Earlier this year I wrote a post about my second trip back to Phuket and now, only a few months on I’m penning another post for my third visit, 12 months after that one!
It starts off badly, but does finish a bit better I promise, so bear with me!
I’d talked in that previous post about a girl called Namfon, who I’d met on my first trip and who I’d stayed in contact with and who was pretty much the primary reason behind me wanting to return. Since 2016’s trip I’d continued to stay in touch with her and was really looking forward to seeing her again. Just a few weeks before I’d been due to arrive in Thailand though her messages to me had become less frequent and much more distant. I put it to the back of my mind though and didn’t think much of it. After my shoot with Ploy I had returned back to the hotel and loaded up Instagram to see a story from her at Promthep Cape … and although the video wasn’t completely clear, you could see she was there with another guy (and gut wrenchingly, hear what sounded like a kiss off camera). I tried phoning her but there was no answer, so I sent her a message instead and got a quick reply confirming my suspicions. She’d met a guy she liked and was spending time with him and that she hadn’t known how to tell me.
And just like that, I realised I didn’t have much of a reason to be going back to Phuket at all.
I was of course pretty upset by this and found Patong full of memories. I tried to avoid going to the places I’d been before with her and so, remembering the bar I’d found the previous year I walked over to Otop and almost instantly was welcomed like a returning friend. Everyone had remembered me. I couldn’t believe that anyone would remember me. It was so welcoming and just what I needed.
Over the next couple of weeks I found myself returning every night after I’d been relaxing on the beach or out photographing. We’d all drink until late, playing bar games and singing along to loud music before either heading out to White Rooms/Illuzion or to a late night Thai barbecue.
During this time I became friends with one of the girls who worked there; Alola. Alola was very kind to me and quickly discovered the places I hadn’t visited yet that I had wanted to do. These included Wat Chalong and Promthep Cape and she insisted on taking me to them so that I’d finally enjoy seeing them myself.
My return to Patong had begun in about the worst way possible, but it ended a couple of weeks later with me feeling a lot brighter and feeling that it hadn’t all been a waste of time after all.
I’m saving the sunset photos and Promthep Cape adventure for the next post …
P.S As I write this post in the summer of 2019, Namfon is still happily with the same guy she met. I’m glad it’s working out for them.
