Whenever friends of mine visit Thailand, they inevitably start off in Bangkok and then cycle through the main tourist spots, such as Pai and Chiang Mai. But when I try and persuade people to visit Phuket, they almost always decline the offer, instead opting to go to overcrowded Koh Phi Phi or the messy-as-hell islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pan-ngan. Makes you wonder what’s wrong with Phuket.

Thanks to the lively nature of Patong nightlife and the overdevelopment of Patong, Phuket has a bad rep, but it’s not all justified. Sure, Patong is a dump and why people opt to spend their vacations there is a mystery in itself, but people seem to forget that Phuket is an enormous island that has about a dozen other beaches than Patong and just as many islands dotted around the coast.

Phuket still has a lot of its original appeal, but you just have to look away from the busiest beach spots to see it. If someone who lives in Phuket wants to go to the beach, he or she would never choose to visit Patong, but rather, would head out to Mai Khao Beach, Yanui Beach, Laem Singh Beach or anywhere the tourists don’t flock to en masse.

Phuket is a great island for a vacation and it’s a little disheartening to see so many people favoring the other nearby tourists traps. Although it’s perhaps not the most exciting place to live, Phuket is a great place to visit and, despite contrary reports, it’s actually really cheap.

This post was written by Matt from Phuket Vogue and Thailand’s Lost Boy.