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Kata Beach lies south of Patong on Phuket's west coast. The shopping
area stands back from the beach. Kata offers quite a varied selection
of shopping opportunities for visitors and, although somewhat sleepy
during the day (everyone's on the beach), many souvenir shops open
in the early afternoon and shop owners are there to barter with
until late at night. Kata offers two distinct shopping areas:
Northern Kata
Starting opposite Marina
Phuket Resort and going up the main street, you will find souvenirs,
handicrafts, valises and travel bags (check out the shops opposite
Marina Phuket Resort for this particular item) and sports T-shirts
as well as fake this-and-that goods, including DVD's and CD's.
Kata Beach is superior to Karon Beach when it comes to relaxed
shopping, in that it is more compact and the atmosphere here is
less seedy. Walking around is less arduous in the 'helloooo-you-wan'-massage?'
department. Still, people seeking a tailor-made suit should be in
seventh heaven around here. People looking for good imitation paintings
- from tacky and teary Pierrots to Andy Warhol copies won't be disappointed
as these items are to be found opposite Marina
Phuket Resort.
The main street
The main street itself in the central part of Kata has stands offering
the usual tourist standard fare of imitation goods and souvenir
handicraft wares but one particular shop commands the attention.
It is full of the usual curios; silk cushion covers, wooden games
and unusual monster creations made out of used motorcycle parts.
The shop has no name but it is to be found 100 metres from the T-junction
with the Beach Rd., on the right-hand side of Kata's main street.
Further up is 'Sawasdee', a shop featuring superior souvenirs,
clothes and nick-nacks. On both sides of the T-junction you will
find two decent shoe shops with a wide variety of styles, from high
heels to sneakers to beach wear. There are also two supermarkets
here.
Southern Kata
This area is from Kata
Beach Resort to Mom
Tri's Boathouse Wine & Grill, around the corner. Opposite
Kata Beach Resort is an Adidas shop offering knockdown prices. The
shop closes at 11 at night so there's plenty of time to browse there.
There are opticians here and some of the brands on offer at knock
down prices are Rodenstock, Polaroid, Versace, and Silhouette. If
you're into hippy beads and paraphernalia a store selling just that
stands on the corner of the street leading to Sugar
Palm Resort. The two streets near the Adidas shop (Soi Option
1 and Soi Option 2) contain a wealth of goods.
Here, in a small area, you will find the largest range of merchandise
in Kata. There is an attractive handbag, wallet and jewelry store,
several tailors, stands selling sunglasses, hats, beachwear, beach
toys, souvenirs, copied name brand sports shoes, costume jewelry,
suitcases, travel bags and even blue jeans.
In short, there is no need to wander around covering a long distance;
this area has it all. If you like a beach read, the Pop Mart next
to the Adidas shop has a large selection of up-to-date international
newspapers.
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