The islands of Thailand: Which tropical haven is right for you?

By Amy Cooper

Put a pin anywhere on a map of mainland Thailand's surrounding blue and you'll hit a tropical paradise. The kingdom encompasses a koh-verwhelming choice of 1430 islands. I'm here to make it simple. Head straight to Phuket. Do not pass Koh (Samui).

I mean this quite literally, as you can fly direct from Sydney or Melbourne into the international airport on Thailand's largest island several times a week. With a mere nine hours from go to koh (koh being the Thai word for "island"), you can exit Australia midafternoon and be sipping a Phuket Spritz on Bang Tao Beach that evening while your Samui-bound friends languish somewhere in a convoluted connection of flights or ferries, heading to their koh in slo-mo and wishing they'd picked Phuket.

Had they done so, they'd be enjoying a one-stop taste of Thailand as big as Singapore and twice the size of Samui; an endlessly obliging crowd-pleaser every bit as enticing whether you're partying or parenting, diving or dancing, boxing or basking, seeking solitude or the company of elephants, whale sharks, ladyboys or lounge lizards.

Phuket is generous to a fault - especially when it comes to beauty. The winding west coast road is a necklace of coastal gems. Each time you think you've discovered peak Phuket, there's an even prettier beach around the next corner. The island's 30-plus snow-on-sapphire beaches roam a spectrum from teeny and hidden (we see you, Nui Beach) to vast expanse (hi, 10-kilometre-long Mai Khao) to activity-rich family favourites like Kata and Karon to banging party playground Patong.

On Patong's hedonism highway, Bangla Road, which out-dazzles even Bangkok, you can koh wild with 5000 fellow revellers at mega-club Illuzion, graze on fried grasshoppers at the night market and - if it's your thing - raunch it up in Suzy Wong's, because this koh is good to go-go. If you'd rather get high on history, head to old Phuket Town, where you can trace the island's multicultural influences in gracious Sino-Portuguese architecture and taste their legacy in the local cuisine's unique mix of Chinese, Malay, European and Indian flavours.

Phuket's trading past and indigenous sea gypsy culture come to life in at least 10 museums, and 29 temples include the 60-metre high stupa at Wat Chalong and the Insta-obligatory 45-metre high Big Buddha. Need a break from the buzz? Phuket's your gateway to a koh-leidescope of unspoilt small islands in pristine marine national parks, just minutes away by boat. You can go full castaway on Bon, Racha, Maiton, Naka, the Similans and an entire archipelago of idyllic koh bros out among the towering limestone karsts, secret lagoons and sea caves of Phang Nga Bay.

Step aside, Samui. For choice, ease and maximum bang for your baht, Phuket's a koh-brainer.

By Mal Chenu

Phuket may be everybody's phonetic phavourite but if you're choosing your trip to Thailand purely for the titter value, you may as well go to Phi Phi, so you can say you went to the No. 1 island.

But since you brought it up, and seem determined to take the low road, may I introduce you to Hin Ta and Hin Yai, the genital-shaped rocks of Lamai Beach on the eastern side of Koh Samui. To the more decorous, these rocks are known as Grandfather and Grandmother, due to the legend that tells of their ill-fated sea journey to set up an arranged marriage for their son to the daughter of the phonetically bland Phra Pikanet. Their ship was caught in a storm, Ta and Yai drowned and became these rocks, a symbol of their unfulfilled quest.

A cock and bull story? Maybe. But the bottom line is this is a very popular attraction, so it is best to come and see Hin Ta and Hin Yai in the morning or late afternoon, for the glory and the delight respectively.

I raise this (last one, I promise) because essentially Ko Samui and Phuket are very similar tropical idylls (Siam Siam but different), and Hin Ta and Hin Yai are a point of distinction.

Both islands are brimming with vivid beaches and intimate coves, superb restaurants and bars, lush rainforests and coral reefs, and towering golden Buddhas guarding wonderful wats with picturesque pagodas.

Read more on Explore:

But if you really want to split hairs, Samui can claim a slight advantage in most criteria. Size matters and being smaller is a plus in this case. You can drive or scooter or tuktuk around the island on the Ring Road in just a couple of hours (and encounter far less traffic than on Phuket), exploring the natural splendour and countless beaches, including Chaweng, Samui's most popular stretch of powdery white sand, replete with resorts, spas, shopping, nightlife and a water park.

In Bophut (yet another gorgeous palm-fringed beach) you can wander the narrow alleyways of Fisherman's Village, once Chinese shophouses and now home to funky bars and classy restaurants.

In the centre of the island, the majestic Na Muang waterfalls empty into a swimming hole surrounded by jungle, or make a trunk call on the ethical Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and Tarnim Magic Garden sculpture park on Pom Mountain.

You can check out the golden Khao Hua Jook Temple and contemplate the Buddhist path to enlightenment as the sunset gives way to the illuminated wat. Or drop by Magic Alambic Rum Distillery near Bang Kao Beach at the other end of the island and contemplate the Caribbean path to enlightenment as the sunset gives way to inebriation.

While it's a close call, Ko Samui is the superior paradise and Phuket has Hin Ta envy.