Stage 5 was the hilliest stretch since the beginning of the walk. Twelve of us covered 11.7 km from the end of Kamala Beach to the start of Patong Beach. Although the forecast predicted rain that morning, we were really lucky, with even a bit of sunshine in the last kilometres. It was a demanding one, but the views along the way and the great atmosphere we created made every climb worth it. We began at the beach access next to Samnaksong Charoentham Kamala, better known as Wa

In the previous posts, we have seen how Phuket Has Been Good To Us began, what the Coconut Club is, and the quiet, caring work the teachers do. For this final post of the series, we look at where all of that leads: the futures it opens up for these children. When Jerlin, the senior teacher, asks her younger students what they want to be when they grow up, the answer is often the same: "Teacher, I want to work in 7-Eleven." It's an honest answer, and there's nothing wrong with

Stage 4 was the shortest and gentlest stage so far: 7.5 km from Bang Tao Beach, through Surin, to Kamala, with 17 of us walking together. But the best part wasn't the walking. it was what waited for us at the finish. More on that at the end. We set off from Bang Tao Beach, and the first challenge came quickly: crossing the khlong, the small canals that cut across the sand where the water meets the sea. The water was shallow at that time, so some of us jumped across and others

In the last post, I wrote about the activities of the Coconut Club: the sports, the cooking, the IT lab. But when I visited Phuket Has Been Good To Us, what stayed with me most wasn't the activities. It was something quieter: the way the teachers care for these children as whole people. Many of the children here come from difficult backgrounds. Some have grown up in violent homes, where raising your voice or lashing out is just normal. As Jerlin, the senior teacher, explaine

Something happened between Stage 2 and Stage 3 that attracted more walkers than ever. Nineteen people set off together on Sunday morning. From the five who started at the Sarasin Bridge on the first stage, the group has grown considerably, and this is really encouraging. We started at Nai Thon, a smaller and quieter beach than some of its busier neighbors, and a lovely place to begin the morning. The first stretch is easy, straight along the sand, until you reach an area of r

When I visited Phuket Has Been Good To Us in Kamala last week, I arrived at the end of the school day, just as the children were spilling out for something called the Coconut Club. The name made me curious, so I asked about it. It comes from the foundation's founder, Tom McNamara, who once said: "A coconut tree is an amazing thing. You plant it, and you've got shade. You can use its leaves to build. You've got the coconut, which you can drink and eat." One tree, providing man

The coastline right past the airport is a restricted area, so we started Stage 2 a little further along, at the beginning of Nai Yang Beach. From here we covered a total of 9.5 km in a little under two and a half hours — a very different walk from the flat first stage. Two stages down. Before reaching the sand, we passed Ching Market, a busy and popular local seafood market, already alive at that early hour with fresh catch laid out on ice and the day's trade well underway. I

The first part of the walk makes its way down the west coast, passing through Kamala and Kalim. This is where one of the five organizations I'm walking for, Phuket Has Been Good To Us, is located. This Monday, I visited their school in Kamala Beach and met with Tina, the executive director, and a few of the teachers working at the center. They explained more about the foundation's origins and how they support the children. The 2004 tsunami was a big tragedy for Thailand and o

As A Walk Around Phuket makes its way up the island's coastline, the beaches we cross aren't just scenery. For one local organization, they're a daily challenge. Last Friday I had the opportunity to talk with Michelle from Sustainable Maikhao Foundation, on the very stretch of coast the walk passed through during the first stage to understand what it really takes to keep a beach clean. The answer is a lot more than a bin bag and good intentions. Not just picking up litter — m

And so it begins. On Saturday morning, a small group of us gathered at the Sarasin Bridge at 7 am and took the first steps of A Walk Around Phuket. We completed 12.68 kilometres down the northwest coast to Mai Khao Beach, mostly flat and following the shoreline. Three hours of walking, 17,000 steps, and one stage done. Twenty to go. Here's what the coastline showed us along the way. A bridge and its tragedy You can't begin at the Sarasin Bridge without meeting its story. Loca

If you arrive in Phuket by road, you will cross the Sarasin Bridge. It opened in 1967 as the very first bridge to connect the island to the Thai mainland. 660 meters of concrete across the water to Phang Nga province, replacing the ferries that people had relied on until then, and named after Pote Sarasin, a former Thai prime minister. Today the traffic runs on newer bridges alongside, and the old Sarasin has become a quiet walkway, where people come to fish and watch the And