Phuket to anywhere

There are only a handful of hotels and beach resorts in Phuket where you can walk from the hotel right to the beach and into the water and not crossing a road. Coming to Phuket also means, you enter holiday and fun county, beaches, fairways, nightclub's, bar's, restaurant's all in a very relaxed atmosphere of Phuket Island with comfort and pace, no need for heating, only air-condition or a fan to cool. If you come with a car to Phuket, with a flight to Phuket, with the bus from Bangkok to Phuket or whatever , you will come into the island via highway 402 and over the Sarasin Bridge, heading south. Crossing the Sarasin Bridge on your way to Phuket opens the horizon to the left into Phang Nga Bay and the Phuket Yacht Haven Marina with lots of sail boats and yachts on the misty horizon. To the right on your way to Phukfreet Island is the open water of the Andaman Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean with a turquoise colored surface and the beach. After a few miles to Phuket Airport at the right are some entrance roads to a luxury beach hotel the JW Marriot. Phuket airport offers flight from Phuket to almost anywhere in the world, mostly via a stopover in Bangkok.

Under the Sarasin Bridge Phuket Beach right of Sarasin Bridge Sarasin Bridge Phuket Phuket to Yacht Haven Marina from Sarasin Bridge Phuket Airport Phuket Airport Check In

Also flight to Phuket is very easy via the same routing. Domestic flight to Phuket Thailand are from all the major City in Thailand, like flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket, Bangkok Air flights from Phuket to Ko Samui, flights from Pattaya to Phuket. Coming by air to Phuket you can usually enjoy a low airfare from Bangkok to Phuket after they deregulated the air traffic in Thailand some years ago. But now the airfares to Phuket are going up again, due to high fuel surcharge and less competition after some local airlines serving Phuket went out of business because of incompetence, this were Phuket Air and one to go airline.

A very interesting newcomer serving the short distance Phuket to popular tourist spots nearby is Destination Air. They operate with water planes or amphibians to serve the Islands of the Andaman Sea and connect them to Phuket. Route map of Destination Air

Route map of Destination Air With this new airline with flight from Phuket  to elsewhere in the region a new horizon is opened, the look down destination. New perspectives are open with great view hardly anyone has had before, you can find the Destination Air here.

Driving towards Phuket Town to the south leads to the circle around the Heroines’ Monument (two brave ladies who were leading the defense of Phuket against the Burmese army a couple of hundred years ago) right turn leads to Laguna. Phuket to Laguna is an assembly of  luxury hotels and villas, about 20 kilometers away from Phuket Town and Patong Beach.

From Phuket Island interior to the beaches is usually a smooth ride, only the road to Patong looks like the people where not very clear that day, the bending and ups and downs is mind-boggling. Phuket Patong Shark Bar The Phuket to nightlife is a very short connection and a main reason why so many tourists come to Phuket each year on vacation or holiday. Many get so positive with Phuket that they just get hooked on the island without a need to go from Phuket to elsewhere. Tourists seem to keep coming back to Phuket to have fun each  Phuket Patong Tiger Bar year, especially attracted by the vibrant nightlife and bars of Phuket island. Most Phuket island nightlife venues can be found in Patong beach along the well known Bangla Road. Sexy Phuket nightclub show video. Phuket island nightlife Patong Phuket Patong Music Bar Phuket Patong Bangla Road Phuket Girls at Bangla Road   Phuket Patong Tiger Disco

Bangla Road in Patong Beach Phuket including the very popular tiger disco and tiger bar and the seduction disco. Along Bangla road are plenty of small streets leading to hundreds of beer bars. Each beer bar has a number of beautiful Thai ladies working for them who are there to please the clients.

Some Phuket islands attractions.

Phuket offers inexpensive vacation or expensive one, its up to you, usually there is no much difference in terms of you get for. Phuket hotels, beach resorts and guesthouses are here in all price ranges. Compared Phuket to Europe or other popular vacation destinations your money has about 3 to 4 times the value as you experience at home and the service if usually much better. This applies to anything which is not imported and includes dining and drinks in restaurants, bars, clubs etc. in Phuket is much less expensive.

