Harmony Naturist Resort Phuket

At first, I did not plan on visiting this resort but since I had two extra nights to kill after my visit to Oriental Beach Village Naturist Resort, why not? To be honest, I have yet to have the opportunity to visit the three naturist resorts in Phuket.

Formerly know as Fairy Meadows, current operator Neil and Tracy from UK refurbished (or more accurately rescued) this place and established Harmony Naturist Resort Phuket. Opened in November 2019, this is the latest one among the three naturist resorts in Southern Phuket.

My day began by checking out of Oriental Beach Village Resort, taking the 10:30 ferry at Ko Kho Khao Harbour follow by 3-hour drive all the way to Southern Phuket with a healthy lunch+shopping stop at Tesco Lotus Thalang. My partner likes shopping in Tesco Lotus because they often have good quality bed sheets on sale. Yes, in case you were wondering, she bought a set as usual.

Where is it?

Our drive took us towards Promthep Cap — the southern tip of Phuket Island, which is only minutes away from the resort. The GPS coordinate of their gate is 7.765733, 98.310463. Once through the gate, there was an covered car park area to my right and the reception to the left. Having a Thailand SIM card is a plus because the office is not always manned and you may need to call Neil to open the front door for you.

The Environment

	Once inside, you will find the swimming pool and nested around it in sort of a sloping terrain are 8 cottages, a small gazebo and 2 vacant plots (for now). Neil said, one of the plots will be develop as an garden area while the other one will serve as an extension to the pool with a dinning area.
	For now, the “garden” area have only a few chairs and hammocks while the “extended deck” is still in conceptual stage. Harmony Naturist Resort is an ongoing project and for now, business is blooming. I have high hope this place will be very different when I return.

How is the cottage?

Our cottage was surprisingly clean and properly furnished. It even comes with proper cookery and microwave oven, so in theory you can hit the local wet market for ingredient and cook your own meal. There are of course, much better options.

WiFi reception was great and I had no problem setting up my Chromecast for NexFlix and Amazon Prime viewing. I suppose if you have to pick bones, you can wish for a TV in bedroom so you can enjoy your evening movie in bed.



Where to dine?

Breakfast -- it is included but honestly, there really are room for improvement. Breakfast is kind of continental style so it may not suit meat eaters who love sausages and beacon. Also, the coffee ... it's just ... I really don't know how to say this politely but it does taste like nun's piss :( Again, I may be biased because I really do like hot and salty Thai porridge -- perfect to prepare my body for a hot sweaty day.

Lunch & Dinner — there are lot’s of options along Ra Wai Beach. Neil recommended two places “Nikitas Beach Restaurant” at the end of Ra Wai Beach @ GPS coordinate 7.774698, 98.326204 and “Paradise Beach Bar” @ GPS coordinate 7.766394, 98.317760. Both restaurants serve great food at reasonable price.

-- 02/20

Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

Oriental Beach Village Naturist Resort

Where is it?

Opened in 2019, formerly known as Ocean Breeze Residence, Oriental Beach Village Naturist Resort (OBV) is actually located at the northern end of Phang Nga Province -- about 110 km from Phuket International Airport and a solid 2.5 hours drive to get to with a ferry trip in between.

The drive is relatively simple. From Phuket International Airport, you travel north along Route 402, then turn onto Route 4 and continue north, passing Khao Lak until you reach the pier at Ban Nam Khem in about 2 hours. There, you'll find a ferry service ferrying people and vehicle to the opposite shore.

On my arrival, it took over an hour to clear custom. This means if your flight does not arrive in the morning, your safe bet will be staying overnight at Khao Lak rather than risking arriving at the pier only to learn the last ferry had departed.

For bicycle / motorcycle, you can just push it onto a long tail boat but if you are driving a car, you have to wait for the car ferry which closes at 17:30 daily. Fare for 1 car and 2 person was THB150. There is "kind of" a schedule but the ferry will depart whenever it is full, so make sure you arrive at least 30 minutes earlier to secure a spot. After that, it is just another 15 minutes drive to the resort. The GPS coordinate of the front gate is 8.926492, 98.257315.

OBV does offer one way transfer at THB2,500 which mean a round trip will cost you THB5,000 -- more expensive than renting a car for a week!

Arriving at the resort

There are several parking spaces outside for guests arriving in their own vehicle. Having a Thailand SIM card is a plus because there is a security lock at the main gate and you will need to call the resort staff to open the gate for you.

Speaking of staff, if you frequent their Chiang Mai counterpart, you will find some familiar faces here because some staff moved with their family all the way from Chiang Mai to here. One told me she found the environment much quieter, air is cleaner and weather is better.



There is a main access down the length of the resort, with two and three storeys high villa on its side. The access ended at the swimming pool with a shaded restaurant area on the other side where you can take your meals.

Fun Fact -- That big round tower thing you see besides the swimming pool is a Tsunami Tower. In case there is a Tsunami, guests can seek refuge at the top.

 

While the pool is of good size, the real gem is the beach front just a few meters away. Beach chairs were there for your use and you can easily spend hours soaking up the sun. You should be aware of the fact that there are two other resorts neighboring OBV and on occasions, their guests will walk pass this section of the beach. As far as I can tell, they have no problem seeing me sunbathing in nude. If you fancy a stroll down the beach, just cover yourself until you cleared these two resorts. You can enjoy a long naturist-style sunset stroll along the coastline.

Strange Fact -- while it is cool to be able to swim in Andamen Sea, something stung us in the water. Really, both me and my partner fell it and decided to get out of the sea after mere minutes.

How is the food?

