Jungceylon Shopping Mall in Patong

Downstairs at the Jungceylon shopping centre, you can buy everything from a Kashmir rug to a facial massage. This is often a good place to find special offers on mid-range labels. It's all cheerfully lit and open-spaced and is designed to handle an estimated 45,000 shoppers daily – far more than its ever likely to see at one time. Still, it's good to have enough elbow room while shopping.

The Robinson department store at Jungceylon is spread over 2 levels. Downstairs is mostly perfumes, cosmetics, and watches, all of which are mostly brand names. The watches are mostly Japanese and are of mid-range quality. Upstairs, Robinson features women's shoes and accessories, and probably the biggest selection of women's underwear in Thailand – certainly the largest in Phuket.

Further through is a very attractive child's clothing section which, predictably enough, leads to the toy department. To one side, you'll find an interesting collection of pewter goods like vases, cups, cigarette lighter covers and souvenir plaques, as well as salt and pepper shakers, all at reasonable prices. You'll also find a household appliance department as well as a sensibly priced men's shoe section.

The upstairs section of Big C Extra Jungceylon is a neon-lit affair featuring sports accessories, TVs, digital cameras and computer accessories. Downstairs features a large food supermarket, a stand of magazines and DVDs as well as rows of household goods.

Jungceylon is a wonderful destination for both shopping and dining. Around the areas known as the Port Square, Silang Boulevard and Sino Phuket Zone, you’ll find rows of restaurants, bars and coffee shops serving Thai, European, Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine. 

Like a large courtyard, the Sino Phuket Zone is an ‘open-air’ setup (it’s actually covered but the roof is so high up that you won’t notice it). Most venues along this strip provide not only indoor but also ‘outdoor’ seating, making it a great place to experience good food or to just hang out and people-watch all year round, come rain or shine.

Showing 5 movies at the same time several times a day, SF Cinema is a great place to catch up with what's new in the contemporary cinema world and to enjoy popcorn and soft drinks.

Here, you can watch your chosen flick in Deluxe, Premium or Sofa seats. Ticket prices for 3D movies are reasonable – noticeably cheaper than in the west.

Strike Bowl doesn't mess around: Open from 11pm onwards, it's got 16 bowling lanes, video games, snooker and hires out bowling shoes for a very fair price. Snacks and drinks available.

Video games make up a semi-circular arcade on the top floor of the Jungceylon shopping centre, adjacent to the Megaforce Gun Simulation and the SF Cinema City.

Promising hours of fun for kids, the games at the arcade cover a lot of ground, including soccer simulation, Formula One races, motorbike stunts, shooting and more.

Above McDonald's at the Jungceylon shopping centre, you'll notice a colourful gaming zone in which, if you're lucky, you just might win a giant pink teddy bear or two. Here, you can unleash your riffs on Guitar Hero, play snooker, impress your partner with a punching bag and play Grabbit on a (pink) machine. Some games can be so cheesy yet so fun.

XD Theater at the Jungceylon shopping centre has 4D rides (the seats move, too). Select the virtual destination you prefer to go to, fasten your seatbelt, put your Super Glasses on and away you go on the Canyon Coaster, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Cosmic Race, Snow Ride and more. Just hang on tight. 'Flight' time is around 7 minutes a pop.

• 7 banks
• 5 eyewear outlets
• 40 clothing and accessory outlets
• 10 fast food and beverage outlets
• 1 food court
• 2 furniture outlets
• 10 health and beauty outlets
• 1 pet store
• 2 electronics and IT stores
• 25 restaurants
• 1 Thai arts and crafts centre consisting of 70 shops and 35 kiosks
• 1 tailor's shop
• 2 travel and luggage outlets