Three islands in Thailand were included in Travel+Leisure magazine’s Top Ten Best Islands in Southeast Asia, on June 27.
Koh Phi Phi is ranked ninth (9th), while Phuket and Koh Samui are ranked first and second, respectively.
Phuket, located in the south of Thailand, is the biggest island in the kingdom that sits on the Andaman Sea. The province is surrounded by many magnificent beaches, such as Rawai, Patong, Karon, Kamala, Kata Yai, Kata Noi, and Mai Khao.
Phuket’s sandbox program, an initiative to re-open the island earlier to vaccinated tourists, earned the nod of the magazine.
“It is no secret that Phuket has enjoyed the strongest reopening post-Covid, so it is little surprise that for 2022, the easy-to-access destination was crowned winner of the best island category in the first ever Asia’s Best Awards,” the article said.
“Since the most famous isle in the Andaman Sea hosted the region’s first Sandbox program, which allowed vaccinated visitors to enjoy a more relaxed version of quarantine, the destination off the southwest coast of Thailand was a viable getaway for months when other tropical getaways were closed to tourists or challenging to access.”
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ very own Palawan was listed in the seventh (7th) place.
Here’s the the complete list of Asia’s Best Awards 2022: Best Islands in Southeast Asia:
- Phuket, Thailand
- Koh Samui, Thailand
- Bali, Indonesia
- Phu Quoc, Vietnam
- Langkawi, Malaysia
- Lombok, Indonesia
- Palawan, Philippines
- Penang, Malaysia
- Koh Phi Phi
- Con Dao, Vietnam
Travel+Leisure‘s Asia’s Best Awards is an online survey where its readers vote on Asia’s best travel destinations. They also choose top airlines, airports, cities, and hotels.
The magazine hopes to shed light on the people and places that make Asia an unmissable region for travelers.
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