THAILAND - Phuket Peal Farm and Floating Restaurant

15:44 Travel Bunny 1 Comments

It was my last day in Phuket and I decided to dine at the Phuket Floating Restaurant or known locally as krachang.

Checked out from Malisa Villa Suites. Our transport came and picked us up.

Must have one last delicious Thai meal in Phuket before heading back home. So I decided to dine at the famous Floating Restaurant of Phuket.

But before that, my first stop is at a pearl farm.

A pretty pearl farm guide greeted us to explain the different types of pearl.

She also taught me how to differentiate a real pearl from the fake ones – simply grind the pearls together, the real ones has a coarse surface while the fake ones are smooth.

The different types of pearls. Natural pearl forms under a set of accidental conditions and is rarely perfectly round. The Mabe, Akoya and South Sea pearls are all cultured pearls Akoya pearls are usually harvested after one year, while the South Sea pearls after two to four years.

And this is how they grow their pearls.

The history of pearls. The beginning of pearls, world only gems product from aquatic animal.

The company Amorn claim that they are Thailand’s first integrated pearl manufacturer.

The photo of pearl farm at the sea.

Quality of pearl is determined by a few factors which are lustre, surface, shape, colour and size.

This is the crown designed and produced by Amorn Pearl Phuket for Miss Thailand World 2014.

Queen of the 7 seas represented in the form of 7 tips of the crown.

You can visit their website at www.phuketpearl.com.

They also made the crown for Miss World Singapore 2012.

Phuket Pearl also designed and made the Miss Thailand World 2013 Crown.

Ain’t it just beautiful?

Next, I was being led to the showroom where I can purchase my pearls.

Amorn by Phuket Pearl. But at an average price tag of 100,000 baht, the jewellery is simply out of my budget.

Ohh….the Amorn is actually a luxury pearl section. I was then led to more affordable sections. The South Sea Zone (which is still expensive) and then the Akoya Zone, which is now within my budget and later the most affordable Silver Zone.

A miniature pearl farm.

How we get pearl from our farm.

And these are my purchases. A ring, a pair of earrings and a bracelet.

The warranty card and instruction of how to take care of the pearls. It also certifies that the pearls I just bought are genuine pearls.

Phuket Pearl offers good customer service and beautiful jewelleries. Highly recommended for those who wants to purchase pearl jewellery or just to visit their factory.

Time to make a move.

Bon Voyage.

After finishing my shopping, it’s time to have lunch.

From Phuket City, I carried on with my journey to one of the famous Phuket Floating Restaurants.

Kruvit Raft Restaurant or also known as Kru Suwit Restaurant.

Arrived at the Laem Hin Pier.

You need to take a boat in order to reach the restaurant unless of course you want to swim to the restaurant.

Plenty of boats there boats there and it’s a free ride to the Floating Restaurants

And by boat, I really mean ‘sampan’.

And I’m off.

The boat is really small. But it is just a short distance which is around 5 minute ride and we have the whole boat to ourselves including our tour guide, Noi, so I didn’t really mind.

It took about 2 minutes boat ride from the pier to the restaurant.

Yes, we’ve reached Kruvit Raft Restaurant.

Open daily from 10am till 10pm and they even have a website www.kruvitraft.com.

We were led to see the live seafood available in the menu. Fishes…

Erm, sea eels? No thanks.

Tiger prawns…

Clams…

And puppies? Just kidding.

After pointing at the fish you want, it will be brought and cooked here at the kitchen.

After choosing the live seafood, a waitress will recommend on how you want to cook it and also let you know the price of the seafood.

Walked around the restaurant while waiting for lunch to be served.

Some local Thai people also dining at the restaurant.

Eating here at the Floating Restaurant while enjoying the sea breeze.

The celebrity wall. I guess that’s the famous people whom have ate at Kru Suwit.

Another floating restaurant nearby.

A leopard shark. For display only, I was told. They don’t eat leopard shark but they do eat the other sharks in the pool.

Puffer fish, also for display only. Guess they don’t have the expertise to prepare this fish.

The live seafood are all kept in nets held between each raft.

This dining concept is here because many years ago a group of friends from Phuket Town were looking for a more relaxing place to dine. One of them suggested to go to a fish farm of Leam Hin and ask the fish farmer’s family to cook using the seafood they reared.

Later the fish farmers established a floating restaurant and over the years became very popular after word spread.

All our orders were being served..

We ordered a catfish which is half steamed and half fried, squid, clam, tiger prawns, fried rice and coconuts. Hmm, wonder if we can finish all these.

And here’s the aftermath. We did finish the food, amazingly which is a testament of how good the food was. I would recommend the steamed fish because the fish is so fresh. But all the dishes were equally delicious, it is hard to pick a favourite. Two thumbs up.

Thank you, please come again. Naw…she’s not thanking us.

Wondering what this lady is doing kneeling on the floor. Our tour guide told us that there is a fish swimming underneath the raft and she is trying to catch the fish. You just put a fishing rod with a bait between the planks, down the sea.

The seafood was fresh and the price reasonable. So yes, I’d definitely come back again for another feast if I visit Phuket again. It most definitely is the best meal I had in Phuket.

Time to head to the airport.

Heroines Monument at the traffic roundabout is one of the landmark on the island. Lady Chan and Lady Mok are sisters who led the locals to fight against Burmese intruders in 1785 and eventually won the battle .After defeating the Burmese, the ladies were given honorary title of Thao Thepkasattri and Thao Sri Sunthorn by King Rama I. The main road from Phuket town to the airport is called Thepkasattri Road.