FESTIVAL IN APRIL

Songkran : Water Fight! Actually, it's a benevolent water war that celebrates the Thai Lunar New Year from 13 to 15 April. First, you go to temple to sprinkle water on Buddha images for good luck, then you take to the streets where you will be deluged with buckets and streams of water from all angles, also a harbinger of good luck. So, you may as well invest in a water gun and baptise others with some good fortune. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

FESTIVAL IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY

Chinese New Year : Ethnic Chinese residents in Phuket's Old Town decorate their homes, templates and streets with fruit, flowers and red banners during this two-day festival celebrating the Lunar New Year. Festivities include an elaborate dragon procession. Don't eat tofu this week. It's considered a bad omen. This celebration can occasionally occur in March. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

Magha Puja : On the full moon of the third lunar month Buddhists stream into the island's temples to make offerings, pray and take part in candle-lit processions in commenmoration of the day Lord Buddha first offered his teachings to over a thousand disciples at Veluwan Temple in India. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

PHUKET DIARY

Phuket needs no grand excuse to party. But locals are happy to have one. In addidtion to the festivals and events listed here, there are countless art opening, the occasional regatta gala and beach concert, and restaurants and clubs hosting special events that are open to the public. When national holidays do roll around, your experience may deepen. You can light candles on the beach during Loi Krathong, meditate at a temple then douse (and get doused by) strangers and friends on Songkran, and stare at a parade of the brutally pierced during Phuket City's singular Vegetarian Festival. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

CLASS COOKING LEARNING THAI CUISINE FROM THE MASTER

It's one thing to take a cooking class, it's another to learn at the ladle of Tummanoon Punchun, an award-winning executive chef at the Boathouse-long considered Phuket's finest kitchen Punchun, who also travels  to Europe to teach Thai cooking to renowned chefs in both Switzerland and Germany, has taught his weekend cooking classes to hotel guests for over a decade. Classes take place just off The Boathouse dining room, which has gorgeous views of Hat Kata. You'll be introduced to the herbs and spices that are the staple of any Thai kitchen, but you'll also learn how to use them without making the dish feel heavy. According to Punchun, who you may simply call, Chef, if you have the chemistry down, your curries will actually reduce fat and lower cholesterol. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand
     And you won't have to do the prep work. chef's line cooks do the chopping. All you have to do is listen, learn and eat well. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

THE ISLAND NEXT DOOR DISCOVERING KO YAO NOI

Just an hour off the northeast coast of Phuket, and served by public boat, is one of Thailand's hidden gems, the laidback rural island of KO Yao Noi.  Nestled in the middle of Ao Phang-Nga and framed by soaring limestone karsts perfect for climbing, it's a relatively big island with steep rubber-treed mountains and thin white beaches, infused with the warm energy of the ever-welcoming local people, over 90% of which come from Muslim families who have lived here for generations. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand
     A spectacular five-star property, the Six  Senses Hideaway, a collection of thatched glass and wood villas with stunning views, opened here in late 2007. Its spa could be the best in the region. Paradise Hotel is another, more affordable choice option if you just can't leave. And you should definitely stop by Pradu Seafood, owned by Ya, a delightful local woman who has cooked for both Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz. You'll sit under a thatched gazebo, across from a stilted fishing village, and dine on  snapper steamed with lemongrass and garlic, or dry-rubbed with chilli and fried crispy brown. Yeah, you should probably stay the night. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

SUNSET SERENITY EXPERIENCING DUSK AT LAEM PHROMTHEP

You won't be alone, but that won't matter once you scan the 270 degrees of Andaman Sea, noticing how elegantly it arcs around the cape below, where local fishermen cast into the waves from the jutting rocks. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand
     OK, so you're not the type of traveller used to mingling with tour buses. We get it. But this time you'll make an exception. Because there's a reason the luxe buses line the road at the Leam Phromthep lookout point at around 6 pm. With the possible exception of the Big Buddha, this is the best place to watch the sunset. Take it from the crowds, most of whom are Thai tourists. They spill onto the concrete platform, make offerings to the fantastic elephant shrine and climb to the top deck of the modern lighthouse shaped like a crab.
     But if you really crave privacy, there's another option. Follow the handful of locals who walk down the fishermen's trail that hugs the ridge and ends on the rocks just a few metres above the sea. Although it looks like a thin srtand from above, the peninsula-the island's true southernmost point - spreads out quite nicely,and you will easily find a nook of your own.thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

