Guides & tips
Plan your trip like a local
Honest answers to the questions travellers ask us most.
Phuket Old Town: Guided Walk or On Your Own?
Phuket Old Town is seven streets you can walk in an afternoon. What a guide adds, what a tour takes away, and why most "old town tours" only stop there for 40 minutes.
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Boat Trips from Phuket for Non-Swimmers: What the Listings Actually State
Life jackets are the law, not a feature. What decides the day is whether you get into the water from a beach or off the back of the boat – and almost no listing says which.
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Coral Island with Sunset and Dinner: What Is Actually in the Package
Four hours or ten, buffet on deck or lunch at a resort, sunset from the water or from the cape. The Coral Island evening trips differ far more than their prices suggest.
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Coral and Racha or Phi Phi: Which Island Trip from Phuket
Coral and Racha are close, cheaper and carry no park fee. Phi Phi is famous and a full day. Compare crossing times, water quality and what each day really costs.
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Photographing Phuket: Viewpoints, Old Town or the Islands?
Three subjects, three different days and three different hours. Plus the drone rules that catch visitors out and what a 30-minute photoshoot booking really covers.
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Phuket Island Hopping with Children: Crossing Times and Conditions
With children the crossing decides the day, not the destination. Compare 15-minute and two-hour trips, children's park fees, and where a boat day goes wrong.
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Khai Islands Half Day or Full Day: Which Fits Your Time
Fifteen minutes from the pier, from €19.98, no park fee. The three Khai islands differ more than the listings admit – and the full day is not simply more of the same.
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Phi Phi and Maya Bay from Phuket: Routes, Inclusions, Closed Season
Phi Phi day trips from €31.08 look alike until you read the route. Compare stops, meals and departure times – and check whether Maya Bay is even open on your dates.
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Phi Phi, Maya and Maiton: Combination Tour or Shorter Route
Four islands in eight hours sounds like more holiday and is usually less. What the extra €70 buys, what "or Maiton" means in a listing, and when the short route wins.
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Phi Phi by Speedboat or Catamaran: Which Boat Suits Your Day
The hull decides the day: speedboats are fast and hard, catamarans are steadier and longer, longtails are slow and open. Compare price, duration and comfort.
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Phuket for Architecture Lovers: The Old Town and What Else Is Worth the Detour
Seven protected streets of Sino-Portuguese shophouses, one museum that explains all of them, and an honest note on how small the conservation zone really is.
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Private Phuket Tour: How Much of the Route Can You Actually Choose?
"Private" and "customisable" are not the same product on Phuket. One gives you the van to yourselves, the other gives you the itinerary – and often no guide.
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What to See in Phuket: Which Excursions Suit Which Holiday
Phuket has three different boat days, two closed seasons and a park fee that is rarely in the price. Work out which trips fit your week before you book one.
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Snorkelling Trips from Phuket: The Stops and What Gear Is Included
Two boats at the same price can put you on completely different reefs. Compare the stops, find out what "equipment included" leaves out, and check which parks are shut on your dates.
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Phuket City Tour with Night Market: What the Day Actually Includes
Which night market you end up at depends on the day you book. Phuket's markets run on fixed days and hours – here is how that shapes a nine-hour city tour.
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Phuket City Tour: Half Day or Full Day?
A Phuket city tour is not a walk through a city – it is a van circuit around half the island. Here is what the extra three hours of a full day actually buy you.
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