Kata beach, arguably one of Phuket’s most popular family orientated tourist destinations has seen some considerable change over the past decade with investment coming in from all directions. Not only are there foreign hotel projects and businesses in situ, there also appears to be a healthy amount of Thai led influence. By this I mean the arrival of what the Farangbowl refers to as ‘Bangkok Couture’ a subject I will elaborate on this in a future Culture article.
For now though, my attention is steered towards the Thai’s supporting their own and giving back to the community.
Along the 4030 heading towards Patong from Kata Noi just past Amran Coffee & Crepes is a skate park tucked away on the right hand side. Following an interview we managed to get with a talented resident Thai skateboarder called Nick, the Bowl was informed that this park has been up and running for five months.
(Note: At this point the Farangbowl would like to add that it is just the opinion of the magazine that this skateboard park was Thai funded, if anyone is aware otherwise then we apologise in advance and would ask that you correct us in the comments).
The skate park itself is a good size and I imagine it could accommodate several boarders using it at anyone time. It looks the part as well and its clear that a substantial amount of time and care has gone into to the making this park look the business. Whoever was responsible for decorating the walls with all the elaborate street art and design deserves a round of applause. The Bowl salutes you!!!
“it’s cool”
Resident Kata skatboarder Nick.
During the interview with Nick which can be watched on the YouTube link below, he told me how he got into skateboarding by watching Thais doing tricks on YouTube and he thought “its cool”. He himself has just been boarding for two months can you believe.
Nick’s skills are very impressive as you’ll see in the video. I think he was around 14 or 15 years old, however, there were children as young as 8 or 9 there. What was apparent was they all really love to skateboard and this is how they like to spend their weekends. They “Skate hard, they go home”. A great place to visit and I will certainly be returning when I buy myself a new board. The park is open every day and closes at 22:00.
If you want to watch the filmed episode that supports this article then please go to the Farangbowl YouTube Channel or watch it in the media browser on this page.
If you want to visit this skate park, please use the Google Maps link provided here; https://goo.gl/maps/KQsey9YvZHvdz4jB9
James Alexander
Watch the video that supports this article here.
