Heading to Phuket, need a little help

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So, the destination is Phuket, Thailand. If you've been there, then you might be of some help.

Here's the situation: My ship is going to be pulling into Phuket during this deployment. It's a small ship, with only about 350 crew members. Last year, when my ship and two others of similar size came to Phuket, there was the little problem with running into sailors everywhere in Phuket and Patong Beach. Not too big a deal, seeing as there were less than a thousand of us and enough bars/girls/shops/etc to go around.

Now here's the problem, this year we're coming here with another small ship, and a F*CKING AIRCRAFT CARRIER! For those that don't know, carriers are always trouble. Any military guys here that's been stationed in Yokosuka while the Kitty Hawk was there will know what I mean. Any sailor or marine that has ever been a part of a carrier strike group knows what I mean. They're obnoxious, always in trouble, and some of them even have parole officers. Why the Navy keeps these people is beyond me. Of the 10 or so ports I've ever hit with an aircraft carrier, every single one of them has had at least 5 (FIVE!) liberty incedents (ie: people acting stupid enough out in town that it warrants attention from the command and/or local municipals), and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WAS FROM THE CARRIER.(QFE).

Now to my delima. Last year, there was less than 1,000 of us in Phuket and Patong. Total. This time, there's going to be over 6,000 of us there, over 5,200 of them from the [strike]circus[/strike] carrier. I do NOT want to hang around these f*cktards for the week I'm there.

Now my question for those that know: Are there any good spots comparative to Phuket and Patong (outdoor shops/knockoff clothing/custom suits/go-go bars/wierd Thai sh*t/etc) that is close by? Close by being less than 2 hours (I think the Tuk-Tuk drivers can handle that, right?).

Thanks in advance!



TL;DR - Sailor & friends don't want to hang out with 6,000 other [strike]ret@rds[/strike] sailors, asking for a close-by place that's about the same as Phuket/Patong.