---
node: dest_phuket
type: destination
slug: phuket
title: "Phuket"
lead: "Phuket is Thailand's largest island, a resort in the Andaman Sea famous for its beaches and warm turquoise water. It pairs busy sands and nightlife with a historic Sino-Portuguese old town and a base for island-hopping."
published: 2026-08-10
updated: 2026-08-10
image_file: phuket.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phuket,_Patong,_Club_Andaman_-_panoramio.jpg"
image_author: "funktion1"
image_license: "CC BY 3.0"
---

## Overview

Joined to the mainland by a bridge, Phuket is a large island of forested hills and a west coast lined with beaches, from the crowded strip of Patong to quieter southern bays. Long a trading and tin-mining island, its main town keeps a charming quarter of Sino-Portuguese shophouses, a reminder that there is more here than the beach. Warm year round with a rainy summer, it is Thailand's main beach gateway and the launch point for the islands of the Andaman.

## Highlights

The west-coast beaches range from the resorts and nightlife of Patong to the calmer sands of Kata and Karon, with the giant Big Buddha on the hills above. Phuket Old Town's painted shophouses, cafes and markets give a change from the coast, and viewpoints like Promthep Cape catch the sunset. Boats run out to the Phi Phi Islands, Phang Nga Bay and the reefs offshore.