Exploring Rawai in Phuket, Thailand (November 9, 2025)

Turns out Phuket is HUGE. According to Uncle Google:

Phuket is a mountainous, rainforested island located in the Andaman Sea off Thailand's west coast. It measures approximately 48 km (30 mi) long and 21 km (13 mi) wide, with an area of about 547 sq km (211 sq mi), making it comparable in size to Singapore. The island is connected to the mainland by the Sarasin Bridge.

So when I said yesterday that Elena, Violet and I are “staying in Phuket” it turns out we need to be way, way more specific. In my mind we found an Airbnb that’s walkable to the beach and we’re good. Oh no, that’s not exactly accurate. There are many, many beaches in Phuket in addition to all the mountains and rainforest. We’re barely scratching the surface. So we begin our exploration.

Here’s where we’re staying in Phuket, Thailand (in Rawai)

This is kind of like a “port” area in that there are tons of boats that will whisk you away to other, (nicer?) beaches nearby. Everything is relative. Here we have all the shops and food you could need. Tons of supplies and activities. Lots of water and mountains. Just missing the picturesque sandy beaches — those require a bit of travel to get to.

This is what Elena and I were standing in front of for our selfie shot

Still, there are amazing views and lots to check out even where we’re staying. Just have to be careful as there’s the constant buzz of traffic on a relatively narrow street that includes tourists renting motorbikes (mostly scooters) who often don’t know what they are doing. We heard and accident yesterday, but mostly the crunch of the collision. No one was hurt, but it wasn’t surprising to hear. It’s a bit chaotic traffic-wise.

Many boats that will take you everywhere. Pier off in the distance.

And of course, the views are spectacular. Many restaurants are set up right on the edge of the water so that while you’re enjoying your meal you can look out at this:

Rawai view in Phuket, Thailand. Easy to get lost in your thoughts here.

In addition to all the local Thai cuisine, Elena and Violet have been hankering for more of the Japanese food that became our staple for almost a month. They have that here too and combined with our more American style “discounts” drawing in the local tourists — 50% off eat-in sushi rolls. Not to mention they are “American Sized” rolls. You only really need the one, but most order two or three because they taste incredible and are so authentically prepared.

Our new favorite sushi restaurant is just a block from our place

Elena and I did some grocery shopping just to have some basic supplies back at our Airbnb. I took a picture, but it just doesn’t do justice the insane size of the bag of chips they sell here in Phuket. I suspect it’s because weed is (essentially?) legal here and I’m getting the sense that munchies have helped stabilize the Rawai economy.

This bag is about the size of my torso — my hand fails to get the scale I was hoping it would provide. The bag above does a better job of it.

The last thing I’ll share are the cute art projects that break up the shops along the street along with very creative fountain displays. Here are two colorful ones that grabbed my attention.

Giant dog art with colorful balls out in front of a shopping mall

Vertical fountain tucked inside what looks like a pink lotus flower

Rawai is very colorful and full of delicious smells of all sorts of foods being prepared as well as various shops catering to every need. After lunch, Elena, Violet and I began our journey of sampling the various Thai Massages offered along the strip. So many to choose from. We loved our first ones and will likely return, but there are also others we want to check out and compare just to get a sense of all the various massage options here in Rawai.

Similar to Bangkok, the hour long massages are extremely well priced and if our first one was any indication of what’s to come, they are all well trained down here too. The combination of stretching and massaging feels much like a sports massage, but Thai style. Love it. More to come as we continue to explore this area.