I like to go there in the morning, before the sun is too high in the sky.

During the low season, things can be pretty quiet. There aren’t a lot of hotels in the area. Though the entire beach is lined with deck chairs, there’s still plenty of space for those who don’t want to rent a chair.

Behind the beach there’s a small wooded area, which is great if you want to enjoy the seaside without getting a tan or sunburn.

Sunsets are often quite nice here. While the crowds are at nearby Promathep cape to watch the sunset, things quiet down at the beach.

This spirit house has been vacant for some time. (Normally there are little statues in Thai spirit houses, but this one and its neighbors are empty.) This blog has been without spirit for over a year. But I’m back now. Not that I’ve gone anywhere. I just haven’t taken the time to blog.

Late last year, Bangkok’s two airports were closed down for about a week by a yellow-shirted mob. While about 300,000 tourists were stuck in Bangkok, yours truly was stuck in Belgium. Yellow is the color of Thailand’s king. Last year’s mob was mainly backed by the Bangkok elite who have controlled the country for a long time. They wanted to oust the government which they criticized for its populist and authoritarian policies. Bangkok and its surrounding provinces have seen strong economic growth and development over the past decades. The upcountry provinces much less.

Last year’s protests ended when the main government party was disbanded after some of its executives were found guilty of electoral fraud. The main opposition party, which is called the Democrat party in English, has formed a new government in coalition with some of the smaller parties from the previous government.

As was to be expected, the supporters of the previous government are now taking their turn to protest. These are mostly people from the poorer provinces that benefited from the populist policies after being long neglected by the Bangkok elite. They wear red shirts. As far as I know, red doesn’t stand for anything in particular, other than definitely not being yellow. (The red shirt folks love their king too, but not the yellow-shirted protesters.) Another siege of government house has come and gone, just with a different color.

My advice from last year still stands. Don’t let the unrest in Bangkok deter you from holidaying in Phuket. If it wasn’t for the newspaper, I wouldn’t even know about it. Only Bangkok is to be avoided. Fortunately, there are many direct flights to Phuket. Many of the larger European travel agents have their own charter flights. If you take a scheduled flight, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are good options. By air, Kuala Lumpur is about the same distance and Singapore only a little bit farther from Phuket than Bangkok. There are many flights a day between these airports.

The tide was very low, leaving much of Chalong bay dry.

I was asleep during the first sunrise of 2009. To those still dragging themselves home from the countdown party, it may have looked like this, only completely out of focus:

That beach is actually part of a very small national park. It’s publicly accessible, but nothing can be built there. The result is a very large strech of beach with no tourists. On Sunday and school holidays you may find a bunch of locals hanging out.

DYNAMICALBUM(2008-12-Airport)

Thailand has a new government now, led by the Democrat party, which was previously the largest opposition party. They’ve formed a coalition with the coalition parties of the previous government, except the largest party. That party is accused of taking orders from Thaksin, the former prime minister much disliked by the anti-government protesters. Things are calm now, but the red-shirted pro-government protesters (supports of the previous government) have already announced a rally.

The odds of significant political unrest in Phuket are low. Thailand’s political system is highly centralized in Bangkok. That’s part of the present problems: Bangkok’s elite, represented by the yellow-shirted mob, want to keep the power they’ve enjoyed in the past. But the peasants that hail from Thailands poor northern and northeastern regions, many whom have moved to Bangkok in search for jobs, don’t want to be left out any more. It’s no wonder that after decades of neglect by Bangkok, they’re voting for politicians with populist policies, and have formed a red-shirted mob to counter the yellow guys. As long as policy is set in Bangkok, that’s where most of the protest will be.

Today it is 4 years ago that a tsunami struck the coasts around the Indian Ocean, including those of Phuket and Phang Nga (immediately north of Phuket), the greatest tragedy that struck Phuket in recent history. Though that had an immediate negative impact on tourism, the recovery followed quickly. 12 months later, tourist numbers were back up to previous levels.

The present combined forces of a global economic recession and political turmoil in Thailand are having a greater impact on tourist arrivals than the tsunami did. I certainly understand that people don’t want to spend their hard-earned money only to get stuck in a foreign airport. A country that has shot itself into the foot once can easily shoot the other foot too.

Still, if you’ve been considering a trip to Phuket, now would be a great time, if your financial situation allows. With hotel operators complaining about low occupancy rates, I wouldn’t be surprised if your tour operator can find you some good last-minute deals. And the place won’t be as crowded as usual during the peak season (December-January).

While things are likely to remain calm in Phuket, it’s hard to say what will happen in Bangkok. Fortunately, Phuket has its own international airport. You can fly directly to the island from many countries in Asia and Europe. Here’s a list of international flights arriving at Phuket I’ve gathered at flightstats.com for Dec 25, 26, and 27. There are plenty of ways to fly to Phuket without changing planes in Bangkok.

• Copenhagen (CPH): Smart Wings, MyTravel Airways, Corsair
• Frankfurt (FRA): Condor Flugdienst
• Helsinki (HEL): Air Europa Lineas Aereas, Finnair
• Hong Kong (HKG): Orient Thai Airlines, Hong Kong Express, Dragonair
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL): Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia
• Milan (MXP): Blue Panorama Airlines
• Moscow (DME): Transaero Airlines
• Munich (MUC): LTU
• Oslo (OSL): TUIfly Nordic
• Penang (PEN): Firefly
• Perth (PER): Thai Airways
• Seoul (ICN): Korean Airlines, Asiana Airlines, SkyStar
• Shanghai (PVG): China Eastern Airlines
• Singapore (SIN): Silkair, Tiger Airways, Air Asia
• Sofia (SOF): BH Air
• Stockholm (ARN): Corsair, Novair
• Sydney (SYD): Jetstar
• Tokyo (NRT): Thai Airways
• Zurich (ZRH): Edelweiss Air

The list isn’t complete. I know there’s a charter flight operated by XL France that arrives today from Brussels. That’s the flight I took 3 weeks ago to get back here. The only dumb thing for me is that, being a charter flight, it can only be booked as a return trip originating in Brussels.