It’s run by a competent team of foreigners and locals and those guys manage to churn out more newsworthy reads every day than anyone else. We’ve been following Phuket Wan for a while and thought we’d give them a shout as they work hard to bring the latest and news and views from around Phuket.

The website has information about tourism in Phuket as well as a jobs section. Phuket s an island never short of news, but the major distributors of this news are often strained to compile it all for the reader. The more newspapers and websites Phuket has, the better. Check out Phuket Wan for a decent daily read.

Tourism is way down in Phuket at the moment. A combination of political woes and bad press has meant that people aren’t keen to visit the island any more. What this means is that there has really never been a better time to visit Phuket.

Most people who visit Phuket during high season notice that there are some areas that are overcrowded. That’s the only real complaint tourists seem to have about Phuket. Last year was one of the busiest holiday seasons the island has ever had, but this year all that has changed.

Phuket is still safe. The island isn’t a trouble spot. So there’s no reason <i>not</i> to visit Phuket. It’s the same place as it was last year, just with fewer people. Phuket may not be off the beaten track, but when there aren’t so many people around, it’s a great place for a holiday.

Who knows what next year will bring, but for now, Phuket is cheap and it’s relatively quiet.

Phuket is a great island to live on. It’s also a great place to work as a freelance writer thanks to the large number of magazines on the island. There are also a bunch of magazines in Bangkok that like receiving content from Phuket.

So there was always work while I was there, but somehow I just felt restless and wanted to move on. I would say that I miss Phuket more than I miss Bangkok. Living in Bangkok was always fun, but sometimes it was just too much. In Phuket, everyone has their own favorite spot where they can relax and enjoy life.

I’m now a freelance writer based somewhere in Southeast Asia. I hope to return to Phuket some time.

People usually spend most of the afternoon lazing around on the beach, soaking up the sun and drinking a few beers. Once the sun starts to go down the music starts getting louder and people eventually start dancing.

These parties are cool because the majority of tourists don’t know about them, so it’s usually a laidback mix of travelers and local folks. The actions goes off at the western end of the beach. The only trouble with these parties is that they’re on Sunday, which is a bummer for working people who have to be in an office the next morning, but such is the price to pay for living in paradise.

If you have never been to Phuket for the Vegetarian Festival then you must make the effort to go. It’s the kind of experience that leaves you so overwhelmed and yet so delighted at having witnessed it.

The big street parades feature gruesome acts of self-torture, some of which would make any grown man squirm. The Thais say that the people doing the self-torture feel no pain, but when you look at their faces you can see that some of them really suffer during those long walks through Phuket Town.

On the last day of the festival there’s a spectacular closing ceremony at Saphan Hin in Phuket Town. It’s like nothing else. People line the streets and throw firecrackers all over the place. The noise is tremendous.

Happy Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2008.

It was unusual for there to be protests in Phuket and even more unusual for them to get a bit out of hand. When Phuket International Airport was locked down there were many people questioning the actions of those responsible. Regardless, Phuket International Airport is open and functioning.

There was some bad news for Phuket with One-Two-Go and Nok Air suspending flights to the island, but what this really means is that there are now less people in Phuket and there are less budget travelers, which in our minds makes it the perfect time to visit.

While it may be a little more expensive to fly to Phuket at the moment, don’t let that put you off, because Phuket is a great place to visit for a holiday with its wide array of beaches and islands. The nightlife scene is also jumping at the moment in Phuket.

It looks as if the coming high season may not be so kind to Phuket as last year’s. This is to be expected. But while the tourism industry may suffer, travelers will actually get a better deal in many respects as there will be less people on the island, making the beaches more appealing.

The coming months will certainly be an interesting time for Phuket and we hope that people continue to visit the island.

It’s a real shame because Yanui Beach is one of the sweetest beaches in Phuket, just around the corner from Nai Harn Beach. Nai Harn Beach is looking a lot better this low season than Yanui Beach.

The Phuket beaches are only as good as people keep them and it’s a crying shame that people seem to lose all interest in keeping the area looking beautiful during low season. This kind of sums up the mentality of the tourism industry here in Phuket. Make it look good while they’re here and then let it all rot while they’re away.

While Bangkok Airways is never going to offer the cheapest flights to Phuket, the addition of new flights to Phuket can only be a positive thing at this time. The new flights will run between Bangkok and Phuket twice each way on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

There is also a strong rumor going round that THAI Airways is about to roll out more flights from Bangkok to Phuket, so expect to read some sort of announcement about that in the next few days.

Tourism figures in Phuket haven’t dipped, despite the problem of budget flights to Phuket, but it’s unclear what will happen this coming high season.

We went down to check out Kata Beach today to see how the area is looking this low season. The beach was looking pretty good, with only a few spots of rubbish that had accumulated by the end of the day. Kata Beach is definitely one of Phuket’s better beaches. You can swim, sunbathe and surf without any troubles.

One point worth mentioning is that the waves are big and there are rip tides at Kata Beach at the moment, so although you can swim, it’s best to not go out too far. There were signs up today around the beach warning people not to swim, but nobody was really paying them any attention.

The surf at Kata Beach was really good today, with a lot of large, rolling waves to get into. The best time to visit Kata Beach is late afternoon when the weather isn’t so hot and the beach is less crowded. It’s really rather beautiful – a million miles away from Patong Beach and perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps the saddest rumor is about Drunken Monkey, a cool little restaurant in Rawai that serves up some great pub food. The story goes that a soured relationship led to a split in the guys running the joint, but the restaurant seems to be still open under new management. It’s definitely a bit sad to see the fellas behind Drunken Monkey not in charge anymore, but such is life.

Elsewhere, O’Malley’s seems to be in a spot of bother. The place has been shut for several weeks. The dude who runs O’Malley’s also run a local booze-delivery service, so we suspect most of his time is taken up with that. With any luck, O’Malley’s will be open once again this coming high season. They do fabulous breakfasts there.