Love it or hate it – Patong is Phuket’s playground. People flock to Patong for a variety of reasons. For some, it’s the beach – although the beach in Patong is definitely nothing to get excited about. For others, it’s the nightlife, which is definitely something worth getting excited about. Patong is overdeveloped, it’s noisy and it’s full of people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great time there.

Without wanting to make too many sweeping generalizations, Patong is the favored destination of single, Western males. Some travel alone while others might go with friends. Remember: Patong is a playground. The nightlife in Patong is about as interesting as you will find on the island. However, the scene is developing.

For a long time, if you mentioned nightlife in Patong to most people, they’d have immediately thought of go-go bars and bar girls. All of that still exists, but the nightlife scene in Patong is now a lot more diverse than it used to be.

Patong now has dance clubs and salsa bars, jazz clubs and trendy hangouts. There is, though, still no escaping the fact that Patong has far too many beer bars. If having Thai bar girls flaunt themselves in front of you is what you’re after then Soi Bangla will be like a little slice of heaven.

With regards to the beach in Patong, it may have been a scenic area before, but it’s now full of parasols and sun loungers and people trying to get you to rent jet-skis. Other annoyances include people selling ice creams, people offering massages and people trying to draw henna tattoos while you’re sunbathing.

If you’re a foodie then Patong will provide you with a few surprises. Although the food can be expensive, just take a walk along the street and you’ll see just how many great restaurants there are in the area. All tastes are catered to, although there are perhaps a few too many Italian restaurants.

One gripe about Patong is the tuk-tuk drivers. Half of them are honest folk just trying to make a living, but the other half are scoundrels who should be given a wide berth. There have been numerous cases of tuk-tuk drivers becoming very aggressive with people who park in “tuk-tuk zones”, which really don’t exist. The tuk-tuk drivers in Patong have a monopoly over public transport because every time the authorities try and do something about the situation, the tuk-tuk drivers block the streets with their vehicles.

Overall, Patong is a great party destination with an average beach and lots of beautiful Thai women. Heaven or hell? You decide.