Breakfast at the Royale Chulan Hotel on Monday morning was every bit as good as that at the Crowne Plaza. We even managed some of the spicier offerings and filled ourselves so full that we did not need to eat again until the evening.

We took a taxi to the Low Cost Airlines Terminal to catch our Air Asia flight to Thailand . This went without a hitch and just over an hour after takeoff we were bumping down through the clouds to land at Phuket airport.   Immigration procedures were completed speedily and we were soon scanning the line of drivers’ clipboards displayed behind the arrivals barrier for one with our names on. Sure enough a driver who called himself “The Boss” was there to meet us. He drove us over the bridge to the mainland from the island of Phuket and north up the coast to the area known as Khao Lak, about 50 miles away.

We were to spend the next 2 weeks at the FX Resort at Bang Niang beach. This was a modern 3 storey tourist complex a block away from the beach. Our room was spacious and we had a lovely large balcony overlooking the pool.

The weather was hot but overcast and so after unpacking for the first time this trip we went out to explore the area. A leafy lane ran parallel to the sea separating our hotel from the low key but much more expensive beach front properties . There were also one or two eating places and the all important convenience store. The road which led back from the sea to the main road was lined with the usual mix of tourist shops, massage parlours, tour agencies, bars and restaurants. It was about 1 kilometre to the main road and there we found a colourful tourist market which was just opening up for the evening.

Later we ate at one of the small restaurants along the beach front. The food was good if not spectacular, but the staff were attentive, friendly and, in the case of one in particular, of indeterminable gender. Keith, for whom the sunbathing / beach sectors of our travels are of great importance, had yet to decide if he was going to like Bang Niang. All that changed very quickly when we strolled up towards the main road after dinner and became aware of the unmistakable strains of AC/DC emanating from the Piranha Bar. The proprietor was a colourful local character who had run the bar for the last 14 years, loved his rock music and constantly circulated amongst the customers making everyone laugh, not because anyone understood what he was saying in his highly accented English but because he punctuated every statement with a very loud and infectious guffaw . That evening he had distributed puzzles to the customers (the sort where you have to unlock intertwined chains or twist and pull apart blocks of wood). These caused great amusement as well as frustration. We were sharing a table with a German couple and are ashamed to say that at the end of the evening the rate of success was Germany 2 England 0! It was good fun though. The beer wasn’t cheap but was cheaper than in Malaysia, the music was good and we could see us spending many more evenings at the Piranha Bar during our stay.