The island of your dreams
PHUKET
Phuket is pronounced like “poo-ket”. At 543
km2 it is the largest island in Thailand. It is located
in southwestern Thailand, on the west side of the Kra Isthmus, the
narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula, a thin strip of land connecting
Thailand and Malaysia. Phuket is surrounded on all sides by the Andaman
Sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean. Phuket is especially famous for
its golden and white-sand beaches. Phuket’s population has more than
quadrupled in the last 20 years. Around 20% of Phuket’s permanent
inhabitants are Muslim, while the remaining are mostly Buddhist. Phuket
City is the capital of Phuket. It is known for its Old Town
Sino-Portuguese architecture, most of which dates to the early 1900s.
Phuket has one national park, called
Sirinat National Park, in the northwest, which is a nesting ground for sea turtles. It also
has a wildlife reserve called Phra Thaeos, which is home to langurs, gibbons, barking deer, and many other
species.
TripAdvisor has named Phuket one of the top-10 islands in the world
(Travelers’ Choice Award), while Fortune has called it one of the
top-5 places to retire.