No I do NOT want a massage!

Getting to Phuket from Chompon requires a 9 hour bus ride. The upside is that the seats are cushioned, the air is conditioned and they show movies so even if you can't sleep at least you are comfortable.The bus ride winds through the hills and mountain of the region giving you great views of the valley beloon ws and the Andaman Sea. We arrived in Phuket town at 10 pm and we needed to get to Patong beach on the other side of the island so once again we found ourselves on the back of a motor taxi heading through the hills in rollercoaster fashion. It can be unsettling when you are seperated from your travel mate and loose sight of them, or in this instance when your driver stops at a redlight and you see your companions driver fly right through the intersection. We were able to catch up but once we got to the city of patong Chris' driver stayed on the main road while mine decided to take a short cut through side alleys. At this point we had only told the to take us to the city because we had no reservations. I was mildly concerned about being split like that and voiced my concern and the driver said " Shortcut, we see soon." We stopped at an intersection and within a minute we saw them coming down the road and pulled out in front of us. We soon pulled into a hotel parking lot of the main road but too far from the beach but we got off anyway happy to be at the same place. We meanderedd away around until we came to the main tourist area of Bangla road with Chris looking for the guesthouse he had stayed at before. We found the area but not the particular place so we just strolled over to the Touch Villa and acquired a room. We had been traveling for 10 hours by this time and we were both tired and hungry so we settled for a cheap room just to stay for the night. The next day we moved onto a side road into a cheaper room with AC and soon learned we were the only guests there. We were wiating on Chris' friend Harmony to arrive in a few days and this was going to be a comfortable spot to hole up for a few days. Patong is a central tourist city on Phuket Island with a very attractive beach and an plenty of activities, nightlife and all the desired neccesaties of a tourist town. We learned quickly that being off season people were very vocal in there desire to earn your business and the bombardment of "Tuk Tuk" , "You want Massage?", "Sir how about a suit?" and the trucks riding around advertising for Bangla Boxing Stadiums incessant announcements in long spaced phrasing of "Tonight,..... Tonight,....... Tonight....... 9pm...... 9pm....... 9pm ........the best of the best, the champ of the champs Live at Bangla Boxing Stadium" soon lost its appeal. Every little shop, bar, massuese and taxi had someone out front beckoning you inside and the longer we stayed the more aggressive they became to the point that the massage girls would grab your arms, hug you, tell you they love you and all out beg for your business to the point that it became difficult to walk through the streets without being groped. I certainly love and appreciate affection from the ladies but at some point I began to sympathize with celebrities. I now have felt a taste of what Johnny Depp must feel like when walking down the street and people grabbing him, hugging him and telling them they love him. "Yes, I love you too, you are sweet, thank you but no" doesnt quite do the trick. After four days of this it was time to move on. Patong beach was very pretty but the level of hawking was over the top.