Phuket Christmas Family Trip

Le Meridien Phuket is one of the earliest western resorts established on the island. It has become the annual Christmas retreat for many expat families living in Asia. Around the holiday period, the whole resort becomes a big family as you see many familiar faces. On Christmas Eve, the resort puts together a big gala with a sumptuous buffet banquet (including whole lobsters), lots of singing and dancing performance (many performed by the resort's very own staff), and beach fireworks. The gala is not cheap ($200+ per person) but it comes with unlimited food/drinks and the convenience of being just a few steps away from your room to crash after the party.

The mountainous landscape of Phuket creates many great viewpoints. We visited the two most popular ones: Karon View Point and Phromthep Cape. We liked the view at Phromthep Cape better and the elephant shrine there was interesting too. If viewpoints are your thing, here is a list of some noteworthy viewpoints in Phuket.

the famous lobster dish

pick a live lobster for our dinner

There are no longer any private beaches in Phuket after a new anti-corruption rule put in place in May 2014. Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort is as good as it gets if you want a more private beach experience. Thanks to its early entry in Phuket in mid 1980's, Le Meridien secured a superb location on the island, occupying a secluded bay section of Karon Beach. With both sides of the bay cut off by mountain cliffs, the only way to access the beach is through resort lobby which makes it semi-private.

We spent most of our days in Phuket just chilling at the resort, either sunbathing on the beach or taking on some of the free resort activities. We also enjoyed morning walks/runs on the beach. With tranquil settings like the wave-washed buoy rope and the natural rock formation, it was a wonderful way to start the day and get some exercise in before the big breakfast buffet.

naughty elephant ran away with the beach sign

an idyllic setting for sunbathing

If you are looking for non-beach or non-ocean related sites in Phuket, the beautiful Wat Chalong Temple is worth a visit. Of the many buddhist temples found in Phuket, it is the largest and most revered. Similar to other temple complexes in Thailand, Wat Chalong is composed of several colorful ornate structures.

Wat Chalong is most revered for the sacred relic it kept, a fragment of a bone of the Buddha. The relic, named Phra Borom Sareerikatat, is kept inside a glass case on top of the 60 meters high Phra Mahathat Chedi. Wat Chalong also has a long history of being associated with healing. Two former abbots of the temple were known for their knowledge of herbal medicine and their work of healing local people. The viharn contains statues of these two revered monks covered with gold leafs that local people donated to pay respect.

oceanfront terrace