My experience of Phuket was from a holiday taken a couple of years ago.
We only stayed for 5 nights and the impression I got was mixed.
I feel Phuket is a beautiful island , but has been quite popular for many years, therefore I feel perhaps it is quite 'un thai' in feel.
I did not visit Patong the main resort but we did drive through it and I must say it appeared far too built up and a bit seedy.
We liked Kata beach though it was absolutely beautiful, perfect for swimming and lovely and clean, Kata town at night was lovely with a good choice of restaurants and several bars, we liked the buffalo steakhouse in particular.
All in all I would visit Phuket again , but probably only Kata area.

I thought that Phuket countryside and beaches were very nice but nothing better than I'd seen on the mainland. All the towns that we went to (and we went to all of them) were pretty horrible unless you are interested in picking up bar girls. It was also very expensive by Thai standards and the people were much harder and more ready to cheat you than anywhere else that I have been in Thailand. In fact it was the only place in Thailand that I have been cheated. Maybe it was our bad luck but we didn't have one decent Thai meal there, all the food that we ate had been westernised into blandness for the Scandinavians who seem to make up 99% of the tourist population.

When we left there everybody on our bus to Surithani had had similar experiences to us and were heading off to finish their holiday somewhere else. I certainly wouldn't go back there again.

I have always avoided going to Thailand (especially Phuket and Pattaya) as most people who I have spoken to have said the seedy side is to "in your face".
It looks like a beautiful country which I would like to see if I could easily avoid the seedy side.

Don't get me wrong, I personally think that Thailand is a wonderful country and the people are for the most part the nicest and kindest people that you will ever meet anywhere in the world.

Thailand is a poor country and in order to make a living pretty girls (and not so pretty girls) that haven't had the benefit of an education sell the only the thing that they have to offer - there are no government handouts there and if you don't earn money then you starve. To a westerner it might seem seedy but to the girls working there it is just a way of making a living in the hope that one day a "falang" will take her away from it all. It is the same all over South East Asia - sex is for sale in every town however there are other attractions too. It is just that Phuket (I felt) had little else to offer.

Just spent five days in Phuket on Naithon beach...this was like the Phuket of old...only one tourist class hotel...good beach, NO t-shirt shops, no girly bars...just a few local and tourist restaurants, peace and quiet and verdent countryside and friendly locals....wow!...I did not think this kind of place still existed on Phuket. Its even quieter than Khlong Mauang in Krabi where we went afterwards.

brought back for cazacap. Anyone able to add to it?

Just returned from 2 weeks in Phuket. 7 nights Kata and 7 night Patong. Unfortunately, I had injured my knee just prior to going so I was fairly limited in what I could do.
In the 2 years since our last visit Patong has grown so much. Holiday Inn used to be on the edge of things but now when you walk out of either entrances (main wing and Busakorn wing) you are straight into the markets and restaurants... which was handy for my knee. The Holiday Inn are stopping all vehicles and checking with a mirror on a long pole. I found them having to do this a bit concerning at first as we had never experienced it before.
We hired a car and drove around the whole island, including going over the bridge into mainland Thailand but there wasn't anything there for 50k so we turned back. Visited to Gibbon rehab centre, paid, only to find it was all steps so was I forced to sit it out. We came across some elephants and we bought some bananas to feed them. I was fascinated with the trunk as it was very hairy.
We stopped off at Nai thon beach for lunch and what a pretty place it is... very quiet and a beautiful beach with a few long tales and modern boats. Locals lolling around chatting with no hassles. Took some photos and thought Yep! I'm coming back here to stay for a few days. Only hope the developers don't get there in the meantime.
Called in at the Big C and Tesco to buy our grandkids some clothes for our summer which is just around the corner... really good quality for less the 140 baht. Our kids are still were the last lot.
We never went down the Bangla Rd... it did very well with out us. We only saw one tranny and she was working in a British Fish and Chip shop LoL which wasn't very British... a mangy looking cat adopted me and ate most of my fish as it wasn't up to scratch... my husband ate my chips and when the plate was empty the cat scarpered. I don't know why we bothered eating there but we were ready to eat something different. We eat a lot of Asian food at home and we were a bit riced up to the gills.
I did get sick after eating at a restaurant in Kata. I'd ordered prawns with garlic pepper which is a favourite of mine. However, I did think one of the prawns tasted a bit funny also the mayonnaise had been out of the fridge far too long.. The dish must have had half a cup of garlic and silly me ate the lot, but I paid a high price and vomited all night and needed to be very close to the loo the next day and felt a bit 'off' for the next couple of days. I wasn't on my own as I met lots of people who had been ill with much the same thing. Historically, it's a change of diet and travellers tummy... but I'm sure that prawn was off
Cheers Geri