About Phuket:
Imagine Living in Paradise!

Phuket (ภูเก็ต), pronounced "Poo-ket", is a beautiful paradise and Thailand's largest island and also its second smallest province. The island is 48 km in length, 21 km at its widest and is located in Southern Thailand. 

Phuket's ten best beaches face west on the Andaman Sea coastline.  The island is suspended from the southern tip of Phang Nga Province by a pair of short but substantial road bridges.

Phuket enjoys great popularity as a travel destination. Most beaches are on the west coast, with Phuket Town to the south-east and the airport in the north.

Phuket is warm to hot and humid throughout the year. The high season is generally considered to be from November to March. During the summer monsoon season, mornings and afternoons can still be sunny and clear, but it tends to rain in the evenings or late at night and water clarity goes down.

Locals consider May to October the "cool" season, and the weather is quite tolerable, much more so than in the tourism centers around the Gulf coast. It's comparable to Florida's summer weather in temperature and intensity of rain storms: 23-33 deg C (73-91 deg F), flying clouds, short and thunderous rainfalls in the afternoons and evenings. Surfing is possible off the western beaches.

Phuket is one of Thailand's premier tourist destinations and (basic) English is very widely spoken, especially in the beach areas. That said, even a little Thai will draw smiles and can be useful in the less touristed areas of the island.

Above sourced from WikiTravel
- but edited with local knowledge -

Good places to learn more about Phuket:
Phuket Gazette
Phuket Post