their availability before planning a trip to Phuket Island. I think in this hotel satisfaction truly warrantied!

Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand: Get around, eat and chill

I think Thailand is a must see place at least once in your life time. Among all of the nice holiday destination in the country, Phuket Island is one of the best locations. This relatively big island facing Andaman Sea is located on the south west of the country. It is very easy and relatively cheap to transfer to the island from not only Asian countries but also all around the world thanks to Phuket International Airport (HKT). I personally had a very pleasant flight from Bali, Indonesia by AirAsia Thailand. It takes more or less 3h30 above millions of  islands and Malay peninsula. If you are lucky and have journey with clear sky, you will thoroughly enjoy your flight.

After that nice journey, landing in Phuket Airport was even nicer with the runway right after and perpendicular to a golden beach as you can see above. It was also a nice experience to see, if you are an aviation fan, the approach lighting system sunken in the sea.

Phuket Airport is quite convenient one for a small island's airport. It looks quite modern with its kind staff (including the border police), nice ground transport options and restaurants (especially for departure).  The route from the apron to the exit of the airport is quite short. On the way, you have clear immigration. The border police is quite nice. Here I would like to remind you that you have to fill an immigration form before hand. So don't forget to get it from the fight attendants and fill on the plane. After the immigration you will immediately see the luggage belts. When I arrived, there were GSM card salesmen. That was a free GSM card with 3G network and you can buy the top up card in 7elevens.I recommend you to buy it because the ones that I was trying to find and finally had to buy were much more expensive than this one. In order to get to your destination in the island, there are some options to enjoy. You have the taxi option for yourself, which was around 800 baht to get to Kata Beach, more or less the farthest point you may go in the island. There were a limo option and luxury van as well. I didn't check the price of them but they were definitely more expensive than the taxi. However, what I checked was, thanks to the screaming people trying to sell the bus tickets, the mini bus service which takes you directly to your hotel for a price of 180 baht. That was the cheapest and the most convenient option for me and it will most probably for you as well. There was only one crazy thing on the way. After they got out of the airport region, they stopped the bus, made all passenger go out and asked for the hotel names. First you might thing that it is a fraud, which I though to be honest. But then I realized that they agency explains the detailed routes to the drives who was not able to speak a word of English. The guy dropped every passenger to their hotels one by one and of course I was the last one. Finally, I arrived to my lovely hotel: Kata Beach Center Hotel about which you can find the detailed review on my blog post.

Kata beach is a very calm neighborhood of Phuket Island, especially as compared to its crazy neighbor Pathong Beach. Yet there are many things to do around. For example, you have to check out the golden beach with a great sun set you cannot miss. There are many restaurant where you can taste nice Thai food as well. On top of it, the street food along with fresh tropical fruits is also nice option you can check out. There are two market places you can make grocery shopping. One is located on the Patak Road between Taina Road and Patak Soi. That one is open everyday but as pricy as the hawkers on the Kata Road in the center, not recommended! The other one is the local vendor's open  market which opens every Sunday and Thursday. It is open all say long and you can find anything and everything for very good prices. I highly recommend you check thr place out. It is established on the isle in front of the Kata beach center. On top of those, I highly advise you to have the breakfast at Kata @ Sports Bar at Taina Road. You can have delicious 5 items out of the international breakfast menu for 150 baht. For the dinner, I strongly recommend you all you can eat Thai BBQ. It is served in a restaurant located at a short dead-end on Taina Road. Thai BBQ is basically do-it-yourself type of food. The waitress just places a clay pot full of burning coal and close it with an aluminum dome shaped lid. It has a saddle shape around so that you can pour water to boil your veggies and noodles. The dome has many small hole to let heat penetrate to your meat and fish you grill on top. The place I checked out was 180 baht/person and must try stuff. You may a bit of discomfort due to the hygiene of the place but get over it! I guess I had food for at least two people and nothing really happened.

When you come to Kata beach, the first to check out is the golden beach. You can get to the beach on foot. The pedestrian is by a small creek, not stinky but dirty for sure. Don't forget to tip the local beggar!

Then forget about everything because you are in paradise.This is roughly a kilometer beach whose shore is mostly shallow till more or less 100 meter away. Then it gets deeper. You can rent a lounge chair and an umbrella for around 100 bath per day. There are some restaurants on the south end of the beach. I highly recommend you to try the Thai restaurant. They have very nice Thai dishes around 100 bath. Among all of those thing, you must drink the official beverage of the beach: cold coconut juice. Another tip which I mentioned in more detailed on Diving in Kata Beach post is don't go to the diving centers close to the beach they are considerably pricy compared to the ones in the center, beware!

I hope the video of preparation of fresh coconut juice below increases your appetite for Kata beach and its tropical attraction. Have fun!