(See Phuket Zoo for more information on the zoo itself).

Elephant Show:

For many this is the highlight of the zoo, featuring balancing acts, football games, disco dancing and races. After the show the audience are able to have a photo taken with the elephants and feed them bananas.

Show times: 10:30, 13:30, 16:00 daily.

Monkey Show:

The short-tailed macaques in this show previously worked as coconut pickers. Now they perform entertaining tricks such as playing basketball and diving for coins. One part of the show has a macaque doing basic arithmetic using numbers suggested by the audience.

Show times: 09:00, 12.00, 14:30, 16:45 daily.

Crocodile Show:

If watching people stick their heads between a large crocodile’s jaws is your idea of fun, then it doesn’t get much better than this.

Show times: 09:45, 12:45, 15:15, 17:30 daily.

Phuket Snake Farm

This small snake farm is located near Simon Cabaret in Patong. The show is partly educational with demonstrations on what to do if you encounter a snake in the wild or get bitten by one. The rest of the show involves snake handlers charming and performing stunts with poisonous snakes. The highlight of the show is seeing the handler kiss a king cobra on its head.

Show times: 10:30, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00 daily

Phuket ATV Park

Phuket ATV is located within a private park in the middle of a mangrove forest. ATV tour guides escort you along natural tracks through rubber plantations, jungle and deserted beaches. An ATV nature tour provides a unique opportunity to see Phuket’s natural beauty and learn about its environment.

All-Terrain Vehicles are a great way of exploring a remote area of Phuket which can’t be reached by car or foot, and also allow you to cover a lot of ground.

Banana boat rides behind a speedboat can be an exhilarating experience. Banana boats are long tubes filled with air that 6 to 8 adventure seekers sit on and hold onto handles to avoid falling off. The speedboat drivers job is to make the ride bouncy and to try to knock off the riders. All in all it’s good fun and safe as all riders are given life-jackets. These banana boat rides can be found on all the west coast beaches where you see the speedboats parked close to the shore including Patong, Kata, Karon, and Surin beaches.

Bang Pae Waterfall is located on the northeast of the island in Khao Phra Thaeo National Park. Though quite a small cascade Bang Pae is Phuket’s largest waterfall. The 10 minute walk from the car park through the shady forest is very pleasant and the pool at the base of the waterfall is great for a dip in the cool water.

Getting There

You can get to Bang Pae by road by taking the exit heading east (Paklok Road) from the Heroines’ Monument on Thepkasattri Road, north of Phuket City. After about 9kms there is a left turn next to an elephant trekking camp. There is also an 8km trail through Khao Phra Thaeo National Park from Ton Sai waterfall to Bang Pae if you feel up to it.

Bang Pae is also home to the Phuket Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre, an NGO run project which adopts gibbons in captivity and returns them to the wild. The centre can be found near Bang Pae waterfall. See their website for more details: http://www.gibbonproject.org/

The Blue Canyon Golf course consists of 2 superbly laid out 18 hole courses that challenge even professional players when they come here but are still suitable for players of high handicaps, although possibly not for beginners.

Both courses are over 7,000 yards in length and are par 72s although most players on either course will be happy with par.

The Canyon course was the first to open and has in its time been described as one of the toughest courses in Asia. It has been home to a number of international tournaments including the Johnny Walker Classic on 2 occasions.

The course record is held by Greg Norman and the Amateur record by Tiger Woods which gives you an idea of the quality of players that like to come and play at Blue Canyon.

As the name suggests the Canyon Course is made up of narrow fairways and big drop offs should you go wayward with your drive. There are some sensational views and shots to be made on this course and a round on this course will stay in your memory for a long time.

The lakes course opened in 1999 and is targeted at a wider range of golfers of all standards although with water hazards on 17 of the 18 holes it is wise to bring a number of spare balls. As with the other course club selection is critical.

A superb club house provides an excellent location to have a beer or a meal whilst dissecting what went right, and wrong, with your round of golf.

Course Stats:

Designer – Yoshikazu Kato

Yards – Canyon Course: 7,179 | Lakes Course: 7,129

Par – Canyon: 72 – Lakes: 72

Contact details

Fashion boutiques are found in every shopping mall. Prices are usually much less than in the west, especially for designer labels. Keep an eye out for sales which occur quite frequently in department stores. Sales can often make what are already comparatively cheap items 10% – 50% cheaper. You could arrive in Phuket with an empty suitcase and go back with a new wardrobe.

