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What's going on everybody? This is Island Opera TV and today we're going to compare Phuket
and Krabi, Thailand. See which one's best for you or maybe if both are best for you. Let's get into
it. Okay let's talk about some details here. Phuket is an island. Krabi is a province attached to the
Malaysian Peninsula here in Thailand. They're both in Thailand. They are about three hours apart by
car or if you took a ferry or speedboat it's around three to four hours across the Andaman Sea
with the Phi Phi Islands in the middle. Phi Phi Islands actually belong to Krabi. So if you're
going to Phi Phi Islands, you're technically in Krabi, and Phuket is actually more of the beaches
and the islands closer around the island that you'll see, but those are towards the south. There
are many different islands in Phong Nga, which is actually the bay that actually butts up next to
the area closer to Khao Sok. Now, if you wanted to go to Khao Sok, you could probably get to
Khao Sok easily from Krabi or Phuket, but I wanted to lay out that geography first
The next thing I want to talk about is the nightlife. Phuket hands down has more nightlife than Krabi
That doesn't mean that Ao Nong doesn't have nightlife and that Krabi Town doesn't have a night market
It does. I would say Krabi Town and Phuket Town are very similar. But what Krabi doesn't have is that same kind of experience that you would get in Phatong
Now, I would say Ao Nong is very similar to Kata. So I would say if you're a party person, you're definitely going to prefer Phuket
Phuket also has better beaches, which we'll be talking about a little later
But partying, as far as that goes, that's on Phuket. Krabi is more of the adventure seekers destination
They've got rock climbing, they've got these dramatic beach cliffs with the limestones
more caves more outdoor adventure here in Krabi than you would find in Phuket in my opinion Now when it comes to transportation Phuket has a bit better airport more options more flights in and out directly
For example, if I'm trying to fly from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur, it's going to be a little bit more difficult than if I was trying to fly from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore or something like that
It is quite easy to get from Krabi to Bangkok, so maybe factor that in
Now, as far as transportation with tuk-tuks and taxis, there are plenty of taxis in Krabi and Phuket both
But I would say overall, you're going to have more options, more luxury vehicles probably in Phuket
Phuket has more infrastructure, buses. They do have bus stops here in Krabi
They have bus stops in Phuket. I spent two weeks in Phuket just now
That was my fifth time in Phuket. And this is my third time in Krabi
So I'm pretty familiar with what to expect when you get here in terms of the transportation also
Another thing that Krabi has that's really efficient is the long tail boat access that you can get from Al Nong
That'll take you over to Ralei Beach. So it's pretty easy to get a long tail boat here I'm not saying it's hard to get a long tail boat. It'll take you around island hopping just like, you know from the shore
in Bhatang, but It seems like Al Nong probably has more access to getting out in the open
open water than you can get in Phuket. Phuket's got more of that jet ski parasailing, but you don't
really see here right now. I don't see any jet skis. If this was anywhere in Phuket, Tong Beach
you'd see parasails going. You'd see jet skis. You'd see banana boats. You don't see any of that
here in Krabi. Now let's talk about money. Which one's more affordable? Well, I would say Krabi
overall is cheaper than Phuket. I found some cheap accommodation and other things that were cheap
in Phuket, but overall, Krabi is definitely a lot cheaper. I mean, my hotel last night, when I was looking
I saw that they were going for around $23 a night for a pretty good four-star hotel
Here it is, not peak season, it's actually low season, whereas a cheap four-star hotel in Phuket right now is going for around $50
So, you can get like a five-star hotel here in Krabi for around $100
I staying at the Sentara It like tonight They say it a five star I would it a four but an upper four Now as far as infrastructure in general I would say Phuket has more infrastructure
Krabi doesn't really have a lot of infrastructure. It's kind of a rugged place
It's probably one of the more rugged places in Thailand. Similar to what you would find in Chiang Rai in terms of infrastructure
Whereas Phuket's got a lot of modern infrastructure, modern hotels, modern pipes, electricity
I haven't really seen any electrical outages here in Krabi, but it just seems like the infrastructure in general is better in Phuket than it is here in Krabi
Now let's talk about safety. I would say that Phuket is probably a little bit safer
It's not that Krabi's dangerous, it's just Phuket's just that much safer
The thing that remains the same problem for tourists is probably going to be the mopeds
People who rent mopeds in Phuket, that's like the number one danger. I mean, you type in tourist accident in Phuket, you'll see on Google many different ones recently
And car accidents happen quite frequently here in Phuket. Now, if you come over here to Krabi, people rent motorbikes, but not as often
and I'm not hearing as much of the accident thing, although it does happen
So that's still the biggest thing to pay attention to. And then the food, you know, make sure that the food is cooked
Make sure it's clean food because you don't want to end up with the case of the bubble guts. They call it Bangkok belly, Delhi belly, Bali belly
You know, wherever you're at, they're going to call it the belly. You have to take a round of antibiotics if you get a fever and chills
Those are the two main things. Now, as far as the people go, the locals, let's talk about this
You will notice a significant difference between the people in Thailand from the north and the people in Thailand from the south
They're just different. It's kind of like in America, right? The people in New York are different than the people in Florida
Well, I would say it's opposite here, whereas they say in the United States, the people in the north are not so friendly, like Boston and Massachusetts
New York, they say not so friendly. Whereas in the south, they say southern hospitality
Well here in Thailand I would say that the people in the north just smile a bit more They a bit more friendly easier going It not to say that people in the south are not It just I would say that the people in the north are more friendly
And when it comes to comparing Phuket and Krabi, I seem to notice that a lot of people from the north migrate to Phuket
Whereas they don't really migrate to this area of Krabi, which I think plays an ultimate underlying role in why they're just not as smiley
I'm not saying they're not friendly, just saying they're more smiley in Phuket than they are here
And now for my final thoughts on going to Phuket or Krabi, I would say because they are so close, try and do both
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going to both of these destinations, but they are dramatically different
from the beaches to the overall food and just the vibe is going to be very different in both places
But because they're only three hours apart by boat, you take the ferry or if you take the bus
even if you take a private car, it's still about three hours apart. You can easily do both
You can fly in from Bangkok to Krabi and then just cross into Phuket
or you can fly into Phuket and then cross into Krabi. another one that people like to add on this journey is going to be Koh Samui so if you would
like to actually do all three that's probably the best way to do it I would call that the triangle
so that's Phuket Krabi and then Koh Samui and you can even add in Koh Phanong and Koh Tao into that
journey and that will take you around 30 days to do all of that to see it correctly and properly
and with that being said that's going to conclude this episode of Island Hopper TV travel highlights
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