Amazing Race – Phuket
Based on the Amazing Race TV show
Phuket, the Pearl of Siam in the Andaman Sea offers in all likelihood the best clear waters and white sand beaches of Thailand. Phuket provides an unbeatable combination of pristine palm tree-lined beaches, superb hospitality, state of the art infrastructure and world class business hotels and resorts. It is easy to see why Phuket Island Thailand meetings and incentive trips are the highest performers among MICE events; an international airport and over 100 hotels make Phuket an ideal destination for corporate travel. Additionally, there are a wide range of activities from which to choose upon arriving to Phuket Island including exciting teambuilding events.
Chance to Get Off The Beaten Track and Into The Jungle With These Exciting and Challenging Activities
Take Part in Your Very Own Olympic Beach Games, Compete a Series of Fun Team Sport Games, Receive Your GOLD Medals!
Teams Will Experience Physically Simple but Mentally Stimulating Activities on The Beach, or in The Garden
Team Building Game Based on the Survivor TV Show, Make Team Camp and Face a Series of Challenges to Survive Together
Active and Fun Mixture of Competitive Team Relay Games Suited to an Outdoor Beach, Garden or Park Location
Decoding Messages and Finding The Clues to Lead You to The Resting Places for The Final Reward
Making Teams offers 20 teambuilding activities in Phuket so you can easily find activities that best suit your group or we can work with you to customize activities that meet your specific requirements. We give teams the ability to explore Phuket’s stunning natural beauty with our Adventure and Outdoor Team building activities which include exciting options like Survivor Island and Water Regatta. We provide groups with an opportunity to develop new skills and to give back to the community with activities like Environmental CSR and other CSR activities. Top Chef and Cocktail Shakers Thailand are just two of our fun, educational and weatherproof indoor activities.
For a group of about 50 people, team building packages run from as low as 500 THB per person for outdoor or indoor activities up to around 3000 THB per person for a full day of Survivor-style activities on another island including transportation i.e. speedboats and transfers.
Phuket is a dream location to achieve your team building goals on your next team building trip abroad. Being situated on a tropical island with national and marine parks on location, Phuket has the potential to host a number of exciting indoor, outdoor, or adventure team building activities. We also have local community and environmental initiatives for companies looking to engage in CSR projects for a good cause.
Owing to its location as a tropical island, Phuket is an ideal team building location if you’re looking for somewhere to engage in adventure style team building activities. Sailing is often considered one of the ultimate teambuilding activities and from Phuket you can explore the islands along the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. It is also possible to arrange a Water Regatta with a selection of water activities including paddleboats, kayaks, banana boats, jet skis and more.
You may wish to incorporate the beauty of the area surrounding Phuket where any of the smaller islands such as the Racha islands, as well as Coral island, Koh Yao Yai, KohYai Noi, and Koh Rang Yai, among others, are perfect places to engage in our Survivor or Treasure Island team building activities. The Jungle Adventure team building games and activities can also be conducted on Phuket or on any of the aforementioned nearby islands. Staying in the north and northwest of the island with one of our partner hotels ensures a quieter, more private experience and is where we recommend you go for your water based activities.
A range of indoor and outdoor team building activities can be found on Phuket itself. By All Means and Amazing Chase Thailand are two excellent outdoor team building activities for Phuket. To add further excitement to the Amazing Chase, which entails a team race around the island using tuk-tuks, songthaews, longtail boats, ATVs, bicycles, and more covering city jungle beach, and ocean terrains. Teams are race to destinations around Phuket and compete in cultural challenges such as trying out some muay Thai or cooking a local Phuket dish. To better improve team building you can also explore our collection of seminars for innovative team building topics. Top Chef and Cocktail Shakers Thailand are two of our culinary cultural options.
Always a heartwarming and valuable team building experience is the CSR component on any type of team building or incentive trip. Your teams will be able to learn about local environmental and communal issues and then make a project to help a cause from that issue. Our most popular projects help out in the community; supporting the local charities, orphanages, schools, or other facilities in the community that need improving have been a few of the really rewarding experiences we’ve had the privilege to take part in. Environmental ways to have helped out in the past included mangrove planting, turtle hatching, gibbon rehabilitation, and beach clear ups, among other projects. You can also try out our Build a Bike event and donate the bikes to a local children’s charity.
