Laguna Resorts & Hotels, which has six hotels in its lakes-and-beachside complex on the west coast of Phuket, is giving away 100,000 room nights for guests who book online. The room nights are being given away on the basis of one free night per online booking.

“It seems incredible to offer this many room nights,” said Laguna’s Managing Director, Mr. Michael Ayling, “but guests simply book online at their preferred hotel’s website to take advantage of the one free night offer for every paid booking. Our … initiative coincides with the launch of our redesigned Laguna Phuket website and will help drive traffic to the new site, as well as generating bookings for the upcoming low season.”

After a hiatus of three years because of lack of sponsorship, the Thailand Golf Open is back, thanks to backing from Singha Beer, and will be played out on the Laguna Phuket Golf Course from March 5 to 8. For those who don’t mind standing in the sun for three more days, there is practice on March 2 and 3, and a pro-am competition on March 4.

In the West, the glitterati go to an Elton John concert, or maybe Bruce Springstein. In Phuket, the Thai glitterati go to see Nantida Kaewbuasai.

Nantida is famed for her 1980s ballad Bawk Noi Dai Mai? (Could you tell me?) and is a big favourite with those who are, shall we say, no longer as young as they might like to be.

In the old heart of Phuket Town in and around Thalang Rd, you’ll notice that the streets are lined with small shops. The buildings are usually two-storey with an arcade in front. The shop owners do business at street level and live upstairs, hence the name for this type of building – shophouses.

Some are monstrosities of 1960s concrete, but most date back 100 years or more and are built in an architectural style that combines Chinese and Portuguese elements, hence the term Sino-Portuguese.

The new Marriott Courtyard in Kamala is offering a special opening deal of 3,333 baht a night, including taxes. The deal, which includes breakfast, continues until October 31.

The hotel, right on the beach, has 180 one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with broadband Internet connection, a large pool, Kids World (for when Mum and Dad plan to spend time in the spa) and excellent international cuisine in the MoMo Café.

Paying a visit to Red Mountain Golf Club is a must for anyone visiting or staying in Phuket. 18 holes spread over 1400 Rai of beautiful green landscape. The golfing greens are surrounded by natural wild jungle, kept in perfect harmony with the course itself. The sun reflects off the many lakes that dot the magnificent view as we traversed the highest points in the golf course, taking as many images as we could. Orange colored hills frame the horizon, giving the place it’s namesake.

Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes on Phuket will have seen the Heroines monument in the middle of the circle halfway between Phuket Town and Thalang. The statue of two women holding swords commemorates the defeat 224 years ago of a Burmese army by the people of Thalang (then the capital of the island).
The victory is celebrated every year on Phuket with a week of activities, culminating in a free open-air theatrical performance on the supposed site of the final battle in the five-week defence of Phuket. This year, the performance, featuring hundreds of people, takes place on the nights of March 13, 14 and 15.

HUA BEACH: This beach is on the north coast of the headland between Kamala and the Thavorn Beach Village, on a road known to property developers as Millionaire’s Mile. (Why “millionaire’s” – singular – instead of “millionaires’” – plural – is a mystery; there is certainly more than one million-dollar home along this road.)

The road is pretty beaten up, particularly since there is now a great deal of construction going on. The local council, which owns it, never seems to have enough money to keep it up, or even to compete it – it was originally intended to be a scenic route right round the headland, but they ran out of money when it was about a kilometre short.

Who could resist a snack with a name like “toop-tap”? We certainly can’t. This simple Thai snack is made from sugar and peanuts in equal proportions with a little clear syrup added, pounded in a mortar, then rolled flat. The flattened sheet of delicious goo is then rolled up and cut into bite-size chunks, each of which is wrapped in thin greaseproof paper.

Valentine’s Day is really close. So use a special dinner date as an excuse to get close to your loved one for a romantic tête-à-tête or pied-à-pied or more…

The following places are among those doing Valentine’s Day specials on Phuket: