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From verdant national parks to unspoilt beaches and tranquil temples – Chloe Cann finds a more serene side to Phuket, away from the bright lights of Patong
Back turned towards me, 13-year-old Gibby is the same camera-shy teenager that I was at her age. She’s just as boisterous too, swinging around like a lunatic and making a racket. But she is a heck of a lot more hairy.
A golden-cheeked gibbon from Vietnam, Gibby now calls the Phuket Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) home. “She was trafficked and kept as a pet in a Bangkok apartment,” one of the volunteer guides explains as we walk around the leafy enclosures, the sound of water rushing from the nearby Bang Pae waterfall. “But the neighbours complained about the noise and she was brought here.” Listening to the soundtrack of her howls, I can understand why.
Thailand’s biggest island, Phuket, was once home to a thriving population of white-handed gibbons until poaching and smuggling brought them to extinction some 40 years ago. The GRP was set up in 1992 to take in gibbons – many of which have been beaten or mistreated by their keepers – and to educate locals and tourists about wildlife preservation, and release the primates back into the wild.
Located in Khao Phra Thaeo national park – the isle’s last remaining rainforest – the project is a mere 12 miles from Phuket’s sparkly new international airport terminal. But I spot only two other tourists the entire time I’m there.
Phuket may be famed for its flashing lights, lashings of expats and raucous nightlife, but it turns out that the island also has a much softer side. In addition to the lush surrounds of Khao Phra Thaeo, the little-visited north boasts deserted white-sand beaches backed by thick forest, serene and ornate temples and small sea-gypsy villages, where life moves at a wildly different pace from that of Patong.
Staying at the Banyan Tree Phuket – the brand’s very first property – means all of these attractions are right on your doorstep. But with a private swimming pool for every villa, 89 acres of carefully manicured tropical gardens, an award-winning 18-hole golf course, free bicycles at your disposal and a breakfast buffet to end all breakfast buffets, it can be hard to leave. Guests staying at the DoublePool Villas might have an especially difficult time removing themselves: any whim that can’t be indulged by the facilities already on offer (though I struggle to imagine what that might be) can likely be provided by your personal, on-call, 24-hour villa host. Art, the host for my stay, is a gregarious ball of joy who pops up to scoot me between spa appointments and decadent dinners in a golf buggy.
He also makes a welcome appearance every evening, bearing a cocktail and canapes.
Resident director of marketing Nampetch Tipaxsorn, better known as “Khun Nikki”, says the DoublePool Villas are popular with families. But the frangipani petals scattered in my freestanding bathtub, candles lighting the hall that leads to my quasi-floating bedroom and private outdoor Jacuzzi, scream honeymoon heaven to me. And at a five-minute buggy ride from the resort’s main lobby, they also offer buckets of seclusion. For clients who need a lower price bracket, there are the Banyan Pool Villas, which are smaller but offer the same immaculate Asian-style surrounds and every mod con you could think up. Meanwhile, Banyan Tree’s boutique Spa Sanctuary is pure decadence, offering unlimited in-villa massages for adult-only guests and plenty of private outdoor space to lounge in.
Newly arrived guests who don’t have access to their own personal masseuse should mosey over to the resident spa, where the healing – and sometimes punishing – hands of the therapists can undo the stresses and strains of 15 hours on a plane. After a calming honey and green tea foot ritual, Sor pulls and paws at the knots in my back and deftly brushes the tension in my neck away with her fingertips.
Given how iconic the ancient practice of Thai massage is, I can almost convince myself that getting one is a necessary cultural experience. But for a more intense dose of culture outside the property’s confines, there are plentiful options – from boat trips to tours of the island and market visits.
I opt to hire a driver and explore some of the north’s more off-the-beaten-track attractions. We zip past small mosques in sugared- almond shades, wooden grocery stalls with thumb-sized tomatoes balancing on top, and eerily symmetrical rubber tree forests.
En route to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, we stop to admire the Nai Yang temple and share the gilded spires only with locals who’ve come to worship.
Walking past an empty sermon hall, we spy the local dance troupe swaying over the cool tiled floors – and they insist the foreigner joins in. I clumsily tilt my wrists and poise my fingers to the slow Thai count of four, hoping to imitate the deceivingly intricate movements. It is, it turns out, a harder than it looks, but it’s an authentic experience that can’t be bought.
At nearby Sirinat national park, it’s free to enjoy the primordial-looking beaches. You can laze on the deserted sands of Nai Thon beach and eye local surfers riding the milky surf, vast thickets of greenery bordering the sand. More Thais visit Sirinat than tourists, my driver tells me. At weekends, they come here to picnic on packets of pork with sticky rice and king coconuts from its shores.
Despite its tranquillity, visitors to Phuket’s north needn’t renounce nightlife entirely. Patong is, after all, just a taxi ride away. But for something a little more local, send your clients to the Friday Boat Avenue Villa Market. Here grills are laden with smoky skewers of chicken and fish of all shapes and sizes.
Pans sizzle under pancakes, and women in aprons frantically grind chilli, garlic and shrimp for portions of som tam or papaya salad.
There are also stands selling clothes, shoes and bags, and even barbershops on the back of trucks. Once clients have collected their fill of snacks and accessories, they can pull up a pew at Beer Box Avenue, where towers of local brew Chang are on offer, and there’s often live music. Whatever volume your clients want to turn their Phuket break up to, the island’s north has it all.
The sassy younger sister to Banyan Tree Resort – Cassia – opened its doors in October 2015, just a few minutes down the road. With its high-rise towers and compact rooms, it doesn’t share the same air of romance as its luxury neighbour, but what it lacks in frills it makes up for with clever, contemporary design. Aimed at the millennial traveller and young families, the property is one of a new breed that seems to bridge the gap between hostel and hotel: there are plenty of vibrant public areas to relax, chat and mingle in, but also all of the facilities you would expect from a more upmarket address. The lofty lobby features Thai-inspired wall art, daybeds suspended from the ceiling and a reception that doubles as a bar, complete with DJ booth for weekend antics. Outside, an ample, meandering pool sits next to cocoon-shaped loungers and a vast lagoon. The breakfast spread of pre-cut baguette and lurid sweetened orange juice is a little underwhelming and bathroom toiletries such as shampoo and body lotion would have been a welcome addition, but for the price point, fun factor and location, the Cassia is still a total steal. One-bedroom residences lead in from £95 per night, including breakfast. Book it: Kuoni offers seven nights with breakfast at the Banyan Tree Phuket, Thailand, in a Banyan Tree Pool Villa, including flights with Etihad Airways from Heathrow and private transfers. Lead-in prices for July 2017 are from £1,743pp. To book quote: KU0737.
