Phuket

Thailand's largest island is often caricatured by a single neon strip in Patong, yet Phuket spans nearly fifty kilometres from the pine-fringed sands of Mai Khao in the north to the windswept headlands of Promthep Cape in the south. Long before beach resorts arrived, nineteenth-century tin-mining wealth drew Hokkien Chinese merchants, Penang Straits traders, Malays and Europeans to the island's inland capital, leaving behind the pastel Sino-Portuguese arcades and Peranakan mansions of Phuket Old Town.

Along the western shore facing the open Andaman Sea, a chain of granite headlands separates crescent beaches from Bang Tao and Surin down to Karon, Kata, Freedom and Nai Harn, while the sheltered eastern coast looks across to the vertical limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay and the turquoise lagoons of the Phi Phi archipelago. Pair a southern beach stay with northern temple culture in Chiang Mai, and start your planning with our practical briefing and top experiences.

Phuket International Airport (HKT) sits at the northern tip of the island and welcomes direct international flights from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East alongside domestic connections from Bangkok and Chiang Mai. From the terminal, the coastal Phuket Smart Bus serves every major west-coast beach down to Rawai, while the orange Airport Bus terminates in Phuket Old Town. See how to get to Phuket and around the island.

Because Phuket is the size of Singapore, your choice of bay shapes your entire trip: families and swimmers gravitate toward Kata, Karon and Nai Harn in the south-west, food and architecture lovers spend a night or two in Phuket Old Town, and resort seekers head north to Bang Tao, Kamala and Surin. We compare the island's best areas in where to stay in Phuket.

Stroll beneath the five-foot ways of Thalang Road and Soi Romanee in Phuket Old Town, swim in the granite-framed coves of Kata Noi, Nai Harn and Freedom Beach, visit Wat Chalong and watch the sun sink into the Andaman Sea from Promthep Cape, and cruise among the limestone towers of Phang Nga Bay or the Phi Phi Islands. See the full list in things to do in Phuket.

Recognised as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, Phuket fuses fiery Southern Thai flavours with Hokkien-Peranakan (Baba-Nyonya) heritage: wok-charred Phuket Hokkien mee noodles in prawn stock, slow-braised moo hong peppered pork belly, fragrant crab meat curry with betel leaves (gaeng poo bai chaplu), rich southern massaman curry and flaky morning roti with curry sauce.

Phuket's cultural heart beats strongest in its Chinese-Thai shrines (such as Jui Tui and Bang Neow), its conserved tin-era angmor lao mansions and its annual Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival each autumn, while sea-gypsy (Chao Leh / Urak Lawoi) fishing communities still maintain traditional coastal settlements around Rawai and Koh Siray on the south-eastern shore.