The best thing about Phuket was the people. I've never met more genuinely nice people in my life. It's just their culture. Everybody was so welcoming and loved being able to practice their English with us, which helped because we knew no more Thai than hello, goodbye, and thank you. Also the reason we chose Phuket in the first place was largely based on finances. We were able to rent an air-conditioned room with TV, a fridge, hot water, a comfortable bed, and a balcony for about a month. We ate out every meal for about total a day (full meals).
Quick Tips:
We stayed in town rather than on the tourist packed coast. We saved a ton of money and got a real taste of the culture and people. Taking a bus to the beaches was very easy. They all lined up in the center of town, you just pick your desired destination and there is a bus that goes there. It was about round trip each. There was a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) stadium in the center of town as well, where there were matches twice a week. Everything was very inexpensive, shop around before deciding on anything. You may think you've got a great deal on that one hour elephant trecking tour when you find out for the same price you can get a 1/2 day tour including lunch.Best Way To Get Around:
A Tuk Tuk. They are bright red or blue and there is always one going by. Decide how much you want to pay and haggle. There are also drivers with very nice air-conditioned taxis that will take you on a full tour for a day for about . Stopping everywhere. The drivers have arrangements with businesses all over, they get paid to bring tourists in, offer to take a look at one of the stores and they will take a your fare from to , haggle. If you are brave you can rent a motorbike. It's extremely cheap to rent but the roads are crazy.