Highlights of Phuket

In spite of non-stop development, and the terrible tsunami, the island of Phuket (pronounced “pooKET”) is a counterpane of lush rubber plantations, swathes of bright green rice paddies, vast coconut-palm forests, wide white beaches, turquoise translucent water, and rolling hills guardianed by pairs of caribou, barrels of monkeys, and flights of fancy. On top of it all, being in Thailand, visitors are cosseted by the most caring people in the universe.

This is Thailand’s largest island at 49 kilometres by 27 kilometres (30 miles by 17 miles). Known for centuries for its tin deposits, a 19th-century tin rush brought thousands of Chinese settlers. Now Phuket is the most up market of all of Thailand’s tourist areas, and some of the resorts and private homes are so stunningly beautiful, brilliantly engineered, and gloriously comfortable that one simply shakes one’s head, closes one’s eyes, and surrenders in disbelief.

But maybe Phuket isn’t an island at all. Perhaph it’s a blithe spirit, materialized by the most beautiful and gentle people in the world just to give them the opportunity to coddle us in unselfconscious affection and perfection. All else is irrelevant, each detail mundane; Phuket simply couldn’t exist anywhere else.

THINGS TO SEE & DO

• See the amazing Mai Khao Beach (Phuket’s   longest), 15 minutes north of the airport, where
   the giant, leatherback, sea turtles have been  returning to where they were born to lay their
   eggs for uncounted centuries.

• See the sunset from the southernmost tip of the   island—Laem Phrom Thep Cape (a few
   hundred other people will be there too!)

• Visit Phuket FantaSea on Kamala Beach. It is  a themed collection of shops containing the
   4,000-seat Golden Kinnaree Restaurant,   and the 3,000-seat Palace of the Elephants
   Theatre that features an all-singing, all-dancing,   award-winning spectacle! (0-7638-5000)

• Stroll the beaches; they are the most beautiful   in Thailand and you will be rewarded with 
   sunsets as good as anywhere.

THE GAY SCENE

The Gay Scene here is more like Pattaya’s than Chiang Mai’s – wide open, wild, and growing!

WHAT’S SPICY?

• The most popular nightspots for both gay tourists and locals are generally found in the Paradise loop. Many clubs present numbered lads for your choosing. One or two also present happy stage shows of lip-synching drag queens with an entourage of broadband hopefuls. Some bars are more commercial than others, but they are all sanuk (fun).

If you like great Cabaret, don’t miss Simon’s Cabaret; the best in Phuket!