Phuket Province

Introduction

Phuket, the largest island in Thailand, is the only island having provincial status in Thailand and was a regional headquarters as well, with a rich and colorful history. Known as the Pearl of the Andaman, it derived much of its former glory and its enormous wealth from tin production, which in Phuket dates back over 500 year. Today, Phuket is the major tourist attraction of Thailand. The surrounding waters contain much varied marine life, and the town is notable for its Sino-Portuguese architecture. It is a very attractive island for sightseeing, with lovely seashores and forested hillsides. Its population of 1.6 million people ranks sixth among all provinces. Nowadays, it is the most-outstanding destination that over 4 million tourists flock from around the world to visit yearly.

Diving Destination

Koh Racha Yai
Koh Racha Yai, situated on the south of Phuket, has beautiful white-sand beaches and crystal underwater. On the island there are two beautiful little bays namely Ao Nam Tok (Waterfall bay) or Ao Bungkalow , locateing in a valley of horse-shoe geographic landscape on the west and Ao Kon Kae, locating on the east, famous for a deep clear water and colorful coral formations. Both dive sites have almost swimming pool features as they gradually drop to a depth of 40 feet onto a sandy seabed. To Koh Racha Yai, visitors can depart from Ao Cha-Long Pier, Phuket by speedboat taking approximately 1 hour.

- GPS Coordinate: Lat. 07 36 343 N. Long. 098 22 647 E.
- U/W environment: large submarine rock, covering with beautiful, spiky soft coral of the genus Dendronephthya and seafans (sometimes known as gorgonians)
- Maximum depth: 30 meters with average depth of 20-22 meters
- Marine lives: mantis shrimp, painted anglerfish (frog fish), and schools of travellies, snappers, and groupera.
- Underwater visibility: 12-15 meters

Koh Racha Noi
Racha Noi is a popular dive-site for more experienced divers, as the depths are generally greater and the currents frequently stronger than at its sister island, Racha Yai, to the North. Best site for diving is located around the northern tip of the island offering an opportunity for a good multilevel dive along a large pinnacle where spotting school of reef fishes and stingrays is common.

- GPS Coordinate: Lat. 07 27 562 N. Long. 098 18 531 E.
- U/W environment: Aside from the sand bottom for exploring rare minute critters, sea anemone and coral reefs grow covering top of large rock formation located in the bay on the northeastern of the island. On the southwest side there is a wooden ship-wreck that shelters lot of interesting reef fish.
- Maximum depth: 15-20 meters with average depth of 12-15 meters
- Marine lives: schooling of reef fish, sting rays, seafans
- Underwater visibility: 8-10 meters

Hin Musan Nok and Hin Musan Nai (Anemone reef and Shark point)
Musan rocks are the dive site that a day-trip diver from Phuket or Phi Phi Island should not miss. The sites covered with various colorful soft corals, sea anemone, large gorgonians are widely known as Anemone reef and Shark point among foreign divers.

- GPS Coordinate: Lat. 07 48 452 N. Long. 098 37 683 E.
- U/W environment:
- Maximum depth: 20 meters; average depth 13-15 meters
- Marine lives: Reef fish, leopard shark, and tiny shrimp, crab and allied cowry found among gorgonians and soft corals. Possibly encountering with whale sharks.
- Underwater visibility: Limited within 10 meters due to its location close to the mainland of Phuket and Phang-Nga.

On the 4th of May 1997 the 85-meter passenger ferry 'King Cruiser' on a routine run to the Phi-Phi Islands made history by straying several miles off course and hitting the Anemone Reef, known in Thai as Hin Musan. With a huge hole ripped in her hull the ship went down in less than an hour. Fortunately, with absolutely ideal weather conditions at the time of the accident, the several hundred passengers, mostly tourists, and crew on board at the time all managed to escape to safety with rescue efforts. Today, King Cruiser is known as a decent ship-wreck for divers to explore. This unplanned addition to Anemone Reef has become one of the most popular dive-sites around Phuket. Not only is the wreck located near an already popular dive-site but it is positioned almost perfectly at a depth between 12 and 30 meters.

- GPS Coordinate: Lat. 07 48 170 N. Long. 098 38 580 E.
- Maximum depth 30 meters at sand bottom
- Interesting activities Exploring through the King Cruiser's multiple decks and spacious open areas.
- Marine lives: Large school of juvenile yellow-tailed barracuda, lion fish, and nudibranch. Possibly found nurse shark and leopard shark lying on the sandy seabed.
- Underwater visibility: 7 meters

Koh Dok Mai
Koh Dok Mai is a small limestone island lying between Phuket and Phi Phi island. This islet comprising with different coral formations and creatures can be explored within one short dive as a diver can easily swim around the entire island. The west side is a gently sloping hard coral reef with an abundance of colorful sea life decorating its underwater cliffs. The east-side of the island is a virtual garden of yellow tube corals and you can explore some of the small caves along the base of the wall.