Patong is the most popular and most touristic city in Phuket and is ideal for MICE groups looking for a lively place to hold their event. Patong is where all the hustle and bustle takes place and where your group won’t fall short on options for hotel accommodation, (beach) activities, shopping, entertainment and nightlife. Patong, with all its restaurants, local markets, bars and discotheques, has everything you need to make for a great company retreat or incentive event. Going around Patong is the easiest by tuk-tuk or your own motorbike but in groups by minivan. Distance from the airport is about one hour and 15 minutes, to Phuket Town is about 30 minutes. In terms of team building, recommended activities in Patong are iQuest, the Amazing Chase and Cultural Discovery as well as Market Barter, the Food Stall Challenge and any type of seminar.
Kata and Karon are very similar to what Patong has to offer but also unique in many ways. These two beach locations are located just South of Patong and offer many of the same water sports activities, if not more and also feature a great choice of luxury and local dining, accommodation, shopping and nightlife with their centers within walking distance of most hotels. From Kata and Karon it is possible to take a speedboat to some of the islands on Phuket’s East coast for a team building or tour. By land the South and East are just a short ride away where you can enter a whole new world of experiences. Distance from the airport is about one hour and 15 minutes and to Patong is about 20 minutes. Recommended team building activities in Kata/Karon are Water Regatta, Beach Olympics but certainly also iQuest, the Amazing Chase and Cultural Discovery.
Phuket Town is the capital of Phuket, located in the center of the island, it is the beating heart of the local economy. This is where most of the Thai businesses are based and as a tourist, you will find yourself immersed into the culture of the old and the new. Visiting Phuket Town may feel at times like going back in time with the typical Sino-Portuguese building styles and the vibrant market trades performed like in the old times. Next to it you’ll find newer, trendier and modern style businesses, restaurants and bars run by the hip and trendy. Hotel accommodation may seem limited but it’s upcoming, with mostly privately owned boutique hotels and a few larger ones. The first chain hotel and one of our partner hotels that recently set foot is the Novotel Phokeethra. Going around Town is the easiest by motorbike but in groups by minivans. Distance from the airport is about one hour, to Patong takes about 45 minutes. The best team building activities in Town are mostly based around culture and include Top Chef, the Cultural Discovery and the Amazing Chase but certainly also activities based around CSR projects that benefit local charities.
The areas on the North-West coast of Phuket offer a whole different experience compared to the rest of the island, where the South and center is touristic and vibrant, the North-West offers nature and tranquility. Bangtao beach together with the Laguna complex of well-established four-and five star resorts set the scene for wide-open beaches, an 18-hole golf-course, local restaurants, spas, art & handicraft but are still near enough to places like Patong and Phuket Town for a great evening out. Further North are Layan and Naiyang beach which are less touristic but still offer a variety of quality options on accommodation. Maikhao beach is furthest North and a great escape for a company retreat with a great choice of resorts.The benefits of the North-West are the proximity to the airport, privacy and space. Recommended team building options are Hotel Survivor, Beach Olympics and CSR activities.
Phuket’s East coast earns a separate tab on this page because of it’s vicinity to nearby islands, small and large, spreading all the way to Phang Nga Bay and Koh Phi Phi. These islands can be reached from the many piers build along the coast from North to South, whether you’re looking for a short trip by long tail boat, a full day by speedboat or a multi-day cruise on a yacht, it’s all in close range. Recommended team building activities are therefore mostly based around these islands and getting there by all sorts of boats. The Sailing Destinations program is a favorite, Survivor Island another and of course the Pirates of the Andaman.
Phuket is located off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea, a part of the Indian Ocean, about 550 miles south of Bangkok and about the same distance north of the equator.
It is the largest of Thailand’s many islands and at 220 square miles is actually big enough to be a province in its own right. The island is separated from mainland Thailand by the narrow Chong Pak Phra channel at its northernmost point, but is connected by the 600-meter Sarasin bridge.
