anyone been to phuket?

[blueberrysorbet]

we are planning to go phuket for a few weeks with baby and toddler- any tips that could we passed on are very welcome! is there anything that you wish you had known? we have found a nice self catering villa so will be doing shopping

You lucky ducks. My main advice would be to check the condition of the sea. Be aware of the rips that occur, but mainly enjoy yourself. Thai people love children, that is an understatement actually, they adore children. On the food front, you may or may not be able to buy food you are familiar with. Marmite is a bit hit and miss, although I understand that there is a Villa market open now. TOPS are probably the most 'western' of the supermarkets. Take your car seats with you if you are hiring a car, if not, sort out the cost of the taxi before getting in to it. There is a sort of taxi mafia operating on Phuket where the prices are ridiculously inflated. Avoid tuktuks, they look good fun but are extremely dangerous.
When are you going?

There's a Tesco in Phuket. You'll be fine.

The Tesco lotus' are about as far removed from english tesco's as you can get though.
Do make sure you check the milk to make sure it is unsweetened, Thai people love sugar. The fruit that's sold by the roadside always comes with a tiny bag of sugar and chilli to dip your purchase in. Do avoid durian.
I am so jealous.

Yes, of course Tesco is tailored to local tastes and you won't be able to buy quail eggs there. But you will be able to buy nappies, formula, suncream, juice and whatever else you're likely to need during a two-week holiday. It's not Hill Tribe country.

ooh lucky you, I'm so jealous , I love Phuket. I've never been self-catering so can't help on that front, but have a fantastic time!

Most of the restaurants in Thailand don't do high chairs as we know it. If you ask for one, they will bring you literally a chair that is high but no straps, nothing! We had to use a tablecloth or napkins many times to tie DS (7 months old at that time) to the chair. So I would be prepared for that.

We did ride in tuk tuks lots but I grew up in Asia and car safety is pretty much non-existent there for babies/toddlers so I would take car seats if you are paranoid about that. We just hung on to DS for dear life!

I would stay away from the sea as advised by kreecher. Not worth the risk in my opinion - countless stories of tourists drowning all the time.

We took a pushchair for DS and barely used it. The pavements are not made for pushchairs and you will be lifting it up and down the stairs and kerbs a lot. Also, we found that DS just sweated buckets in it and wasn't comfy in the pushchair in the heat. We had a sling too and used that a lot more.

I would also buy sunblock and mosquito repellent for the children here before going to Phuket. They don't really do a huge amount (if any) of baby-friendly products there. I would just be concerned about the ingredients they use there. Have fun, we had a blast when we went.

thanks everyone that's really helpful- we are going in Jan. my dh is the only one who will be swimming as such, he is a diving /snorkeling fan and expect toddler will just play and moan about the sand will stock up on mossie stuff and sun lotion too.