# Phuket Living in 2011



## Salisbury

When I last had a look at Phuket as a potential place to live, what put me off was the social life.
We met some very nice people but the social scene seems to be dominated by what my wife and i came to call the Aussie party syndrome.
The women on one side of the room Bar and the men on the other.
The problem is that the majority of Men we met had Thai wives ,girlfriends. Nothing wrong with that but conversation is virtually impossible due to language barriers so in the end all the guys are end up together using the lingua Franca English and the Thai women sit and talk among themselves.
Being a married Brit couple we did not fit into this scenario, I hasten to add that we have lived in many parts of the world from South America to Turkey and have no problem with fitting in, we live in a Marina on a yacht now with many nationalities.
This was in the 90s and once again we are thinking of Thailand.
The 64,000 dollar question is. Has it changed are there more couples out there, we could mix with. Because we are yachties we tend to knock around with other sailing people because of shared interest. Does the Yacht club have a strong social scene?
Once again we are very flexible. We number among our friends here A French biologist, ex pilots, ex CIA( or so he says!) A Spanish doctor, and a couple of shady brits we all get along especially on the monday night barbecue, when the rum kicks in. 
Plus 1 am ex BA cabin crew a restauranteur and publican from Jersey and Salisbury, any call for a very casual international expats bar, a meeting place limited but exellent bar food What I am good at, says he modestly is creating atmosphere with good music jazz reggae oldies etc. well behaved children and animals welcome!!Maybe centred around a pool. Any feedback on this would be valued.


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## Song_Si

Salisbury said:


> Because we are yachties we tend to knock around with other sailing people because of shared interest. Does the Yacht club have a strong social scene?
> ...any call for a very casual international expats bar, a meeting place limited but exellent bar food What I am good at, says he modestly is creating atmosphere with good music jazz reggae oldies etc. well behaved children and animals welcome!!Maybe centred around a pool. Any feedback on this would be valued.


Hi - I think the 'shared interest' is he key; can't speak for the yacht club though; and as we're not 'bar people' we were never involved in that part of Phuket life, in fact went out of our way to avoid it; the 'shared interest' was our way 'in' as far as developing a social life went, through rugby (kids coaching), lifeguards and cycling we made some lasting friendships either with kids' parents or fellow club members. Seemed to meet the same group in different locations, eg people met at swimming would be a school's fundraising 'fun run'. 

Your bar idea - problem is isn't the profits from a bar mainly from the alcohol? We lived Karon then Chalong there are plenty of people there who would never venture to a typical 'bar' but would welcome a more relaxed (and more quiet!) environment with good food to enjoy afternoon/evening. Came back from Penang on Friday and one of my highlights was a little cafe run by an Englishwoman, food was OK but I just loved the music, supply of daily newspapers, friendly staff, lovely little haven.


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