Phuket is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. It is Thailand’s largest island and being an island, it has no boundaries. Two bridges connect mainland Thailand to Phuket. It is in the Andaman Sea, off the west Coast of Thailand.
Phuket Island offers spectacular and colorful holiday sights from blue lagoons and pink sunsets to orange-robed monks. The Big Buddha of Phuket in on the peak of a mountain on Phuket Island. It is 45 meters in height and is covered in white Burmese marble.
Phuket has a mix of old and new, peaceful and pulsating, simple yet sophisticated. It is a city which is active around the clock. It is the heart of Thailand. Phuket has only two seasons. The green season is from May to October, and the hot season is from November to April.
Phuket Island was once the trading route between India and China. The Dutch, the English, the French and the Portuguese used to carry on their trade from Phuket. It suffered immense damage by the tsunami in 2004. It slowly came back to its business of tourism.
Phuket is mountainous. It has a number of brooks and creeks but no major rivers. The plantation here is mainly of rubber and palm oil. It has several sandy beaches on its western coast. The beaches of the southern coast are muddy. Phuket has rainforest to its north, known as Khao Phera Thaeo. It is a non-hunting area. Khao Bang Pae, Kho Prathiu and Khao Para are the islands three highest peaks.
Phuket offers a number of outdoor activities like elephant rides, Frisbee golf, Football golf and ATV rides. The vegetarian festival is held here on the first day of the 9th Chinese lunar month. Phuket has the bike race, yacht race, the Patong carnival and Boat Floating Festival. The tourist enjoy all of this and have a nice time out here on Phuket Island. The tourist tries out Thai food, Phuket Chinese, Perankan and Malay food.
Phuket City
The whole Phuket city is seen from Rang Hill from the north and the coastline from the southeast. This hill peak has a park. It is open and calm. The Ratsada is a heaven of cafés, restaurants and bars. The tourist will find nightspots at Yaowarat. You get to see local bakeries, music stores and herb shops. On Ranong Road, the visitor sees fresh produce at one of the longest standing markets in Phuket. Tucked away on the west end road is located the Shrine of Serene Light. The visitor enjoys the city before having a blast of a time at Phuket Island. The island is very popular among the tourist.
Patong Beach
Patong Beach is the most popular beach on Phuket. The beach is wide and long. It attracts tourists for its nightlife and cheap shopping. There are other beaches located south of Patong.
Karon Beach
Karon beach is on the western coast of Phuket Island. This beach is popular with the tourist since it is quieter than Patong beach. Families prefer to visit and stay at this beach. It is the second largest beach. Karon beach is 8 kilometers south of Patong. The hotels here are beach facing. The shoreline of Karon beach is lined with resort complexes. The beach has white sand and it squeaks when walked on it. There is also a coral reef. Karon beach has a bicycle path and a pedestrian path on the beach side. On its northern side is Nong Harm Lake. It is the largest beach lake in Phuket. The tourist can reach this beach from Phuket city by bus or tourist taxis.
The tourist who are interested in snorkelling and diving go off Karon beach. It also has a Dino’s Park and Mini Gold with an 18-hole course.
Kata Noi Beach
Kata Noi Beach is located on the southwestern side of Phuket. It has a tropical monsoon climate. The months from November to April have dry season. From May to October is the rainy season. This beach was full of tourist when it was severely hit yo the 2004 tsunami. The tourist were terrified as they had never witnessed such an occurrence.
Hat Patong Beach
This beach is the most developed each of Phuket. It is at a distance of 15 kilometers from Phuket city. It has a number of hotels, cafés, restaurants, shops, night clubs and other activities for the tourists. In the daytime, they enjoy watersports. Its sister beach is known as Karon Noi. Hat Patong beach has a fine coral reef.
Thalang National Museum
The museum exhibits life of old Phuket, ancient artifacts, material used during the war with Burma and some remains that were discovered on the coast.
Sirinat National Park
You will find this park about 30 kilometers north of Phuket city. The park itself has four beaches, but Phuket is its longest beach. It was designated as Thailand’s 51st national park. On two of its beaches sea turtles come to lay their eggs. The park has a large area of forest. The tourists will find tulip tree, almond, common ironwood, Ashoka tree, cajeput tree, elephant apple and morning glory. The inhabitant birds here are bar-tailed godwit, slaty-breasted rail, brahminy kite, large-billed crow, terek sandpiper and collared kingfisher. In the mangrove area are reptiles, turtles, monitor lizards etc. the marine life in these mangroves includes mullet, garfish, grouper, mudskipper and shrimp. Coral reefs are located in the marine section. The reefs include plate coral, soft coral, sea anemone and sea fan.
Phuket offers outstanding shopping opportunities. The tourist can shop at street markets or visits the shopping malls. The tourists will find products from all over Thailand.
To reach Phuket, you have to fly to Thailand. The tourists can also take a flight to Bangkok, Kaula Lumpur or Singapore and from these airports get on to a connecting flight to Phuket. There are some holiday charter flights straight from Europe to Phuket. Phuket International Airport is to the north of Phuket. It takes about an hour to reach your destination by taxi that is south of Phuket.
