Mall Fever

The malls are a great place to be on a hot and humid day.
A big air-conditioned oasis with great bargains. Some enters and would probably never leave. For thais, and Phuket people, the malls are a temple of non-religious fever.
In Phuket, hundreds find their way to their favorite mall every week, sometimes everyday. Some are lured by low prices and discounts, others are attracted by quality and still others to absurdly extravagant price tags.
Different shelves for … different selves.
Everybody has his own mall, his favorite shop, and his best seller.
A plethora of malls have sprung up over the last decade or so, with Central Festival and Jungceylon, more recent additions to the scene.
You can lose yourself eating and buying food in Tesco Lotus (there is a new small one in Cherng Talay) or in Big C, choosing décor and artistic lamps in Index or Design Square, or looking and buying all kind of objects and stuff in Central or JC (the short name for Jungceylon, the newest and biggest mall in the heart of Patong). The choice is huge, it’s just a matter of time.
In a survey conducted by the Phuket Post, covering 200 odd locals and tourists in the island, an impressive 24% admitted that they visit a mall daily, 28% said they made weekly visits to malls, and 42% are to be found heading the mall way at least once a month. An overwhelming 66% said they thought Phuket's malls were “excellent”, with only a small group of 14% insisting they are not as good as those in bigger cities around the world and a tiny fraction of 2% putting them down as “terrible”.
There is no other way: don’t try, you risk to become an addict…