Sightseeing in Phuket

Worldly famous as a first class seaside travel destination, Phuket welcomes more than 5 million tourist each year. Ultimate destination for holidaymakers in search of paradise, of calm and laid back day time chill on one of the many beaches and crazy vibrant nights under the glowing neon lights.

However, the island is so big (the biggest of the country) that you will hardly feel like you are surrounded by water. Instead, a combination of scenic beaches and mountain range, national parks and animated towns, rainforest and islands, temple ceremonies’ fervor and boxing days’ frenzy…

Uncommon and misunderstood, Phuket will give you much more than the beach vacations you were thinking about.

Whether you spend a weekend or a week, there is a lot more to do and see than just lazing on the beach or having some fun around, and you will for sure leave your sun lounger to explore the other face of Phuket.

Bordered by the some of the finest beaches of South East Asia, the Phuket Mountain Range, peaking at 1395 meters above the sea level with the Khao Lang Kha Tuk, offers some amazing viewpoints and observation decks, as well as an untouched nature.

Khao Phra Thaew Royal Wildlife & Forest Reserve is a perfect example showing that Phuket is not just about the beach.  The reserve is home to wild boars, monkeys, gibbons, flying foxes, cobras or pythons populating the ‘evergreen monsoon forest’.

Sirinat National Park is a coastal reserve comprising the beautiful beaches of Nai Thon, Nai Yang and Mai Khao. Best piece of nature and animals you will observe there will be the green turtles graciously evolving around the reefs.          

Strolling down Phuket’s bars and beaches, you will pass by many gibbons held captive in order to please tourists. Get more interested and involved in them thanks to the Phuket Gibbon Rehabilitation Project. The sanctuary adopts gibbon hoping they can be reintroduced into the wild. You can volunteer to clean cages, feed the animals or track the released ones. Another bewitching attraction is the gibbon morning song, taking place every day around 9am.                              

On the island’s southernmost point, Laem Phromthep cape, crowned by a lighthouse, is a superb location to watch sunsets over the Andaman Sea. Very scenic, be sure it will be packed with tourists. Other stunning viewpoint can be found all around the island, Radar Hill, Kata, Panwa, Windmill, Khao Rang Hill.

Many more nature activities are provided if you are willing to take a tour. Island tour, jungle tour, boat tour, fishing tour, trekking tour, rafting tour…

With about 40 surrounding islands, you will have an almost unlimited choice for a boat ride to some of the ‘Koh’.

The famous Koh Phi Phi can be said to be the main sight to see in Phuket, can be almost considered as the only reason to visit the island. Its sheer cliffs rising from the emerald sea and its immaculate beaches leaning jungles are simply spectacular. 

Phang Nga Bay and its improbable monolithic limestone formation popping out of the emerald green waters propose maybe one of the most mind-blowing scenery around Phuket.

If Koh Phi Phi sounds like the most famous of all and truly worth a visit, what about a ride to Khao Phing Kan, better known as ‘James Bond Island’, from the movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. Khao Phing Kan, literally meaning ‘hills leaning against each other’, features enormous limestone ‘columns’ formations sitting on the bay. Breathtaking from the beach, you can adventure around the island to various viewpoints overlooking the bay to catch the beauty of the scene from a different angle, or explore some of the many caves located around.

Further away from Phuket, but not less beautiful, is Koh Similan. A 9 island archipelago in the Andaman Sea, home of one of the 10 best diving spot in the world. Yes, in Thailand, the beauty also stands underwater. On land, a thick jungle vegetation, birds and monkeys, deserted white sand beaches nearby which are laying huge boulders. Underwater, some magnificent coral reefs, the very same boulders, underwater caves and canyons, create a fantastic recreation area for divers and a heaven for any kind of marine creatures. You will explore the richness of the Andaman Sea and its more than 200 species of coral, huge parrotfishes swimming around hundreds of other multicolor animals.

Phuket is covered with Buddhists temples. All of them worth a small detour form your ‘beach base camp’ to get into the relationship Thaïs’ have towards religion and believes, and to take a few pictures.

