Of the eleven million foreign visitors arriving annually at Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok, almost five million do a ‘right turn’ and head on to Phuket; there’s something going on down there! Phuket is thriving, and it’s not difficult to see why. Twenty four pristine beaches, six golf courses, a James Bond film set and reefs yet to be explored.

Although Phuket’s airport is called ‘Phuket International’, most arrivals are via Bangkok, and transiting Bangkok is now a trap for the unwary since the new airport opened to the East of the city.

When Suvarnabhumi struggled to handle the traffic initially, many domestic flights were moved back across to the rapidly decommissioned Don Muang and some confusion ensued. Whilst never approaching the Heathrow terminal five levels of chaos, the switch to a different airport still caught out many travellers and continues to do so. For instance, Thai Airways International operates flights to Phuket from both Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang, a three digit suffix denotes a Suvarnabhumi and four digits a Don Muang departure; confused? You are not alone; it does pay to be aware of this. Once on the ground at Phuket, it will take the most frustrating 40 minutes of your journey to transfer to any of the major beach resorts; Patong, Kata, Karon or Rawai.

For nightlife, Patong is the obvious destination. Soi Bangla and the surrounding area has enough bars and clubs to keep even the liveliest of party people busy. Karon, Kata and Rawai are a little more sedate, but Patong is only a tuk-tuk ride away for those who find themselves in need of a clubbing fix.

There is far more to Phuket than nightlife though. A trip to Thailand would not be complete without at least one temple, or ‘wat’, visit. There are literally dozens of wats ranging from the small, inauspicious single buildings where the locals go to the much more impressive Wat Chalong and Wat Phra Thong, both of which date back to the 1700s. Wat Chalong is particularly photogenic and will be many peoples best opportunity for pictures.

This temple is dedicated to two highly revered monks, Luang Por Chang and Luang Por Gluam, whose statues are on display. Wat Phra Thong is home to one of the more interesting Buddha images on the island. Legend has it that the Buddha was found buried with only the top of its head showing, to which a small boy tied his buffalo. The boy fell sick, and his father went to find the place where the boy had been and found the Buddha buried there. The villagers dug up the Buddha, the boy recovered and the Buddha is on display in the Wat.

Of the many events that take place every year on Phuket, the vegetarian festival is arguably the most colourful, not the food event implied by its name but more an annual purification ceremony. The ‘chosen ones’, or Ma Song, entering a trance like state and puncturing their faces with anything from multiple skewers to beach umbrellas. Not for the faint of heart. Around the same time as the vegetarian festival is the setting adrift of the Chao Le, sea Gypsy, boats at Krabi. The ceremony takes place at midnight and makes for a beautiful, haunting spectacle.

The other festival of note is Songkran, Thai New Year, in mid April. The celebrations last for four days and have become a somewhat notorious, and embarrassing, spike on the road accident graph of Thailand. In earlier times Songkran, or ‘Water Festival’ as it is often translated, was an altogether different prospect. Thai people would leave their homes to greet friends and neighbours, anointing them with water or powder in a ‘good luck’ gesture. This gentle tradition has morphed over the years into the full-on chuck-fest that we see today.

Songkran is fun, people come out with buckets, water blasters of every size, and bags of dubious white powder to ‘anoint’ each other in a crazy, messy, high spirited romp that lasts for several days. If you don’t play well with others or are too kool for skool then maybe it’s not for you.

It’s often said that the arrival of foreign tourists, farang, was where the corruption of the festival of Songkran began. The statistics, shocking as they are, don’t back up this view though and the vast majority of road deaths occur among the native population. In 2008 the road death toll ran to some 350 over the seven days of Songkran from a total of just over 4000 accidents. Tellingly, Phitsanulok province, a place where most farang would struggle to find on a map, led the carnage with 15 fatalities. There is talk, serious talk from serious politicians, about making Songkran alcohol free for 2009. It may happen, and it would be wise to keep an eye on news coming from Thailand if you are planning a Songkran trip.

Even during seasonal peaks such as Christmas and Songkran there is accommodation to suit every pocket on Phuket, from 500 baht per night guesthouses to the 50000, yes fifty thousand, baht per night Amanpouri beach resort, and enough to keep the most demanding of travellers busy. From the photo opportunities of Phang Ngha bay and the stunning sunsets of Laem Promthep, the balmy beaches all around the island, to the heat of the Patong nightlife, Phuket is a place that once visited, is never forgotten.