Phuket is Thailand's largest island (543 km², roughly the size of Singapore) and the country's most visited tourist destination, with 10 million visitors per year drawn by the Andaman Sea beaches (Patong, Kata, Karon, Kamala, Nai Harn), the limestone karst formations of Phang Nga Bay (the setting for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974, featuring Khao Phing Kan "James Bond Island"), and the Old Town of Phuket City with its Sino-Portuguese colonial architecture from the 19th-century tin-mining boom. The island was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (which killed 5,395 people in Phuket province alone) and rebuilt within a decade — the rebuilt resort infrastructure is now among the most developed in Southeast Asia, with a price spectrum ranging from ฿300/night hostels to $5,000/night private pool villa resorts. Patong (the main resort town, 15 km from the airport) has the Bangla Road nightlife strip — 500 m of open-air bars, clubs, elephant shows and the famous ladyboy cabaret shows of the Simon Cabaret and Fantasea — while the south of the island (Nai Harn, Yanui, Rawai) retains a local Thai character with better food and fewer tourists. The interior of Phuket is a landscape of rubber and palm oil plantations with Buddhist temples — Wat Chalong (the island's largest and most important temple, home to a relic believed to be a bone fragment of the Buddha) — while the north of the island has mangrove forests, cashew nut orchards and the Thai-majority town of Thalang. Island hopping from Phuket to the Phi Phi Islands (2 hrs south by speedboat), Similan Islands (the finest diving in Thailand, 3.5 hrs north by speedboat) and Racha Island (1 hr south, excellent snorkelling) makes Phuket the best Andaman Sea base in Thailand.
The 45 m white marble Big Buddha (Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri) on Nakkerd Hill (345 m, 10 km south of Phuket City) has the finest 360° panorama on the island — the east coast, west coast, Chalong Bay and the mountains of Phang Nga are all visible; the hilltop temple complex is an active place of worship with monks, merit-making activities and the spiritual heart of the island.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideWat Chalong is the largest and most important temple in Phuket — the grand pagoda (Phra Mahathat Chedi) enshrines a fragment of the Buddha's bone relic; the temple complex has multiple buildings with murals depicting the life of the Buddha; the revered monk Luang Pho Chaem (who led the 1876 Chinese coolies' revolt suppression and later became the island's most respected monk) is commemorated here.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePhuket City's Old Town has the finest concentration of Sino-Portuguese shophouse architecture in Thailand — the ornate pastel facades of Thalang Road, Dibuk Road and Phang Nga Road were built by tin-mining millionaires in the 1880s-1920s; the Thai Hua Museum (Chinese school heritage), Baan Chinpracha mansion (1903) and the weekend Lard Yai Walking Street market are the highlights.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKata Beach (south of Patong, more family-oriented) is one of the most consistently beautiful beaches in Thailand — the turquoise Andaman Sea, the rocky headland, the offshore island of Koh Pu visible from the beach and the green hills behind; the viewpoint above Kata Noi (the adjacent smaller bay) is one of Phuket's great sunset spots, looking south over three bays simultaneously.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBangla Road (400 m pedestrianized) is Phuket's most concentrated entertainment strip — open-air bars, live music, the Simon Cabaret ladyboy show (100+ performers, international-standard production, ฿800) and the famous Tiger nightclub; the Catch Beach Club in Kamala is the upscale alternative; Nai Harn or Rawai have local Thai seafood night markets as the quiet alternative.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePhang Nga Bay (50 km northeast of Phuket) has the most dramatic karst limestone scenery in Southeast Asia — 160+ limestone islands emerging from emerald water, including Khao Phing Kan ("James Bond Island" from The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974) and Koh Panyi (the Muslim fishing village built entirely on stilts above the water, 300 residents, a functioning school, mosque and football pitch on the sea).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHong Island ("Room Island" in Thai) in Phang Nga Bay has a sea cave entrance (passable only at low tide) leading to a completely enclosed tidal lagoon — sea kayaking through the cave into the lagoon surrounded by 200 m limestone walls with monkeys, kingfishers and complete silence is the finest natural experience in the Andaman Sea.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe fishing village of Koh Panyi (established 1769 by a Malay family who were not permitted to own land) is entirely built on wooden stilts above the bay water — the mosque, school, 200 residents' homes, restaurants and souvenir shops are all above the water; the seafood lunch (grilled fish, oysters, prawns) cooked by village women and eaten on tables above the sea.
The Rawai seafood market (south Phuket, 10 min from Nai Harn) lets you pick live or fresh seafood by the kilo from the display (Andaman blue crab, giant mantis shrimp, red snapper, barramundi) and have it cooked by the adjacent restaurants — the most authentic Phuket seafood experience and one of the cheapest; market price plus ฿100 cooking fee.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Phi Phi Islands (45 min by speedboat from Rasada Pier) consist of Koh Phi Phi Don (inhabited, with resort village) and Koh Phi Phi Leh (uninhabited, the setting for the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach, 2000); Maya Bay (the filming location, closed 2018-2022 for coral recovery, now open with entry restrictions and timed ticketing) has the most recognizable beach in Southeast Asia.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMaya Bay's turquoise enclosed lagoon (Pileh Lagoon, accessible from the north of Phi Phi Leh by longtail boat through a narrow cliff gap) has the clearest water in the Phi Phi area — the coral recovery since closure is remarkable; the snorkelling at Hin Klang and Hin Phae reefs near Phi Phi Don has clownfish, parrotfish, sea turtles and leopard sharks.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideViking Cave on Phi Phi Leh's north coast (named for the prehistoric paintings of boats on the cave walls) is where the edible bird nest collection takes place — collectors climb bamboo poles 50+ m to harvest the swiftlet nests (the basis of bird's nest soup, valued at $2,000/kg for the highest quality); the fishing village of Phi Phi Don has the most fresh-coconut ice cream on any Thai island.
Nai Harn (the southernmost major beach in Phuket, 20 km from the airport) is the best beach on the island for a quiet sunset — the beach curves between two headlands with a lake behind and no high-rises; the Nai Harn beach bars and the local restaurants in the village serve excellent value Thai food; the sunset over the Andaman from the south-facing beach is the finest on Phuket.