 International
shell collectors would sell their mothers for even half of the remarkable collection on
show at the Phuket Seashell Museum, on Viset Road, near Rawai Beach. The exhibition
features more than 2,000 species, including the only left-handed Noble Volute ever
discovered, giant clams, 380 million-year-old fossils and one of the worlds rarest golden
pearls.
A labour of love for the Patamakanthin brothers, it has taken over forty years and visits
to the four corners of the earth to bring together this extraordinary exhibition.
Tel: 076 381 888 or Fax: 076 381 777
 The only chance
you will ever get to play eighteen holes around T. Rex and his pals. Karon's Dino-Park
offers an excellent, semi-educational, wholly fun, hour or two of diversion that will
excite both kids and adults alike. A rumbling volcano and giant re-creations of dinosaurs
are scattered around the mini-golf park, making for some interesting hazards. After your
game, stop off at the park's own version of the nineteenth hole, the Dino-Bar, for a
pterodactyl burger.
Tel: 076 330 625 or Fax: 076 330 516, 076 330 999 for further information.
 That Phuket is
known as the "Pearl of the Andaman," is more than a reference to the scenic
beauty of the island, for off its coast lies some of the best pearl beds in the world.
Perhaps chief among these are the ones to be found in the calm waters around Naga Noi
Island.
Culturing rare South Sea pearls is a long and delicate process, taking years for the
farmers to develop the fine skills necessary to carefully extract the pearls without
harming the oysters. Naga Island offers visitors a unique opportunity to learn how this
process is undertaken, study the fascinating methods of culturing, and discover for
themselves whether the "priceless" pearl necklace they purchased on a Bangkok
street corner is really the real thing.
 The very
biggest of all Phuket's extravaganzas, Fantasea brings Hollywood-sized, Las Vegas-style
entertainment to the island. Remarkable acrobatics, dazzling light work, stunning set
design and a host of animal action combine in a song and dance spectacular that brings to
life tales of history and mythology that will leave visitors in no doubt that Phuket was
at least as, if not more, exciting way back when.
Set upon 140 acres in Kamala Bay, this unique cultural theme park houses an immense
theatre, a festival village offering carnivals, games and handicrafts, and reportedly the
world's largest buffet of Thai and international cuisine.
 A few
kilometres outside of Phuket Town, the farm boasts dozens of species of rare and exotic
butterflies and other tropical insects, while the aquarium gives a fascinating view of
what lives beneath the surface of the Andaman.
Open daily from 9.00am to 5.00pm, the butterfly farm and aquarium offers a close up look
at a few of the most beautiful, delicate and unusual creatures that form a part of the
island's eco-system.
Tel: 076 215 616 or 076 210 861 for further information
 Set amidst the
tropical splendour of dozens of rare orchid species, the Thai Village and Orchid Farm
brings living colour to Thailand's culture and history. With two shows a day - at 11am and
5.30pm - visitors can experience traditional Thai dance, a demonstration of the strength
and versatility of the Thai elephant, exhibitions of Thai handicrafts and witness a
lifelike recreation of tin mining as it was performed at the height of the boom over a
century ago.
Thai
Village and Orchid Farm has daily shows including Thai dance, handicrafts, culture,
elephants and demonstration of old time tin mining. The shows take place among the
orchids.
Located
in Sam Krong , about 3 kms from downtown Phuket.
The morning show starts at 11:00 a.m.
The evening show starts at 5:30 p.m.
For more information call: 076-214860, 237400
 Offering
visitors an opportunity to experience remarkable recreations of historical and cultural
aspects of Southern Thai life, the Thai Culture Show, on Thepkrassatri Road, has made
enormous efforts to recreate the life and ambience of a typical rural village of the past.
Home to 500 workers and performers, who bring new meaning to term "living in the
past", the show brings to life ancient rites and rituals, enacts classical Thai
dances and offers displays of Thai boxing and swordsmanship.
 The Marine
Biological Research Centre at Cape Panwa offers the opportunity to observe local marine
life up close without the necessity of diving beneath the waves. More than one hundred
aquatic species are housed at this facility, which is one of Thailand's principle centres
for research into the whales, dugongs, sharks, dolphins and sea turtles that make their
home in the water around Phuket. The centre is open daily from 8.30am to 4.00pm.
Admission is 20 Baht for adults and 5 Baht for children.
How to get there: A Songtaew (local bus) can be taken from the central market in Phuket
Town.
Tel: 076 391 126 for further information..
 With over 3000
animals on show, including 600 species of birds, 100 species or reptiles and 45 species of
mammal, Phuket Zoo offers an unparalleled diversity of animal life in one place. All five
continents continent are represented, from Himalayan vultures, to Australian wallabies,
African Victoria Crown cranes, hornbills, ostriches, camels, and tigers. The zoo is also
actively involved in conservation programs of many Southeast Asian species on the
endangered list.
Other attractions at the zoo include a 'nocturnal house' featuring hard-to-find creatures
of the night, a freshwater aquarium, orchid nursery and a butterfly farm. The zoo also
stages daily animal shows featuring elephants, crocodiles, trained birds and monkeys.
Six km south of Phuket Town, just off East Chao Fah Road, the zoo is open from 8.00am to
6.00pm daily. Admission is 400 baht for adults and 200 baht for children.
Tel: 076 381 337 or 076 381 227 for further information.
 There's not a
diva in the West who can compare, and many a catwalk model has turned green with envy at
the sight of the lady-boy performers of Simon Cabaret. This hugely popular tourist
attraction, on the hill just outside Patong, has been wowing audiences for years with its
exotic, hilarious, often risqu?, transvestite cabaret.
With
sets and choreography that would do Broadway justice, and gowns dripping with diamante,
the boys who are girls stiletto-strut their stuff to full houses each night at 7.30pm and
9.30pm.
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