The menu is basically the same one you will find in their Chiang Mai counterpart. Both lunch and dinner tasted good although their potion seems to be smaller in comparison. Breakfast is being serve as buffet style instead. Choices are limited and tasted flat, very flat -- seriously, this is the first time I ever added salt to beacon. Not to mention hot dishes are merely "warm" at best. To be honest, I do prefer breakfast sets in Chiang Mai.

What to do on an island?

OBV has several excursions for you to choose from, ranging form visiting local village to island / beach trip. Sadly, because I only stayed for 3 nights, I did not had the chance to try them out. Franky, I never expect Thailand will be this hot in February. All I want to do is soaking in the pool with an ice cold drink in hand :P Oh well, more reason for returning later :)

-- 02/2020

Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

Happy Chinese New Year -- Year of Rat

Happy Chinese New Year everyone :) Wish you all a prosper Year of Rat in 2020.

-- 01/2020

Nude Sunbathing @ Oriental Village Resort

Just finished my 2019 Christmas trip to Oriental Village Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hope you enjoy this departure angle drone shot as much as I filmed it :) Bad new is I trashed my drone shortly after, but the good news is I bought a new drone!



Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

-- 01/2020

Phuan Naturist Village, Pattaya Thailand

Finally having the chance to visit this resort. Had been planning on visiting since it opened in 2017 but was delay by various reasons. My day began at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) where my plane arrived, followed by collecting my rental car before heading down the highway towards Pattaya. Traffic was much smoother than I expected until I hit the traffic jam in downtown Pattaya — which reminded me why I dislike Pattaya … and why had I delay this trip for so long.

I strongly recommend flying into BKK rather than Don Mueang Airport (DMK) not only because the ridiculously long queue at DMK custom but rather it is much easier to drive to the resort from BKK. If you start at DMK, you will need to go through Bangkok by navigating its complex highway network and notorious traffic jam. From BKK, I just follow my map and soon arrived at the resort.

Where is it?

Located near the southern tip of Pattaya City limit, the resort is about 2 hours drive from Bangkok and about 30 minutes away from downtown Pattaya. Both Google Map and Open Street Map does a good job pin pointing the resort at GPS coordinate 12.828330, 100.958613. You can park you car outside on the verge or you can ask the staffs to unlock the vehicular gate to park inside. Since the resort is at a considerable distance from downtown Pattaya, it will be much more convenient just park it outside if you plan on using your car often.

History

The resort was established in 2017 by a Thai naturist and her friend (hence the name “Phuan” which means “Friend” in Thai) which is now on lease to Naturist Association Thailand (NAT). I had the pleasure of talking to the manager Jai to clear up some of the details.

Q:	Why the previous owner decided to lease this resort to NAT?
A:	Because of health issue, the owner planned on closing down the resort. Hate to see this place go, NAT came up with a plan to lease the resort and took over operation.
Q:	Does that mean NAT now runs the resort?
A:	Yes. The resort is now being operate and manage by NAT.
Q:	Does that mean Phuan will be a NAT member only resort from now on?
A:	No. The resort is open to all naturist and they are welcome to book a stay. NAT was hoping to turn this resort into a gathering point for members in Pattaya, so they can have a place to go to and share their experience.
Q:	Are there any gender balance policy?
A:	No, all are welcome. We welcome single, couple and group. In fact, we are one of the major accommodation suppliers in every year's NATCON event when huge group of naturist stays with us throughout the event.

Which room should I choose?

Which to choose is up to you but I can give you some hint on what you are getting into:

The budget choice would be one of the five wooden bungalows. Each is roughly the size of a typical hotel single room with en suite bathroom. The benefit is obviously privacy but because they are all placed along perimeter wall neighboring the main road, you will be constantly bombard by traffic noise all day long. Worse, lorries and motorcycles will most likely keeps you awake all night as well. Unless you are traveling on shoestring, just don’t!

If you want some peace and quiet, share villa room may fit your bill. The villas are in good size with an open styled pantry. I am not saying it is a kitchen because there are neither stove, microwave nor sink. There is however, a refrigerator to keep your soft drinks and beer cool — much needed for your relaxing night out on the patio. Each villa comes with 1 bathroom, 1 small and 1 large bedroom which are both in decent size, clean and bright.

While I mostly enjoy relaxing on the patio at night for some reading or casual conversation with my partner, the downside is that you have to share a bathroom with strangers. At the moment, Phuan is not a busy resort and chances are you will end up having the whole villa to yourself — no promises but Jai will do her best to arrange guests having a villa to themselves. Honestly, if you had not stayed in (or had never considered staying in) a hostel before, sharing a bathroom with strangers may not be your thing. If you want some peace and quiet but are reluctant to share a bathroom, you can always rent the whole villa.

How is the swimming pool?



Good! Size is big and pool is deep. Most guests will end up spending most of their time sunbathing and swimming in the area. You can check out a 360 view of the pool by clicking on the photo.

How is WiFi Reception?

WiFi signal was good in most public/open areas but once I went inside my villa, reception dropped to 2 bars and when I was inside my room, despite the big window, reception dropped to 1 bar (and sometimes dropped connection all together) which made my Netflix viewing next to impossible :(

How is the food?

I have to say “typical” for small sized resort. As in most small scale resort, menu choice is limited but taste good (in a home-cook-meal context). It’s just … well … let’s just say you’ll be craving to dine at downtown Pattaya after a few days. It is not bad … just not exceptional either. If you fancy anything off menu, just notify the chef in advance and she can arrange ordering it for you.



Resort Drone Shot

This drone shot was filmed with permission from the resort manager. Please observe their strict photo policy and always ask for permission.
Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

— Travel date : 03/2019