From Phuket to Jeju Island, the best and worst of top Asia travel spots if you’re travelling at Lunar New Year

Asia is full of beautiful, fascinating tourist destinations, but there is often a flip side that can catch tourists unawares
We take a look at five of the region’s top travel destinations: Phuket, Jeju Island, Ho Chi Minh City, Penang and Manila

Asia travel

SCMP Reporter

Published: 12:33pm, 3 Feb 2019

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Before visiting a new place, it’s always good to find out the star attractions and the most interesting things to see and do when you’re there.

But there are usually two sides to every tourist destination and knowing what the less desirable – and sometimes downright negative – aspects are before you go can help you to avoid them, or at least be mentally prepared when you encounter them.

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In few places is this more true than Asia, where fascinating cultural experiences often rub shoulders with dangerous roads, heaving crowds and suspect public services.

So if you are travelling this Chinese New Year, here are the good, bad and ugly sides to five of the continent’s top tourist destinations.

A sheer limestone karst jutting out of emerald green waters in Phuket.

Phuket, Thailand

Phuket offers something for everyone, from backpackers to billionaires. It has luxurious resorts and budget campsites; stylish eateries and delicious street food; air-conditioned malls and cheap night markets. It is known as a tropical island paradise for a reason. It also has a reputation for scammers, who will take tourists for more than just a literal ride every chance they get. Also, civil unrest in recent years, and even a terrorist attack in 2016, means that travellers are advised to exercise caution when there.

Read the full story of the Good, Bad and Ugly sides to Phuket here

Jeju Island, South Korea

The Hawaii of South Korea, Jeju is chock full of tumbling waterfalls, citrus orchards, forests and pristine beaches. But unlike many other popular Asian holiday destinations, English isn’t widely spoken, and winter weather has been known to ground flights, leaving travellers stranded.

Read the full story of the Good, Bad and Ugly sides to Jeju Island here

Motorbikes speeding down a street in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Alamy

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh is full of impressive sights, such as Reunification Palace and the striking Notre Dame Cathedral, and has great local restaurants. But with an estimated seven million motorbikes on its road, it also demands your undivided attention just to cross the street. Its famous colonial architecture is also being rapidly torn down to make way for high-rise towers.

Read the full story of the Good, Bad and Ugly sides to Ho Chi Minh City here

Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang, the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. Photo: Alamy

Penang, Malaysia

Penang is known as one of Asia’s best street food destinations, where roadside hawkers serve up a medley of Chinese, Malay and Indian favourites. It’s palm-fringed beaches, however, which look so good in promotional photos, are often a perfect storm of raw sewage, jellyfish, coarse sand, cloudy seas and rip tides.

Read the full story of the Good, Bad and Ugly sides to Penang here

Night view of Makati, the business district of Metro Manila. Photo: Alamy

Manila, Philippines

Manila is chaos, but it is a wonderful, delightful and somewhat organised chaos. It is home to the oldest Chinatown in the world and a booming economy means it boasts over 100 shopping malls, including the monolithic Mall of Asia. But it also has possibly the worst traffic in the world, and its fragmented, inefficient public-transport network is at breaking point.

Read the full story of the Good, Bad and Ugly sides to Manila here

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