Clothing such as T-shirts and beachwear are available at very low prices from street vendors. Most of these are fakes, though there are local designs and prints available as well. Make sure you inspect them carefully though as quality can vary considerably, and haggle the price down. Prices for t-shirts should be around 150 baht.

Custom tailoring is also very affordable and most styles can be made in just a few days. One thing to bear in mind is that it takes more than 24 hours to make a good suit, whatever the tailor might tell you.

Cotton & Batik

Thai cottons have become increasingly popular and is very cheap. Cotton woven by hill-tribes in the north of Thailand display bold designs and often lavish embroidery. Colourful batik items, such as shirts and sarongs, can be found all over the island, especially in the beach areas.

Silk

Probably the most famous of all Thai products, silk is available in a range of colours, patterns and plys, and is sold by the yard, or as ready-made clothing, handbags, curtains, bedding and souvenir items.

Shopping in Phuket is not just about roadside stalls and markets, there is also a growing number of department stores and shopping centres. These stock a large range of products from international and local brand names, including clothing, jewelry, fashion accessories, electronics, home appliances, children’s toys and baby equipment, sports goods, books. Quite a few bargains can be found, particularly if there is a sale on. The larger shopping centres also have supermarkets, cinemas and plenty of restaurants and food outlets.

Shopping Centres

Central Festival and Jungceylon are the largest malls on the island and have taken shopping and entertainment in Phuket to a whole new level. These shopping complexes feature a plethora of shops, restaurants, as well as cinemas and other entertainment. On a smaller scale are the Ocean department stores and Robinsons. These are definitely worth checking out, especially if you are looking for clothes.

Hypermarkets

Tesco Lotus and Big C, in Phuket City, and Carrefour (part of Jungceylon) in Patong, are Phuket’s hypermarkets. As well as the usual items you would expect to find in a supermarket such as food, fresh produce, groceries and toiletries, these stock everything you can imagine including cheap clothing, furniture and home furnishings, electronics, DIY equipment, all at very reasonable prices.

The courtyard at Central Festival Phuket

Elephant trekking can be a memorable experience not to be missed during your stay in Phuket, especially for the kids. There are numerous elephant camps around Phuket that provide an opportunity to ride on an elephant along a trail through jungle and rubber plantations.

Most of these elephant safaris are relatively short, 30 minutes to 1 hour, though you do get to take in a lot of the natural surroundings on your way, and so most elephant treks will also include a ride on bamboo rafts or buffalo cart as part of the tour. There is also usually an elephant show in which trained elephants perform various tasks such as painting or scoring penalities against a human goalkeeper.

Thailand is the world leader in gems and gem cutting. Rubies and sapphires are the best buys as they are indigenous, but virtually all coloured gems, including diamonds, are available. Visitors should take care when buying gemstones. Only buy from reputable dealers and demand a certificate guaranteeing authenticity.

Some bargains can be had when buying gems and jewelry in Thailand, but you need to make sure you are buying from a reputable store. Be very wary of deals that sound too good to be true, because they will almost certainly be that. Keep in mind that the most complaints handled by the Tourism Authority and the Tourist Police stem from tourists who have purchased gem stones.

You may be tempted to buy stones for reselling back home. Although the price you pay in Thailand will be much less, you will not be able to sell the gems back home for any profit. If you do buy gems, it should be for yourself or as a gift for loved ones.

The Jewel Fest Club was set up by the Thai Gem & Jewelry Traders Association (TGJTA) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Shops displaying the Jewel Fest Club logo will provide a certificate of authenticity as well as a money back guarantee if you wish to return your purchase within 30 days (there is a 10% deduction from the refund).

Precious metals are also quite cheap in Thailand and the craftsmanship can often be of a high standard. Silver is especially cheap and fine examples of hill-tribe silverwork can be found at stalls around Phuket. Silver jewelry is an excellent buy and is usually dirt cheap.

Patong Go-cart Speedway

A 750 metre go-kart track, the Patong Go-kart Speedway, with flood lighting for evening races and a wide range of go-karts. These include high speed super karts, standard single karts, two-seater karts and kids’ karts. The track also has a 30-seat round-view restaurant and seating area for spectators.

Patong Go-kart Speedway is located over the hill from Patong on the way to Phuket City.

Opening times: 10.00 – 19.00 daily.

Contact details

Phuket Racing Kart

Located in Chalong on the way to Kata in the Kinnaree House complex.

Opening times: 09.00 – 18.00 daily.