PHUKET

Phuket Island the largest island in Thailand, has a lush mountainous landscape with forest, rubber, and palm oil plantations covering a predicted 60 percent of the island. 

The west coast is known for its many sandy beaches from Patong, which means "the forest filled with banana leaves", is a top tourist beach with plenty of bars and eateries, to Layan Beach further north with a sandspit reaching out a small forested island.

In the mountainous north of the island, visitors can discover the protected rainforest of the Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary. The only virgin, untouched rainforest left on the island is home to many species including beloved slow lorises, langurs, and gibbons, as well as the Ton Sae and Bang Pae waterfalls, commonly seen in travel guides.

Phuket City,  in the south-east, is the capital of Phuket Province. Here, visitors can try some local delicacies from street food vendors at the bustling Sunday Night Market on Thalang Road that is lined with colorful 19th-century buildings. Other places to visit are the Baan Chinpracha, a Sino-colonial mansion built in 1903, and the Thai Hua Museum.