Mueang Phuket

Phuket Town was built on tin money, and the Chinese, Malay and Portuguese influences on that trade produced the shophouse architecture found nowhere else in Thailand. The town was the island’s commercial capital long before the beaches meant anything.

The south developed later and more gently — fishing villages at Rawai and Chalong, a monastery and a lake behind Nai Harn, and a beach village at Kata that grew without ever becoming a resort town.

Two again: the south-west beaches of Kata, Kata Noi and Nai Harn face the Andaman with monsoon surf and dry-season swimming, while Rawai, Chalong and Cape Panwa face the sheltered bay to the east, where the water stays flat year-round and the boats live.

The best and most varied food on the island, and the cheapest. Phuket Town’s markets, hawker stalls and local kitchens set the standard; Rawai’s seafront grills and the international restaurants of the south add range.

The island’s largest shopping centres, its fresh markets, its department stores and its full range of services are all in this district, mostly within ten minutes of the town.

Several international schools sit in and around Koh Kaew and Phuket Town, and the major private hospitals are in the town itself — the shortest healthcare runs on Phuket. The old town is walkable; everywhere else needs a car.