Phuket travel info

Stand at the Karon Viewpoint railing and Phuket fits in one frame. Below you, Kata Noi, Kata and Karon curve away like three crescent moons, the water lime-green near the shore and deep blue further out. A few longtail boats drag white wakes across the bay, and around five in the afternoon the sun drops toward the sea and the sand turns gold.

Drive half an hour east and you're on a different island. On Thalang Road in the Old Town, two-storey Sino-Portuguese shophouses from the 19th-century tin boom run in mint, pink and yellow. In the morning, steam rises off dim sum baskets and grandmothers eat khanom jeen noodles with a whole basket of fresh greens on the side. Plenty of people come for the sea and come back for the noodles.

Land at the airport, drop your bags in Patong by evening, and the Bangla Road neon is just switching on while people sit in the sand to watch the sunset. Island-hopping boats by day, night markets and massages after dark. Just know that the island is bigger than it looks, and moving between beaches eats both time and taxi money.

Phuket International Airport (HKT)