INTO THE WEE HOURS : TAKING THE OBLIGATORY, AND PROBABLY DEBAUCHEROUS, PATONG NIGHT TOUR

You've heard about the bar girls and go-go bars, the ladyboys and their drunken marks, but nothing quite prepares you for Th bangla as the clock strikes midnight. Here you'll see dancing beauties in schoolgirl uniforms, and comely bar mavens who will take your cold hard cash by winning game arfer game of Connect Four. Their power mystifies. You'll see street performers flaunting endangered species, some truly masterful magicians plying their trade for adoring crowds, and you will drink. You almost have to. But you don't have to stay on Th Bangla all night. With upscale clubs, such as Club Lime,seduction and the brand-new Sound, in full bloom, and nightly live music at Two Black Sheep and Rock City, you have options that don't demand a moral compromise. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

HONG BY STARLIGHT : KAYAKING UNFORGETTABLE, LIMESTONE-STUDDED AO PHANG-NGA

Duck the midday hordes and slip through pitch-black bat caves into a hidden lagoon protected by massive limestone cliffs that rise spectacularly from the sea. You'll see monkeys, sea eagles, orchids and monitor lizards. Yes, this will be one fabulous kayaking trip.thailand accommondation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

     When iconoclastic American kayaker john Gray first encountered these hongs (lagoons surrounded by 360 degrees of rock) accessed through jagged caves at low tide, he knew he'd found something special, something he had to share. And he still feels that way. His Hong by Starlight evening tour promises solitude in hidden hongs that few locals khow about, He'll explain how this fragile ecosvstem is threatened and introduce you to the bay's famous biolumines-cence-a plankton-inspired light show that shines from the sea, When darkness falls. When Gray isn't on the water, he's banging the environmental gong and working to educate local students and the highest levels of the national park service. Of course, he's most in tune when he's on the water, because even while threatened, Ao Phang-Nga has innumerable natural gifts that are impossible to ignore. Especially if you're in a hull, carving another glassy lagoon as the sun drops.thailand accommondation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

CAPE COVES ENJOYING THE GREAT SOUTH-COAST BEACHES

Here's the key to phuket bliss. Come to Hat Nai Han and stay for sunset. Wade into the warm sea, sheltered by two long, jungled, granite arms, play in the waves-or the tidal lagoon on the southern end if you have small children-look past the sailing yachts rising and falling with the swell and watch the sun burn a deep-orange streak in the sky. And that's just one moment on one of the superb beaches in the oft-ignored Rawai region. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

     Although millions of tourists descend on patong, Kata and karon, most never make the trek 10 minutes' south to three outstanding beaches. Hat Nai Han is the most prominent,and arguably the most beautiful, but just north of it, accessed by a road that runs beneath the yacht club, is the wonderful Ao Sane beach with just one snack shack and a small stretch of boulder-strewn white sand, it's the sole domain of locals in the know. Further south, towards the Laem Phromthep lookout point, is Hat Ya Noi. It's a bit rocky, which makes your entrance to the sea less than graceful, but it's also sheltered and rimmed with a rock reef that makes it ideal for snorkelling or paddling in a kayak, which you can hire on the sand. So take a day off from Kata's nubile sheen and commune with Mother Nature in the raw. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

FRESH CATCH

TASTING RAWAI'S TANTALISING SEAFOOD : Wherever you go in Phuket you are never far from a local fish grill serving a mind-boggling selection of seafood just scooped from the Andaman Sea. But even given that context, Rawai is something special. Every day at around 3 pm, the local fishermen, whose long-tail boats you may have seen twinkling along the horizon off the coast of Kata the night Before, sort their catch at the village first market. just to the left of the Rawai pier. That's when chefs, farang and local. converge to pluck the best they an find. There will be red and white snapper, parrotfist, barracuda, rock lobster, crab-soft-shell, blue and red-mus-sels, sea snails, oysters and the most tender squid you can imagine. thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand

     Within an hour that same savoury selection is on ice in front of a strand of terrific local fish grills. Some have cushioned, candle-lit seating on the beachfront where the light bleeds pink at dusk. You forego that syrupy sweet and sour sauce-it came from a bottle. Ask for the fresh, vinegary, diced chilli sauce. It's spicy,but you can handle it.  thailand accommodation phuket,hotels in phuket thailand