Phuket - Paradise Island, Thailand :: Phuket.as Guide to Phuket, Thailand Phuket is the largest and most popular island in The Land Of Smiles also known as Thailand. Last year more than three million people visited this tropical holiday paradise. What attract everyone is Thai peoples warm smile and hospitality. Everywhere you go their smiles will light up your day. It's not without reason Thailand is The Land Of Smiles. Another reason to visit Phuket is for the beaches and warm water where the tropical sun give you a tan all year round. Flying down to Phuket from Bangkok take just over one hour and shortly before landing will you see many small green limestone islands rising up from the sea underneath you, a beautiful sight so different from Bangkok's concrete jungle. What you are seeing is Phang-Nga Bay where you later will go on a tour between hundreds small evergreen islands. Then Phuket reveal itself, the pearl of the Andaman Sea with lush green hills as far you can see. You have now arrived in paradise. Next a luxurious hotel are waiting at one of the many white sandy beaches where most people prefer to have their dream vacation. If traveling on a budget, cheap rooms can be found without problem at Patong Beach. Since the sun in Phuket is very strong, every beach have chair with umbrella for rent. But it don't stop tourists from getting burned, as the many red body's are a living proof of. It's easy to be fooled by the sea breeze or cloudy weather into thinking I will not be burned. Be careful, then you will have a fantastic holiday and like many people be back the next year. Put on some sunscreen and hit the beach and relax, maybe with a cold beer bought from your friendly beach vendor that will be more then happy to bring a new one without the need to get up, just wave. There is more than enough time after sunset to shop and eat, shops don't close before midnight and you should be happy to know that water temperature hold between 27-29 degrees, if you should feel the urge to swim. When the sun has gone down it's time to try out the world famous chili hot Thai food and as being on a island seafood is abundant from small and cheap street stalls to expensive restaurants with live music. Be careful with the chili or else your throat will burn like it never have before. Shop till you drop, a popular evening activity in Patong Town, the tourist capital of Phuket. Arrive with empty bags, return with a bad back after carried overloaded bags to the airport, filled with cheap cloths bought at the night market. If Patong don't have what you are looking for, you can be sure to find it at the world class Central Festival shopping center. Central Festival is located in the area of Big C and Lotus outside of Phuket City. Bangla Road, the heart and soul of Patong Town with a mixture of tourists, bar girls, restaurants, guesthouses, street stalls, beer bars, go-go bars, entertainment venues and transsexuals (katoeys). Gays have their own area at Paradise Complex only a short walk from Bangla Road. It's impossible to be lonely in Patong with more then one hundred beer bars only in Bangla Road. In a beer bar there will always be someone to talk and have fun with. There are always a big chance to meet someone from your home country since Patong attract people from all over the world. If not, the girls working in the bar will be more than happy to chat, play games and dance with you. Every bar employ between five to twelve girls, and the girls will do everything to lure people inside the bar for a drink. It can be lots of fun just walking past a bar with the attention of ten girls doing almost everything to make you stop at their bar. There are many beer bars outside of Bangla Road where families can relax in a quiet atmosphere and chat with the charismatic bar owner. The children will love to have a coke and play games with the bar girls who just adore children. Early up with the sun to go on a day trip. A pickup van are waiting outside the hotel to take you to the boat for excursion to beautiful small offshore islands. A must for everyone is the trip to Phi Phi Isla