On the must see sight list of Phuket, you cannot miss the Big Buddha. This 45 meters high statue, visible from over half of Phuket, is much more impressive from close up, due to the beautiful stone work and all the shrines scattered around. The road winding up in the banana groves, leads you to a hilltop stunning view point over the Chalong Harbor and the beaches of Kata and Karon. Near the gigantic statue is a temple, featuring an exhibition of pictures of the statue’s construction. You will also find around a one ton bronze bell and a smaller Buddha statue, only 12 meters high. Away from the busy beaches and cities, the only sounds you will hear will be the one of the bells, of the dharma music and of the wind blowing on the flags.

Wat Chalong is the biggest of the temples located on Phuket. Visitors enjoy the intricate and colorful ornaments. A unique atmosphere is floating around as Buddhists ignite firecracker to celebrate each time a prayer is answered. Many golden Buddha’s statues are presented outside the pink temple.

In Wat Phranang Sang, the oldest temple of the island, you will discover statues of Thaï heroines and a huge mural depicting the life of the Buddha and important historical event.  

Wat Suwan Khiri, located on Karon Beach, is also called Wat Karon, and features two huge emerald green serpent guarding the entrance of the building.   

Located in the middle of the island, Wat Phra Thong, ‘The Burried Golden Buddha Temple’, exhibits the upper part of the Buddha image, the rest being buried in the ground. The Buddha image was discovered buried in the ground by a local shepherd, while only the very tip of the head was visible. Legend says that the shepherd and its bull, both got ill and died soon after. Later, villagers tried to excavate the statue only to get assaulted by ants, wasps, hornets… coming from the ground. Facing all these obstacle, monks decided to build a temple next to the statue.                                                                             

Wat Kajonrangsan has a very unique architecture as it combines roman style and Thaï pagoda style.

Great beaches, verdant nature, and an exciting city life, taking you to museum, galleries, monuments…

Phuket’s Old Town is another essential sight to visit. A 10 block maze of narrow alleys and hidden streets running between the Sino-Portuguese colonial architecture. Historically rich, you will pass by many well preserved Sino colonial mansions, museums, shops, boutiques, art galleries, murals, prayer points, markets, shrines.

Thalang National Museum retraces the History of the island, from prehistoric to tin-mining times. Displays in Thaï and English give a lot of information, knowledge illustrated by numerous artefacts about prehistoric Andaman inhabitants or about the ‘two heroines’ legend… The museum masterpiece is a 9th century stone statue of Lord Vishnu.

In Chalong, you will find the only working distillery. Welcomed with a mojito you can sip during the 30 minutes tours taking you through all the production process of their island rum.   

Phuket Fantasea is a theme park suggesting some of the best entertainment on the island. Everything is big, everything is beautiful, everything is bright, everything is made to impress. Aside the games, the elephant rides , the village or the shops, a surprisingly great Las Vegas kind of show, inspired by Thailand’s heritage and myths, during which you’ll be amazed by the costumes, music, dances, trapeze, elephants, colors, fires and lights mixed in an astonishing extravaganza. As said, ‘the ultimate cultural theme park’. Another fantastic show which worth a look is the Simon Cabaret.

Going around Patong, you will be given plenty of flyers advertising boxing games. Go for it. Patong Boxing Stadium will be an exciting experience.

Better to visit without kids, Bangla Road deserves its wild reputation. Coming alive when sun sets, cheap bars, loud music, lady boys, sexy girls and a wonderful party atmosphere. To do at least once during your stay.

For sure, you will decide to visit Phuket because it is a fabulous vacation destination proposing a great mix of chill and fun in the way only Thailand is able to make it. For sure you will spend a lot of time enjoying the wonderful beaches, swimming in warm and clear waters, sunbathing and jet-skiing. For sure you will stroll down the neon streets at night in your best party mood.

But Phuket is much more mysterious than you expected, and if you try a slightly different path, you will understand that Phuket has a lot more to offer. It is so easy to vary. Culture, art, nature, excursion, sports, history…

You won’t regret some time spent away from the beach, so, try something new, something unusual, something strange, something a little bit different; to taste a slice of what the real Phuket is.