Merry Christmas from Phuket

Well finally the weather is just about perfect, which is how it should be at this time of year. There has been "odd" weather all over the globe this year with floods, droughts, blizzards. Phuket does not really get much in the way of odd weather. You don't get typhoons in this part of Asia, the daily temperature does not vary much - anything under 30°C we consider to be a cold day - but we do get variations in rainfall each year. The start of December was pretty wet, but since about the 13th it's been almost totally dry, the winds have been light and the beaches calm.

Christmas Day in Phuket - I admit that I "do" Christmas for the kids, otherwise I would not be too bothered. Nice to have a day off work to be with the family and whatever you believe about Christmas, it should always be a happy day. Here in Phuket, the weather on 25th December was perfect. Naturally the kids were awake before my wife and I. The amazed cry of "Daddy, there are presents under the tree!" will never get boring. We had a quiet family day. All days should be like that, but things like work and school and paying bills get in the way!

We headed to The Beach Bar in the late afternoon. Christmas dinner - fish with chili and garlic, plus chicken and cashew nuts and of course a few cold beers. You can get "proper" Christmas dinners in Phuket, a lot of expat oriented bars and restaurants do it, but although my mouth was watering when I saw photos of Christmas dinners back in England that Mum posted on Facebook, it's not something I miss. Fresh fish by the sea with a perfect sunset. That'll do me.





Boxing Day weather - perfect again, just as it was 6 years ago on December 26th. A time of year for everyone in this region to reflect. I won't dwell on the subject here, my thoughts were summed up a couple of years ago - see Thoughts on the Tsunami. Actually, weather on the 26th was great until the evening when we had a big thunderstorm, and my rain gauge told me we had 18mm of rain. We had another evening cloudburst last night with 25mm of rain, though the day had been hot with blue skies. Great photo of yesterdays storm here by Mr Scott Eddy who lives at Karon Beach.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. See you in Phuket!