Phuket

Phuket is really two islands in one. There is the beach island — a string of west-coast bays each with its own character, from the buzzing sands and nightlife of Patong to the quieter, upscale calm of Surin, Kata and Kamala — and there is the older island behind it, easy to miss and worth seeking out. Phuket Old Town is a pastel grid of Sino-Portuguese shophouses left by tin-mining merchants, now a UNESCO-recognised city of gastronomy where Hokkien, Peranakan and Thai-Muslim cooking earns Michelin nods on ordinary street corners. Between the two, the Big Buddha watches from its hill, and longtail boats leave for the limestone islands of the Andaman Sea — Phi Phi, James Bond Island, the seasonal reefs of the Similans. Warm, green and easygoing, Phuket can be a luxury-resort escape, a backpacker’s base or an island-hopping launchpad, often all in the same trip. Come for the beaches; stay for the food and the islands offshore.

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