Once a backpacker haunt, Phuket is now firmly established at the high-end of the beach holiday market with amenities good enough to have attracted a year-round population of thousands of foreigners. Many come to dive and snorkel in the Andaman Sea, while others, drawn by the spectacle and serenity of Phang Nga Bay, switch the fine dining and nightlife of Phuket proper for a more homely resort in Krabi or on the Phi Phi islands.