​Phuket, Thailand

Situated at the southern tip of Thailand and covering an area of 543 square kilometers, Phuket has abundant resources and world-renowned tourist resorts. It consists of 26 islands, and Phuket Island is the largest.

Since 2008, Xiamen city in Fujian and Phuket have maintained friendly relations and deepened cooperation by sending delegations, opening direct charter flights and holding activities.

In 2017, Xiamen and Phuket established international sister-city ties and enhanced cooperation in such fields as education, culture, tourism and personnel training with fruitful results.

Basic situation

Phuket is located in the Indian Ocean on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. It has three counties, 17 districts and a population of nearly 300,000.

Major industries

Phuket is the most important trade and service center in southern Thailand. Phuket Island is rich in resources and has the reputation of being the "Treasure Island". Historically, Phuket was famous for its tin industry with tin mines spreading all over the island and the seabed along the coast.

As the tin industry has reduced production in recent years, the source of income for Phuket residents has gradually shifted to rubber, fishing and tourism. Phuket has various fish, shrimp, sea crabs and shellfish.

There are also industrial parks and export processing zones that mainly produce electrical products, tools and accessories for electronic equipment and tourist supplies.

Tourism

The Thai government listed Phuket Island as a scenic in the 1970s, and today, the island is home to hundreds of high-end hotels, travel agencies and restaurants. The most famous tourist destinations include Patong Beach, Kata Beach, Karon Beach, Koh Hey and Koh Raya Yai.

Education

Founded in 1968, Prince of Songkla University is a key higher education institution known for high-level teaching and academic research in Thailand with five campuses, including one in Phuket. In 2006, it cooperated with Shanghai University to establish the Confucius Institute at the Phuket campus.

Phuket Rajabhat University was founded in 1971 and has set up six colleges and departments with undergraduate, master and doctoral programs.

Food

Thailand has a wide variety of tropical fruits such as mangos, pineapples, rambutan, durian, mangosteens, tamarinds and coconuts.

The food in Phuket is mainly Thai food, which is seasoned with a lot of spices. Thailand has a wide variety of sweets, with coconut cake and jelly being quite popular after-dinner snacks among locals, and are often wrapped in banana leaves and placed on trays to beautify the sweets.

Traffic

Phuket International Airport opened in 1976, and has boosted the development of Phuket's tourism industry. It is the second busiest airport in Thailand after Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.