Phuket Island

Phuket Island (pronounced puu gèt) (ภูเก็ต) , is Thailand’s largest at 48km in length and 21km at its widest. It’s in Southern Thailand, on the west-facing Andaman Sea coastline, suspended from the southern tip of Phang Nga Province by a pair of short but substantial road bridges.

Phuket nestles in balmy Andaman Sea waters on Thailand’s Indian Ocean coastline 862 kilometres south of Bangkok. Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colourful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign trader’s ship logs.

In recent times, though, Phuket’s top earner has been tourism, which has transformed the island into Thailand’s wealthiest province. Expect prices to be a bit higher than on the mainland. The west coast of Phuket was hit severely by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, but almost no evidence of the damage now remains. Phuket enjoys great popularity as a travel destination. Most beaches are on the west coast, with Phuket Town to the southeast and the airport in the north.

Climate

Phuket is hot and humid throughout the year. The hot season is generally considered to be from March to early May. During the summer monsoon season from May to October, mornings and afternoons are still sunny and clear, but it tends to rain in the evenings and water clarity goes down. Locals consider November to February the “cool” season, and the weather is quite tolerable, much more so than in the tourism centres around the Gulf coast.

It’s comparable to Florida’s summer weather in temperature and intensity of rain storms: 25-33°C, flying clouds, short and thunderous rainfalls in the afternoons and evenings. Surfing is possible off the western beaches.

How to get to Phuket (by plane)

The compact Phuket International Airport (IATA: HKT) is in the north of the island, and is Thailand’s second largest hub, second only to Bangkok.

There are very frequent flights to and from Bangkok as well as direct flights to many other airports in the region, including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and direct charters to Europe and Australia in the high season.

There are a international flights from all over the world, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland and other countries.

A few charter flights are serving the Phuket International Airport too from European countries and some Asian countries.

Domestic flights are from all over Thailand, such as direct flights from Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Bangkok, served by Bangkok Air, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and much more.

If You decide not using an airplane, there are ways to travel to Phuket by bus or train. The last one, by train, there are no direct rail services to Phuket. By train You are able to travel to Surat Thani, where the closed train station from Phuket is.

There are two bus terminals in Phuket, the new number two a few Km north of the City and the old number one in the centre of Phuket Town (where the airport bus stops). Buses get served from all over the country, most from Surat Thani or from Bangkok.