Whether you've got designer villa wishes, bamboo hut desires or anything in-between, Southwestern Thailand Beach serves it up hot with a shot of turquoise ocean to wash it down Phuket, on the southern extremity, is the audacious starlet of the region, flaunting glitzy five-star hotels that grace soda-white beaches, and where sleep is an afterthought to parties, water sports and spa pampering. Ranong, to the far north, is a mix of Burmese and Thais who eke out a living in a dusty frontier town very removed from the tourist industry. Travel the 300km through and between these two proinces and you'll see it all: Muslim srilt villages and vertical limestone karsts; resorts out of the pages of Architectural Digest and bays abuzz with jet skis; tangled mangrove swamps and skittish clouds of nesting swallows. Phuket is the second-most visited location in Thailand (Pattaya is first) and its fame for fine dining, cabarets and private beaches makes it easy to overlook the rest of thit coast. But head north and you.ll find the underwater paradises of the Surin and Similan island, considered to be among the top seven wonders of the diving world. In Phang Nga province several community based tourism projects- fruits of the 2004 tsunami wreckage - allow travellers to give something back to the cultural and environmental hotchpotch. In the low season, much of the far north shuts down and Phuket's beaches empty out, leaving fabulous deals on accommodation, lots of rain and some of the best surfing waves on the peninsula. Social seekers will love the developed beauties such as Koh Phi-Phi where you can party into the wee hours and meet plety of people on the beach. Besides the phenomenal diving and snorkelling, some of the best rock climbing in the world can be found in Krabi and Trang Provinces. All that limestone also means there are plenty of caves to explore; some house shrines while others require that you shimmy on your stomach to get through. You can also kayak to islands or through coastal mangroves.