Little report about Phuket + cost of living

Well said Pawngotto.
I think Alan is looking at things really superficially, he need much more time living in Thailand. Or maybe some people are just bling to see. There are so many false informations on Alan's post, other simply inaccurate. As an expat in Phuket, I feel I have to reply to this post, which is the simple view of a new comer.
First of all, Chalong is not a quiet area at all, lot of traffic and really polluted, and if you are paying THB 35.000 for an apartment, you must be out of mind. You can rent at least a 2 bedroom pool villa for that price, beleive me.
I don't know which Chalong temple are you talking about, but the Chalong Temple (Wat Chalong) is one of the biggest of South Thailand, it's on the Chao Fa West, grab a map and maybe you will find it, it's not that close to Chalong circle. It will take half a day to visit it all, an amazing example of religious Thai architecture if you know something about it.
Sidewlaks are not really used in Thailand, except in the cities. Too hot to walk under the sun, most of people drive a motorbike. It would be a waste of money. You can find sidewalks in touristy area, where tourist have to walk to buy from the shops.
I find Phuket beaches wonderful, but we are in low season now and they might not look that great. It depends on what sort of beaches are you used too. Longer one like Karon and Kata can be a bit crowded in high season, while in low season can be very dangerous for rip currents. Nai Harn beach is one of the best one, and you can chose also Yanui beach on the left and Aosane on the right. Here you can do teh best snorkeling of Phuket, there are lot of fishes and some corals too. I don't understand why you cannot see them, try to put glasses underwater too :-)Waters here are totally transparent, mainly in high season. From Yanui beach rent a canoe and paddle to the near Poo Island, it'an all rocks islet, great snorkeling. Racha is really great, you can see mantas and sharks here too, depends on the season and also on the skills of the diving instructor. Try also Coral Island for great sand and water, bring some picnic stuff and your snorkeling gear. For better snorkeling and diving you should go on the southern part of the island, where there are ni beaches. From Rawai you can rent a long tail boat and the guy will take you wherever you want if you agree the price in advance. Other nice beaches in Phuket are Surin Beach, laem Singh beach, Layan beach, Nai Yang beach. More isolated beaches are up to Mai Khao, but quite far.
You don't know much about Thai people. they all look noce and friendly, but most of times is only a facade, at least here on Phuket. But not al of them, I don't want to generalize. But it will take too long to talk about it, you should have more direct experience with them, not only weaving and saying 'sawadee khap'.
There are lot of animals in Phuket, I think you have chosen the wrong area to live, as animals hardly walk around cars. If you want to see them,spend some time around Rawai/Nai Harn area, Ao Yon bay, Phuket river, all the south and east coast. Almost every day I look around and I see new species of birds around. Monkeys are not easy to spot, but there are many if you have a tour into the mangrove sea forest and inside Phuket river 9probably not many people know that Phuket has a river and the best way to go there is by canoe or by a flat bottomed boat, join River Rovers tour.
There is a great number of expats in Phuket, and not everyone is keen of Thai food every day. And not everyone has a low budget to spend on food, so western products are always welcome. Yes they are expensive as they are imported, but the success of the island is also thanks to the great services that cater to everyone needs.
Last point about your superficial comment about pedophilia.
Luckily the number of minor age children working in the sex industry is decreased a lot compared to the 80`s, when Thailand was a #1 destination for those pigs. Also the black market for pedophilia is decreased a lot, but of course it still exist, as it exist in the 'modern and civilized' countries (just look at the scandals about catholic priests, we are always too much ready to judge the others, while closing the eyes in our home). In some bars there are still several girls between 14 and 18y old. They are illegal and the bar owner is probably protected by the police. But most of Thai girls looks very young too. Even in our country an 18-19y old girl look like babies to me, but they have 30 and more years old boyfriends. My niece is 16 and her boyfrind is 28, they look happy together, and I'm sure they do lot of sex too. My mother was married at 16 when my father was 28. It's all a matter of your parameter, which might not be the last and only truth.
The truth is that there is lot of prostitution intouristy area like Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. This is a side of Thailand I don't really like, but I also understand that the reason is the totally absence of the government on developing an alternative economy. It is estimated that prostitution is giving job to more than 2 millions persons, including those business related prostitution, hoteliers too. The government doesn't have any intention to find 2 millions alternative jobs, it would be a very hard task. You could blame those people coming to Thailand for prostitutions, long talks to do here too. If you feel you can judge any person's behaviour, than you must feel like God. I personally always try to understand the reason of a certain behaviour and blame the causes of it, not the person itself. Of course everyone has a freedom to choose how to behave and to follow a moral, once again, there is not only one truth. There are many social discomforts in the western countries, I guess Thailand is one of those country where people release their own frustration or satisfy their forbidden dreams, impossible to realize in their own country due to different common morals and rules, most of time repressions of the human being.
I am sure that all those girls would prefer to have a nice looking boyfriend of their age or so instead of 50-70y old man. When they are lucky, they can find a younger boyfriend as the one as you have seen. Very often the man falls in love with the girl (not sure about the girl anyway) and take care of her, even if she's working in the 'industry', and she take care of him. Which can be reasonable, feelings are part of human being. What I really hate are all those people who think to live in a Sodoma and Gomorra place, most of times treating girls as a piece of meat only, with lack of respect for the person, forgetting that they are still human being.
I think you need to stay a bit longer in this place to dicover its beauty and understand all the social mechanisms.
What I can suggest you is to stop looking and judging, while start to talk lot of other people, both Thai and foreigners, preferably expats, to have a full range of point of views, thanyou can summarize them. You will find out that the worls is not only black or white, but full of colours where also 'grey' can be a reasonable nice looking one.
If you are now thinking that I have a young Thai girlfriend and I go to go-go bars every night, you are still judging without knowledge.
I am Italian as you are, I have a lovely Italian girlfriend as we moved togetehr here. We are happy with our choice for the moment, Thailand has many positive aspects, but also negative one. We are enjoying the good one and trying to understand the bad one, and live with them, as we are unable to make big changes.
I hope my view on things can help people to have a real picture of Phuket.