The first thing to know is that Phuket is very hilly – they cover the majority of the island, with the main ones running down the west coast of the island. There are even a few peaks over 500 meters tall, the tallest being Mai Tao Sipsong at 529 meters. Many of these are covered in jungle, and there are also mangroves and tropical rainforest in Khao Phra Thaew National Park.
The flatlands have largely been urbanized and consist mainly of rice paddies and rubber, pineapple and coconut plantations.
Beaches are found on both the east and west coast of the island. Those on the west coast are considered the most beautiful, while the east coast contains fewer sandy beaches and mainly muddy ones.
Phuket International Airport (HKT) is the second busiest airport in Thailand after Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Millions of passengers pass through it each year to enjoy the natural beauty of Phuket’s beaches as well as many tourist attractions and sites.
You can fly directly to Phuket from two UK airports:
● London Gatwick (LGT)
● Manchester (MAN)
UK Airport | Airline | Months Flying | Flight Time |
London Gatwic | TUI | Seasonal (winter and spring) | About 12 hours |
Manchester | TUI | Seasonal (winter and spring) | About 12 hours |
There are also a range of direct flights to Phuket from these European airports:
● Frankfurt (FRA)
● Copenhagen (CPH)
● Zurich (ZRH)
These are available only seasonally, during the winter and spring.
There are no direct flights from the United States to Phuket, though there are many one-stop options. The three New York area airports offer flights – LaGuardia, JFK and Newark – and there are also flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles International and Chicago. These are available through multiple airlines and depart daily.
Phuket International is located some distance from the nearest towns, which themselves are only accessible by road. There is no train connection service, so plan ahead. There are, however, a range of services available to get you from the airport to where you need to be.
● Airport Limousine. Not the cheapest and rates depend on the limo class you pick, but these are the most reliable and fastest option. They are found at the counters just as you exit baggage claim.
● Metered Taxi. Found just outside the terminal building.
● Smart Bus. The Phuket Smart Bus travels in a line from the airport to the far south of the island. Trips from the airport leave in hourly intervals from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Phuket’s climate is tropical. It is located in a part of Thailand where a tropical monsoon season prevails. This means that the temperature is almost continuously between 30 and 34 degrees Celsius (86 – 93 Fahrenheit) during the day. This temperature is fairly constant throughout the year, but the average is slightly higher in spring (March – May).
The weather in Phuket is typically divided into two seasons: dry and rainy, with transitional periods in between. The dry season begins in December and lasts until about March as the northeast monsoon brings in cool, dry air. This period is characterized by blue skies, calm seas, and gentle breezes, and is the high season for tourism in Phuket.
The rainy season lasts roughly from May to October and is a result of the southwest monsoon. During this period it rains almost every day, usually in the late afternoon and evening. The average rainfall increases throughout this season and peaks at around September – the average rainfall is about 100 inches! This season is hot, wet, and very humid – humidity is continuously above 80 percent.
There are transitional periods before and after the two seasons though these are hard to predict. April-May is the hottest month of the year and can be quite dry, while October-November can be slightly cooler and very wet.
Phuket provides a wonderful blend of the beauty of nature and history and culture – and not to mention the amazing cuisine. The island is glistening in the day and glowing at night, the options for entertainment are seemingly endless. And the resorts are some of the best in the world.
Some things to do include:
● Green Elephant Sanctuary. This gives you the opportunity to see these majestic creatures up close. It is also the most ethical way to see these animals – no tourist rides, no tricks, just an appreciation of nature.
● Escape the rush. Phuket Old Town offers a retreat from the nightlife and the tourist-packed beaches. Here you will find beautiful architecture, ruins, museums, boutique shops, and a bustling night market. There are plenty of smaller, traditional restaurants and cafes here, too.
● The beaches. A trip to Phuket must include the pristine and beautiful beaches that adorn the island. There are many to visit (Freedom, Kata, and Karon, for example), but Bangtao beach is perhaps the top choice – a 5-mile stretch of soft white sand, home to some of Phuket’s top restaurants and resorts.