- GPS Coordinate: Lat. 07 47 685 N. Long. 098 32 148 E.
- U/W environment: Steep submarine wall covers with colorful soft coral and magnificent sea anemone.
- Maximum depth: 25 meters
- Marine lives: Soft corals and anemone, schooling fish, seahorse, variety of reef fish and an opportunity to view the resident Moray Eels.
- Underwater visibility: upto 10 meters; poor visibility in most time of the year due to effects from floating particles from fresh water canal of Phang-Nga.

Climate

Phuket has tropical weather dominated by monsoon winds that blow year round. It is therefore always warm and humid. There are two distinct seasons, rainy and dry. The rainy season begins in May and lasts till October, during which the monsoon blows from the southwest. The dry season is from November through April when the monsoon comes from the northeast, Phuket has clear blue sky and serene turquoise sea. It's best time for traveling and diving. Highest average temperatures, at 33.4 degree Celsius, prevail during March. Lowest averages occur in January, when nightly lows dip to 22 degree Celsius.

Topography
Phuket is an island connected by bridges to southern Thailand's Andaman Sea coast, in the Indian Ocean, lying between 7'45" and 8'15" north latitude, and from 98'15" to 98'40" west longitude on the map. Measured at its widest point, Phuket is 21.3 kilometers; at its longest, 48.7 kilometers. About 70 percent of Phuket is mountainous; a western range runs from north, Surin beach, to south, PhromThep Cape. The highest peak is Mai Tha Sip Song, or Twelve Canes, at 529 meters, which lies within the boundaries of Tambon Patong, Kathu District. The remaining 30 percent of the island, mainly in the center and south, is formed by low plains. There is no river on the island except various canals include the Khlong Bang Yai, Tha Jin, Khlong Tha Rua, and Khlong Bang Rong, none of which is large. Phuket's beaches are very beautiful on the west side. On the east, the area is flat and also full of beaches, most of them are muddy. Surrounding with the island of Phuket, there are 39 islands, with a total area of 570 square kilometers, in various sizes gathering in this archipelago.

How to get there
By Car
From Bangkok to the south, use Highway No.4. Along the way pass the provinces of Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap-Khirikan, and at Chumphon go right to Ranong. From Ranong, go south through Kraburi and Kapoe Districts to Phang-nga Province. In Phang-nga the road passes through Kuraburi, Takuapa, and Thai Muang Districts before reaching the town of Kok Kloy. Then, cross the Thao Thep Kasattri or Sarasin Bridge to Phuket Island. The distance is 867 kilometers.

By Bus
Both air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses leave the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok daily. Southern Bus Terminal Tel. +66 24347192, +66 2434 5557-8, Phuket Central Company Tel. +66 2435 5019, Phuket Travel Tel. +66 2435 5018, Phuket Bus Terminal Tel. +66 7621 1480.

By Plane
Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Air Andaman operate regular flights to Phuket daily. The travel time is 1 hour 20 minutes. For flight schedule and reservation, contact TG office in Bangkok at Tel no.+66 2280 0060, +66 2628 2000, TG office in Phuket Tel. +66 7621 1195 or visit www.thaiair.com, Bangkok Airways : http://www.bangkokair.com, and Air Andaman : http://www.airandaman.com For further information, contact Phuket Airport at Tel.+66 7632 7230-7

By Train
No direct train services available from Bangkok to Phuket. Travellers may take the train from Bangkok's Hua-Lumpong Terminal to PunPin station in Surat Thani province and after that switch to any bus commuting Surat Thaini-Phuket.
For more information, contact Bangkok's Hua Lumpong Train Terminal at SRT hot line: (+66) 1690, or tel. (+66) 2220 4334, 2223 7010, 2223 7020 or visit SRT's website at http:///www.srt.or.th or http:///www.thailandrailway.com

By Ship
The Deep Sea Port (Port of Phuket) at Puket is visited by both cargo and cruise ship from Thailand and from abroad. Contact your travel agent for information about the many different ships that stop at Phuket.

Getting around Islands in Phuket and Andaman sea
Phuket as a famous tourist destination provides comfortable facilities for all outdoor adventures and activities including snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, and trekking.