Phuket

Class versus mass
While mass tourism has been gaining a foothold since the early 1980s and has caused immense damage to Pattong Beach in particular, the development of luxury tourism is becoming increasingly important for the island. More discerning guests are creating new markets such as golf courses, upmarket restaurants, but also exquisite spas and clinics, luxury shopping centers and club complexes with expensive properties for sale. Phuket, which has always been a wealthy island due to its tin deposits and rubber plantations, naturally welcomes this development and has focused on expanding its infrastructure in recent years. A very good road network also leads to more remote areas of the island, the international airport provides tourists with a convenient non-stop journey, cabs and limousine service work perfectly and do not rip off tourists as is usual in other countries.

However, eco and sustainability tourism in particular is becoming increasingly important: Six Senses Hotels & Resorts, known for its comprehensive sustainability program, now operates several resorts in and around Phuket and has been setting an example for many years in the conservation and protection of the environment as well as the competent training of its local employees. But many other 5-star hotels are also jumping on this bandwagon - be it because mangrove forests minimized by mass tourism were decisive for the level of destruction during the tsunami, or because investing in eco-luxury tourism is the better concept in the long term. Environmental initiatives such as the systematic protection of sea turtles on Phuket's longest beach, the pristine Mai Khao Beach, are intended to preserve the island as a natural paradise for future visitors.

Phuket - versatile pearl of the Andaman Sea
The popularity of Thailand's largest island with a length of almost 50 meters and an area of 543 km is obvious: even for regular visitors to Phuket, there is always something new to discover. Apart from the "powdered sugar" beaches, which are more or less crowded depending on their location or the class of the hotels, countless offshore islands also await visitors. The following applies to the beaches on the west side: the further south they are, the more crowded they are - although some luxury hotels, such as the Chedi or the Amanpuri on Pansea Beach, are so cleverly designed that they practically have a private beach. The expansive Bang Tao Beach with its extensive lagoon landscape, in which four luxury resorts are hidden away, is also particularly beautiful. Beaches are generally public in Thailand, so you will rarely be alone on a boat trip to one of the uninhabited islands in the famous Phang Nga Bay. Incidentally, boat trips are a must in Phuket: local fishermen take tourists to remote islands in their colourful long-tail boats, while tour operators and hotels even organize snorkelling and diving trips to the Similian Islands far to the north, which are famous for their unique marine fauna.

The island also offers numerous cultural and culinary opportunities. A visit to the capital is worthwhile if only to admire the well-preserved Sino-Portuguese architecture and the Chinese temples Bang Niaw and Put Jaw and, 20 km further north, the legendary Buddha half buried in the ground in Wat Phra Tong. New restaurant concepts such as the excellent Thai restaurant Ka Yok See, which is full of European antiques, also attract curious tourists who otherwise prefer to stay on the beaches. The gastronomic standard on Phuket is high: the first Award of Excellence ever presented by the American "Winespectator" in Thailand was awarded to Mom Tri's Boathouse on Kata Beach. Three of Phuket's best restaurants are located at the northern end of Pattong Beach, which is groaning under the weight of mass tourism: Baan Rim Pa, Joe's Downstairs and Da Maurizios. If you want to plunge into Pattong's Sodom and Gomorrah-like nightlife for an evening, you will find a stylish and excellent culinary oasis here, which - unlike most other restaurants - also requires an appropriate dress code.

Luxury factor wellness
Despite Thailand's large and expected further infrastructural development, the comparable density of 5-star resorts is greater here than anywhere else in the country, with the exception of Bangkok. Almost all of them offer privately guided island and diving tours, restaurant reservations and transfers to golf courses, so you hardly have to worry about organizing your own activities. The exploding development of increasingly sophisticated (destination) spas has already triggered a veritable wellness tourism that also attracts many tourists from neighboring Asian countries. In addition, (beauty) clinics are advertising comparatively inexpensive but highly competent treatments.

The hospitality of the island's population, the year-round pleasant climate (best time to travel is from November to April), the excellent price-performance ratio, particularly in the luxury sector, and the visible efforts to increase sustainability in tourism are assets that can certainly continue to be relied upon.

Thailand's largest island is one of the most popular travel destinations in Asia, but the image of the supposed mass destination is beginning to change. New luxury resorts with perfect spa oases, an increasingly better infrastructure and greater environmental awareness are attracting more and more premium travelers.

DIPLOMATISCHE VERTRETUNGEN

in Germany
Embassy of Thailand
Lepsiusstrasse 64-66, 12163 Berlin
Tel: +49 030 794810
Fax: +49 030 79481511
www.thaiembassy.de

in Austria
Embassy of Thailand
Cottagegasse 48, 1180 Vienna
Phone: +43 1 47833350
Fax: +43 1 4782907
www.thaiembassy.at

in Switzerland
Thai Embassy
Kirchstrasse 56, 3097 Liebefeld near Bern
Phone: +41 31 970303034
Fax: +41 31 9703035
E-mail: thai.bern@bluewin.ch
www.thaiembassy.ch

Lage

Thailand

Fläche

576 km²
Phuket: 543 km²

Bevölkerung

386.605
Phuket: 320.000

Phuket City: 80.000

Sprache

Thai

Hauptstadt

Phuket City

Religion

Buddhism

Weather

Es gibt 2 Regenzeiten in den Monaten Mai bis einschließlich Juni und September bis einschließlich Oktober. Die Trockenzeit läuft von November bis April. Die wärmsten Monate sind April und Mai. Die Temperatur kann bis zu 35 Grad steigen. Die Monaten Juli und August kann man noch gut auf Phuket verbringen.

Beste Reisezeit

November, Dezember, Januar, Februar, März, April

Klima

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperaturen	32	33	34	35	34	33	32	32	32	31	31	31
Min. Temperaturen	20	23	24	25	25	25	25	25	24	24	23	21
Sonnenstunden	8	8	8	10	8	6	5	5	5	6	8	8
Regentage	1	1	3	3	9	10	13	13	15	14	5	1
Wassertemperatur	27	28	28	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	27	27

Zeitverschiebung

UTC +7. Unterschied MEZ (Winter): + 6 Stunden, MEZ (Sommer): +5 Stunden

Währung

Baht

Vaccinations

none