Southern · Thailand
Phuket · ภูเก็ต
Thailand's biggest island — Old Town Sino-Portuguese shophouses, Patong, Kata.
- Region
- Southern
- Population
- 417,000
- Area
- 576 km²
- Stories filed
- 13
About Phuket
History
Phuket is Thailand's only island-province, a tin-mining centre from the seventeenth century that drew Chinese, Malay, and Portuguese traders whose fusion became the distinctive Sino-Portuguese architecture of Phuket Town. The twin heroines Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon led local resistance to a Burmese invasion in 1785, and are commemorated by the roundabout monument on the airport road. Mass tourism arrived in the 1980s after Patong Beach was developed.
Landscape & geography
An island the size of Singapore, connected to the mainland by a short bridge. The western coast is a string of white-sand beaches — Patong, Karon, Kata, Surin, Bang Tao, Nai Yang — separated by forested headlands. The eastern coast is mangroves and fishing wharves.
Why visit
Phuket is the easiest way into the Andaman — direct international flights, full-service resorts, and speedboat connections to the Phi Phi islands, Krabi, and Similan national marine park. Old Phuket Town's Sino-Portuguese shophouses and Sunday walking street are one of the country's best urban weekends. For quieter beaches, head north past Bang Tao to Nai Thon and Nai Yang.
Stories from Phuket
Articles, reviews, and itineraries tagged to this province.
