It's the beginning of high season here in Phuket which means there are tons of people everywhere. Rooms are harder to book and even renting a motorbike this morning took me a few tries. Luckily I got the last room at Phuket Top Team and the last motorbike from the shop down the street. I normally like to pay 2,000 baht a month ($60US) for a manual bike since Tony's, Ja-Ja's and the shop next to Tony's were all out, I was quite happy to pay 2,500 this time around for a month during high season. If was staying for 3 or more months I definetely would have just bought a bike for 10,000 - 15,000 baht and sold it for the same amount when I left.
The reason why I chose to come back to Phuket Top Team and not another gym is because they are really laid back here. Some other gyms make you feel like once you train there once you are never allowed to train anywhere else. But at PTT it's quite laid back, come and go as you please, no ego, no drama, lovely.
Other than that, walking down the street I noticed they opened two pharmacies on the street between Tiger and PTT, I'm sure it'll be a great money maker as guys training at the gyms are always hitting up the chemist for cuts and infections, steroids, or even just some ibuprofen. PTT itself is doing some light construction, adding onto the gym, not really quite sure what, but things here are constantly improving.
I can't wait to get back to training again. This morning I woke up at 7am just to run around the block, which is 3.36 miles. Ended up walking half of it just to accumulate my body again to the heat and not to over do it the first day. Did some kettle bells as well then went to the Vegetarian restaurant near Chalong Circle for some 50 baht ($1.67us) for some food, bought a Tarragon roasted chicken for 119 baht ($4us) and random groceries at Tesco Lotus for my fridge, and then had lunch at the 30 baht ($1) cheap and clean thai buffet.
5 reasons why I am happy to be back in Thailand:
1. The sun is out and it feels like the perfect California summer while it's actually cold as shit in California right now.
2. Being able to walk around/workout with shorts and no shirt makes me feel free again.
3. Good cheap Thai food for less than $2US
4. Being surrounded by guys who are in better shape than me gives me motivation to train hard.
5. Riding around on a scooter which I filled up for 110baht ($3.66US) - it's fun, easy to get around and cheap as hell. To fill up my friend's car in LA last week costed me 20x that amount.
Anyways, I'll keep you guys posted and do some more updates now that I'm back. As always leave a comment and let me know if you have any questions.
Warm Regards,
Johnny @ My Fight Camp
Nice, I want to be back. I'm still stuck on probation and lawyer is on some 2 month long vacation.
ReplyDeleteAre there still rooms available in places close to PTT like Tony's apartments.
My biggest problem was a motorbike and getting in accidents. I got in to two decent ones, one on each side of my body and couldn't train the majority of my two month stay. Back in the states, I've never had a wreck or a dui in my entire life, and go there and find it a near death experience every time venturing out on chaofa. There, the people have no regard at all and seem to have no value of life or crippling somebody. Even on the soi tradied, a truck full of workers tried to hit me for no reason at all. They weren't passing another car or anything that would make them swerve and run me off the road. They must have just hated farangs. Also, an ausssie guy in the room next to me in the hotel had the lower part of his leg taken off by somebody doing a u-turn out of nowhere.
I can stay on the street and just walk back and forth from ptt to whatever hotel i can find (hopefully tony's isn't full), but I would soon go stir crazy doing that.
Do you eventually get used to the motorbike thing? Do you ride motorcycles and stuff back in the states.
Hey Zak. Right now all the rooms at Tony's Apartments and at PTT are full, but they open up all the time. There is another place near Mama's called Outback Hostel that is 4,900 a month.
ReplyDeleteAs for motorbikes, I've never had a single problem bro. I don't ride motorcycles back in the states because people there aren't used to looking out for bikes and it's even more dangerous there.
To be honest, I think 95% of motorbike accidents I've seen in Phuket are the driver's fault. Most farangs (guys here on vacation) don't wear helmets and drive way too fast and like idiots. I can see why they have pissed off a lot of the local Thai's. From my own experience the majority of guys I've met training both at Tiger Muay Thai and even PTT to a lesser extent have no business on a motorbike, and no one should ever ride a bike to patong, especially since they usually drink.