With much of the last few years being severely affected by Covid, let's think positively and look at the Top 10 Phuket Hotels 2022. Phuket and world tourism in general has been slowly trying to re-open, but worries about Covid still keeps travel numbers down. I do hope that later in 2022 we can start to use the word "normal" again. Would be good if Phuket can get a busy high season (starting ..read more

Phuket island has been a port and a crossroads of the sea for many years, so it's no surprise that you find a mix of cultures and religions in Phuket. The island has quite a fascinating history. It's location near the Straits of Malacca led to Phuket being a port used by Indians, Arabs, Chinese and Europeans over the years, and this is reflected in the diversity here - now further diversified by ..read more

This is a Thai hip-hop song called 'Welcome to the South' by a group called Southside who are from (or some of the members are from) Phuket. Now, Phuket is well and truly in the south of Thailand geographically and politically. The 'South' starts a bit south of Bangkok - when you drive south into Chumphon province there is a 'Welcome to the South' sign above the road :) Southern Thai people have ..read more

A tune from 2013 - Snoop Lion (not Dogg at this time as he'd converted to Rastafarianism after a trip to Jamaica in 2012) featuring Rita Ora. They stayed in Phuket to shoot this video, I know Rita Ora's make up artist! Is that my biggest claim to fame? Well, I did meet Rowan Atkinson in Guatemala once while he filmed a Barclaycard commercial! Nice video, this is Phuket! They stayed at the ..read more

Want to dive in Phuket or the Similan Islands? You can contact at Sunrise Divers! I came to Phuket in 1999, not with any plan to stay forever, get married and raise a family, but simply to find work as a scuba diving instructor and "give Thailand a try" with a vague plan to move on to other SE Asian countries and try them as well. I had done my divemaster course back in 1996 in Utila (Honduras ..read more

Thai Mueang (or Thai Muang) is a small town in between Phuket island and Khao Lak. It's just over 20km from the Sarasin bridge to Thai Mueang via another small town called Khok Kloi. We have driven this way many times on the way to Khao Lak, or Takua Pa or Khao Sok National Park, but only stopped a couple of times either in the town to visit a minimart for a drink or just a quick look at the ..read more

I remember reading a few years ago that the Travel Channel had done an episode of 'Bizarre Foods' in Phuket .. forgot about that until today and found it online and watched for the first time. The host is quite right - to find the best Phuket food, get off the tourist beaches! There's a couple of things on here that I have not eaten - really must go and try sea cicadas sometime, but really I am ..read more

I saw this video a while ago and now found it on YouTube. A couple of minutes showing a drive along part of Patong beach road and turning into Bangla Road, way back in 1988, just before any huge mass tourism arrived. If you have been recently, the difference is plain to see! Patong looks pretty nice, laid back and quiet. Now it's maybe the busiest few kilometers of tourist beach in Thailand ..read more

Welcome to 2020 and it's time for a new Top 10 Phuket Hotels blog post. There are 4 new entries compared to 2019. Last year's number 1 (Ayara Kamala) has disappeared - was ranked 12 on TripAdvisor at the time of writing, and so there is a new top hotel this year and a number 2 that was not on the list before. For each hotel listed you'll find a link to check online deals and availability with ..read more

Back in 1999, I arrived in Phuket for the first time by bus from Bangkok and had my eye on the On On Hotel, as recommended by my good old Lonely Planet guide. The On On hotel had recently been used as part of the filming of "The Beach" starring Leo. The On On doubled as a cheap Bangkok backpackers hotel. It looked great, lots of character, an old building, apparently the oldest (or one of the ..read more