Shopping in Phuket got a big push forward since the Shopping Malls opened along the Phuket Town bypass road and the new Jung Ceylon shopping mall at Patong.. Now no need to go from Phuket to elsewhere for a good shopping experience. But there are certain differences, For example, almost everything related to computers, but not the computer itself, double the price when it comes from Bangkok to Phuket. There are several malls now in operation and new are popping up year by year. Going shopping in Phuket in the past was not very interesting since most of the shops offer the same stuff,  tailor made clothing and the all this other textiles like t shirts etc. plus shows, handbags and dozens of other cheap goods. The latest opening is at Patong, its the Phuket Young Ceylon mall in Patong, actually there are not so many cheap items, its rather catering to the up market level.

Some Phuket History

The first ecords of Phuket history are from the beginning of the 11th century. The first inhabitants of what is now known as Phuket or as it was know several hundred years ago as Junk Ceylon were the sea gypsy’s, also known as Moken in Thailand and Salon in Myanmar or Burma. Sea gypsies seems to be a branch of the Negritos or Malay, the indigenous inhabitants of South East Asia. 

At that time Phuket was known to the outside world as Junk Ceylon, this name was recorded on old Portuguese maps. An earlier mention of Junk Ceylon was in a book written in the year 157 AD by the Greek Claudius Ptolemy. The Greek philosopher mentioned that if one was to travel to the Malay archipelagos, today Malaysia and Indonesia, it needs to pass a island called Junk Ceylon, a location between the latitudes of 6 N and 8 N was indicated which corresponds to present day Phuket. It seems that the Junk Ceylon was popular by all kind of sea farer since the naturally protected bays offered shelter against all kind of weather problems. This on the east side of Phuket island, as it was evident during the Tsunami, where all damages was done on the west coast of Phuket island.

During British colonial times Phuket was also known as Thalang, Thalang is still a district in the northern mid region of Phuket. The Mons in southern Myanmar, mostly around the Gulf of Martaban were also known as Thalangs, there are plenty of  connections between Thailand and Myanmar or Burma. In the 15th century Phuket became a leading tin mining ground and later lots of Chinese people came in to work in the mines, got rich, built fabulous villas and houses in Sino-Portuguese style, some of the most beautiful created villas are still visible at Phuket Town or Phuket City.

In 1785 troops from neighboring Burma tried to invade Phuket. Finally two Phuket women, the former governor’s widow, Chan, and her sister Muk organized the defense of Phuket Island. The struggle with the Burmese lasted nearly a month. When the supply of the Burmese troops were gone they had to withdraw. After the King of Thailand bestowed upon them the noble titles of Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon. The two sisters have their monument right in the middle of the round about at the Tha Ruea Intersection, visible to anyone who comes in from the Airport and elsewhere since there is only one road into Phuket over the Sarasin Bridge.

Phuket is becoming more and more the yachting hub of south east Asia, no need to go to Singapore or elsewhere. Its  all time more or less summer with 25° and 32°C throughout the year. With a excellent sailing infrastructure Phuket is the ideal cruising base, from here its easy to go Phuket to other destinations in the region. Some excellent marinas are the right place to anchor.

Its only a short distance from Phuket to Krabi, Phuket to Phang Nga, Phuket to Trang and so on. Great panoramas wait in the limestone world of Phang Nga Bay. Top diving grounds around Phuket and Phi Phi Islands plus the Similan and Surin archipelago, Phuket has something for everyone, no need to go elsewhere. Its also only a relatively short distance from

Phuket  to Ranong and Kawthaung into Myanmar’s or Burma's  unexplored Mergui Archipelago. The Krabi and the Trang archipelago are to the south of Phuket and further south are the Tarutao Islands in the Marine National Park just about 5 km from the Malaysian island of Langkawi. Phuket has three international standard marinas, Yacht Haven Marina, Boat Lagoon Marina, Royal Phuket Marina, some more marinas are planned or under construction. Sailing holiday in Thailand climax in Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, attracts around 100 yachts and boats and is held in early December. Phang-Nga Bay Regatta, is at Chinese New Year, its the regatta with the most scenic background of any regatta in the world. Phuket Race Week starts in the windy month of July during the southwest monsoon.