If you are a shopper who loves lots of shiny objects and eye candy to choose from then you will love the street shopping culture of Patong. By night the town turns into a giant night bazaar with pedestrians milling everywhere and vendors speaking faster and faster in choppy Thai to get your attention as you stroll by.

There are crafts, leather, trash and glitz. Kids love computer games and electronics and out of the ninety U$1 DVDs we bought home, we only threw out ten. Look out for bolts of Surin silk, which is the best hand woven textile in the country. I like the chaos and flavour; it’s more interesting to me than one of the Western style shopping plazas.

There is also a great and cheaply priced tailoring culture here; little shops can whip up anything. I took a beautifully cut kaftan with a geometric pattern that I got in Mykonos to a lady tailor just up the road from the Le Meridian, right outside the resort’s security boom gate. The shop is called OLIVER, right next to the foot massage parlour (with a matching shop, SIMON open for business down the street. I guess the classic British names add tone to the place!) I had matching kaftans made for Zoe and myself in other colors and style of fabric and pattern made. It’s a brilliant way to create new versions of a piece that you love and get it to work for your wardrobe in a whole other way. I used the textiles that the tailor had on site but you can bring your own along as well.

For higher quality than the stalls, SURIN PLAZA has 12 homeware and fashion boutiques under one roof. GINGER is worth visiting for gorgeous sheer textiles, accessories, colourful scarves, shimmering silk kaftans and feather-light, summery tops in paisley patterns, fringed with sequins or with bat wing sleeves. What fun for dinner on the beach!

The owner is a Danish ex-pat - always a good sign as Scandinavians are raised with such an amazing design eye. He has opened up companion shop, LOLA for the toned down, cotton version. It would be perfect resort wear for the younger sister…