{"id":152366,"date":"2016-05-01T15:30:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T08:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franco-media.com\/phuket-informations-renseignements-en-francais-immobilier-restaurants\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T20:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:36:00","slug":"phuket-information-c2-b7-real-estate-c2-b7-restaurants-c2-b7-boating","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.franco-media.com\/en\/","title":{"rendered":"Phuket information | Real Estate | Restaurants | Boating"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”40038″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” css=”” link=”https:\/\/www.franco-media.com\/en\/shopping-phuket-thailand\/tailor-phuket-dressmaker-thailand-mister-singh\/”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Phuket” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:60|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Your Phuket guide for expats and tourists \u2014 since 2007″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”fadeInDown” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]\n

Some islands you visit. Phuket you get involved with.<\/strong> That difference is what this Phuket guide for expats and tourists<\/strong> has been documenting from the island since 2007.<\/p>\n

Golden bays on one coast, mangroves and fishing boats on the other. Shrine smoke drifting past a beach club at sunset. A Sino-Portuguese shophouse under restoration three doors from a noodle stall that has not altered its recipe in forty years. Phuket resists a single description \u2014 which is why people arrive for a fortnight and quietly start extending.<\/p>\n

This Phuket guide for expats and tourists<\/strong> has been published without interruption since February 2007 \u2014 first in print as Phuket Francophone Magazine<\/em>, today online in French, English and Russian. Nearly two decades on the island, and still independent.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_pageable no_fill_content_area=”true” active_section=”1″ pagination_color=”mulled-wine”][vc_tta_section title=”Striking contrasts” tab_id=”1761918684793-2f2623e4-0525″][vc_column_text css=””]\n

An island of striking contrasts<\/h2>\n

The west coast runs on energy.<\/strong> Patong does not sleep. Karon lays out three kilometres of sand made for long, aimless evenings. Kata curls into a bay that suits surfers and families equally. Rooftop bars, dive boats, night markets \u2014 the loud, alive version of the island.<\/p>\n

Fifteen minutes north, the volume drops.<\/strong> Surin is quietly moneyed. Bang Tao stretches six kilometres and never feels crowded. Nai Harn holds water so clear that locals still outnumber visitors on a weekday.<\/p>\n

The east coast is where residents go.<\/strong> Sheltered coves, mangrove channels, marinas full of masts and almost no beach tourism at all. This is the coast that changes people\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

Our Phuket island guide covers each coast, beach by beach, so you can work out which one is actually yours.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Visitor to resident” tab_id=”1761918684833-81978f4d-823c”][vc_column_text css=””]\n

From visitor to resident<\/h2>\n

Falling for Phuket is the easy part. The paperwork, the builder, the health cover, the boat berth \u2014 that is where people come unstuck, usually after taking advice from someone at a bar.<\/p>\n

Our directory exists for that gap. Every listing is a business we know, in a category where getting it wrong is expensive:<\/p>\n