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Welcome to Patong
Patong Beach Haad Patong is the largest beach resort on the island of Phuket. Understand Patong is the party capital of Phuket, a great beach. Mostly made up of hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and various tourist attractions, there's a thriving nightlife, with numerous "entertainment complexes" and countless bars clustered together in and around Bangla Road, and female, transgender and male prostitutes to cater to every taste. Massage parlors of the erotic as well the therapeutic (NuadThai) genre provide less alcohol/drug infested venues for punters and wellness seekers. One can even find masseuses practicing this medical art atop bamboo mats on the beach sands (100 baht and up). Prices are higher than in Phuket Town, but there's more budget accommodation here than at the more southerly beaches. This may not be a good destination for the average backpacker, except in the rainy season when prices are far lower. Rooming houses ('Mansions') a few blocks inland provide nice, clean a/c rooms and suites as cheaply as 300 baht/day (less without a/c), or 3,000- 10,000 baht/month.
Patong's two main axes are the aptly named Beach Road (Thanon Thawiwong) and Thanon Rat- U-Thit 200 Pi (the last bit means "200 years" and is pronounced song roi pee) running parallel a few hundred meters inland. A handful of streets and sois (alleys) connect the two, the largest and most central of which is Bangla Road (Thanon Bangla).