Phuket, Thailand
Click here for a few suggestions from our
extensive portfolio of hotels.
 Just
an hour’s flight from Bangkok, but a world away from that gritty Thai
capital, lies Phuket, its green velvet interior encircled by a necklace
of blindingly white beaches lapped by pistacio green waters.
Despite its ever increasing popularity, you can
still sit on the sands and wave to passing sampans festooned with pink
and yellow ribbons to ward off bad sea spirits. You can still lunch at
rickety restaurants serving mouth-watering concoctions of tiger prawns
cooked in ginger and garlic, and sticky rice cooked in bamboo cane. Or
you can just head for one of the beaches, like the big and beautiful Nai
Yang Beach backed by a wooded national park, or the classic trio of
Pansea, Karon and Surin.
There are bustling beaches too, where jet skis,
water-skis, and motor-boats cater for those who prefer a somewhat
livlier scene, Patong being the best known. Here you can sample
everything from naughty nightlife to fantastic shopping and food - and
screamingly loud noise - lots of it.
That doesn’t mean that sporting activities in the
quieter bays and more exclusive hotels are neglected. The Andaman sea is
one of the most sought after sailing areas in the world and from the
haunting beauty of Phang Nga Bay with its countless islands to the
dramatic cliffs of Krabi, there is something for everybody. Big game
fishing, white water rafting, snokelling, diving and picnicing on
pristine white sandy beaches, trips on a traditional junk, or the
ultimate Phuket experience – lying flat on your back in a canoe
negotiating a narrow tunnel through a limestone outcrop into a massive,
cathedral-like canyon called a Hong, are just some of the ways to spend
time on Phuket.
 If
you like nature, spend a night at the newest Kenyan-style elephant camp
of Siam Safari at Khao Sok, spartan but comfortable, the individual
rooms furnished with natural woods and fabrics. No TV, no radio, and no
reception for cell phones. Watch the elephants bathe in the river that
runs through the camp, trek in the surrounding hills with them, or visit
the nearby National Park.
The ultimate in hideaway hotels is The Amanpuri at
Pansea Beach, but be prepared for extreme quietness in this top of the
range establishment that attracts film stars, fashion designers and the
top managers from the world’s money markets. The Boat House at Kata
Beach is small and exclusive but is a byword on Phuket for its award
winning cellar and its gastronomic menus.
Thai culture blends effortlessly with luxury at
Laguna Phuket, a complex of five top hotels at Bang Tao beach - The
Banyon Tree, The Sheraton Grande, Laguna Beach Resort, Allamanda Beach
Club, and the low-rise Dusit Laguna Resort Hote with a magnificent beach
frontage, the first one to be built on the site and long-time favourite
with many people. These five hotels are linked by sparkling lagoons,
canals and tree-lined avenues and to help you explore the area, free
shuttle boats and buses are provided (the complete circuit by boat can
take up to 45 minutes). This inspired landscape of water and lush
gardens was created from what was once scarred and cratered terrain and
the detritus of the tin-mining on which Phuket built its wealth before
the tourists arrived. The craters are now attractive lagoons for
canoeing, wind-surfing, and sailing: canals weave links between the
properties and provide access to the restaurants and luxury spas of the
hotels, to Canal Village with its designer shops, tea-rooms, ice-cream
parlours, and a 600-acre garden. But the best thing is that you can wine
and dine at any of the 30 restaurants in the 5 hotels and have the bills
charged back to your guest room.
 Although
it is tempting to spend all your time on the beach, there are
fascinating excursions to be made. The sightseeing is undemanding - some
interesting old Sino-Portuguese houses (one of which stood in for the
French Embassy in the film The Killing Fields), the Put Jaw Chinese
Temple and a magnificent view from Phuket Hill.
The landscape is exotic - red and gold Buddhist
temples, buffaloes knee deep in vivid green rice-fields, rubber
plantations where each tree wears a cup like a white bumbag to catch the
dripping latex, and the stilted fishing village of the Chao Talay sea
gypsies at Rawaii.
James Bond fans will love the boat trip to the
surreal archipelago of Phang Nga, where Asia’s most spectacular seascape
was the location for the film The Man with the Golden Gun. The huge,
jagged, limestone karsts that surge hundreds of feet out of the sea,
covered in greenery, or veined with gold and grey rock never fail to
amaze.
Just a couple of decades ago there were only a few
thatched shacks on most of Phuket’s beaches. The thatched shacks have
gone but nature's charms remain and creature comforts now go hand in
hand with hedonistic living. The beaches in the promotional material
aren’t like anything you’ll see - the real thing is even better.
Click here for a few suggestions from our
extensive portfolio of hotels.
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