General:

Thailand's only island province, Phuket is a world famous tourist destination, renowed for its beautiful beaches, clear waters, lots of offshore islands providing great sites for diving, as well as plentiful high quality resort accommodation.

Formerly its great wealth came from tin mining, and the influence of the Chinese tin and rubber entrepreneurs is evident ,especially in the town, where numerous Chinese temples and shrines celebrate a Vegetarian Food Festival every October.

Today the province's wealth comes from the vast tourism industry that has developed in recent years, as travellers around the world discover Phuket hasa lot to offer in the way of sun and sea. By contrast the hilly intereriorhides forests, a national park, gibbon rehabilitation centre and promises of elephant treks

Climate:

Phuket has two major seasons ,the Rains Season and the Hot Season :

* The Rains Season from May through October. However there are many sunny days throughout the Rains Season: showers customarily last little more than 2 or 3 hours.

* The Hot Season from November through April. Temperatures are highest in March and April.The best months for travel are November through February.

Average temperatures range between 22 and 34 degrees Celsius.

* December is the peak tourist month , if you want to avoid the crowds and enjoy off-season hotel rate come during the summertime-they may carry some heavy rains but these quite often occur during late evening and overnight and unlikely to spoil your enjoyment. (Take note that August and September are the wettest month.

Population:

The residents of Phuket comprise Thais who have migrated from the mainland, ethnic Chinese, Malays, and Chao Leh or ‘sea-gypsies’ who are the original inhabitants of Phuket.

According to the census, Thai-Buddhists account for 71% of the population, with Malays (24%) and Chao Leh (4%) making up the remainder. The figure for Thai-Buddhists also includes the Chinese who are almost completely assimilated. Some estimates put the percentage of ethnic Chinese at around 35%. The vast majority of the population resides in or around Phuket City and Patong Beach, creating a population distribution along an east-west axis.

In March 2007 the Phuket Provincial Administration office reported that there are 313,955 people registered as living in Phuket. However, this figure is likely to be quite a lot higher as this data does not take into account those who live and work in Phuket but are registered as being resident elsewhere, a fairly common occurrence. Together with this are the seasonal workers and visitors of which there are a significant number all year round. Taking this into account, some estimates have calculated a figure as high as 500,000 during peak periods.