"Tropical Beach Paradise" a Phuket Travel Page by bkarjee

Phuket turned out to be better then what I had expected. I had a different picture in my mind, thinking that a lot of signs of devastated Phuket beach side would be evident, in the aftermath of Tsunami and that a lot of construction work would be in progress. But I was surprised that it has shot back into action and the people have taken a lot of efforts to bring everything back to normal. The beaches were looking very clean, there were less tourists than normal, being a monsoon season at this time of the year. But the good thing is that during our 4 day stay in Phuket, it just rained once, that too for just 15-20 mts. Rest of the time, it was either partially cloudy or quite sunny.
The sea was sometimes choppy and there were red flags everwhere along the beach, indicating that it is not adviceable to go to sea. But still, there were a lot of people into the sea, not bothering about the red flag. I was told by the locals that these red flags appear in the month of May and stay there till Oct. irrespective of the whether the sea is dangerous or not.
Phuket is beautiful and its people are more beautiful-both from inside and outside. Thai people are very hospitable, helpful and their language is also very sweet. The anouncementsa at the airports in the local thai language was so soothing that I would turn my ears in the direction of the speakers whenver an announcement was being made.
Phuket is very well connected to Bangkok by flight and there are a host of airlines, including budget airlines competing with each other. We flew in from Singapore directly to Phuket . There are 2-3 direct flights from Singapore daily. There are other airlines also directly flying in from international destinations like KL, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul etc. Phuket can also be reached by bus from Bangkok, but it is a long journey of 14 hrs, although the VIP buses are very comfortable and the fare includes dinner also. They are mostly night buses.
Patong is the most crowded area of the beach town.

For covering Phuket and its adjoining islands, 4-5 days are more then sufficient. We were two families with one kid (3 years) each and we were able to cover entire Phuket Island and the adjoining islands in 4 days time. A major part of it was possible because of a local contact who helped us in visiting all the local attractions in his spacious and comfortable vehicle. His name was Mai and acted as our local guide. I will be providing his complete contact details in another section. My detailed itinerary was like this
Day 1: Arrival in Phuket early morning by 0900 hrs. Was picked up by the driver at Phuket International Airport, who took us to a T shirt Factory, Gem Factory and a state owned emporium, to buy local soveniers and food products. After this, we were dropped at our hotel at 1200 noon. At 1400 hrs, left for a local sightseeing tour which included following spots-Karon Beach, Kata Beach, Beach View Point, Prom Thep Cape, Rawai Beach and TESCO-Lotus Super Market. Offcourse, the super market is not a touristy place, but a must for those who intend to stay for 3-4 days or more. At 1900 hrs, returned to the Hotel
Day 2: Visit to Phi Phi Island and Kho Khai island. Left the hotel at 0800 hrs and returned at 1730 hrs.
Day 3: Visit to Kamala Beach, Surin Beach, Gibbon rehabilitation Project and Bang Pae Waterfalls, Elephant tour. We also saw the famous 'Phuket Fantasea' show, which starts at 2100 hrs and gets over at 2230 hrs. Left the hotel at 1300 hrs and returned back at 2300 hrs
Day 4: James Bond Island. Left the hotel at 0930 hrs and returned at 1700 hrs
By this time, we were almost done and fagged out.