Phuket in a day

When visiting Phuket…there are a certain expectation. Famously known for its nightlife and fun filled happy hours, Phuket is the biggest island in Thailand and has many interesting places to visit. However, if you have just a day to tour around Phuket, you could try visiting some of its famous landmarks.

 

Promthep Cape is a must stop in almost all Phuket tours. It is the most southern tip of Phuket and known for its beautiful sunset. On top of the hill there is an elephant shrine to Brahma which is surrounded with many wooden elephants in many shapes and sizes and vibrant colours.

Travelling around Phuket, it is hard not to notice that the island is very hilly. In fact, almost 70% of the island is covered with mountains which stretches from north to south.

On top of the Nakkerd Mountain is another famous landmark… the Big Buddha. Known amongst the Thais as ‘Buddha Mingmongkol Akenakiri’ this huge structure sits 25 meters across and 45 meters in height.

The statue is layered with white burmese marble that shines under the sun. Standing up close, it is quite a breathtaking structure especially after knowing that the whole project is fully funded by donations.

A few notes to remember when visiting, like many religious places of worship please avoid beachwear or short skirts. However, they do provide some sarongs to cover up should you need it.

Sitting on top of a mountain definitely promises the best view. From up here, we could see the town of Phuket and if you want to catch the sunset, try to be here before 6.30pm.

A trip to Phuket is not complete without a visit to the temples. Known as ‘Wat’, these Buddhist temples are an important symbol of Thailand mainly because majority of their citizens are Buddhist.

Among the 29 Buddhist temples around Phuket, Wat Chalong is the largest and most visited temple of all. It is dated back to the early 19th century.

Within the Wat Chalong temple grounds there are several other pagodas. Among them is the 3 storey ‘Chedi’ sheltering a splinter of bone of Buddha. The architecture is similar with most of the temples around Thailand with its arch roof and beautifully decorated walls and ceilings filled with drawings and carved images of Buddha.

The temple is open to visitors from seven in the morning to five is the evening and there are no admission fee.

Next…not to be missed is the Patong Beach. Facing the Andaman Sea, this 3.5 kilometers stretch of white sandy beach was once heavily hit and destroyed by the Asian Tsunami on 26 December 2004. Today this beach has fully recovered with hardly any trace of destruction left by the disaster. Patong Beach is one of the famous landmarks in Phuket for its beautiful sunset as well as the place to go to party and play.

 

Parallel to the beach there are endless restaurants, bars, fruit stalls, rice vendors and plenty of accommodations to choose from. At night the town will come alive with loud music and bright lights. However, the real night action can be found centered around Bangla Road and Paradise Complex.