One of the most interesting parts of life in Phuket is watching the large number of tourists who flock to the island in search of girls. There are, of course, lots of girls in Phuket, but outsiders often come with a distorted view of what it's really like on the island. You may have heard stories about how easy Phuket girls are and how Phuket is like paradise on earth. Well, yes, it may be to some people, but there is more to Phuket girls than a stereotype.

It's amazing how often people seem to forget that the term "Phuket girls" is not simply a reference to bar girls. To bring everyone up to speed, a bar girl is a lady working in a bar, usually selling drinks, dancing or mingling with the punters. These girls will more often than not be there to pick up clients who will pay for sex.

So that's what a bar girl is, but on an island with a population of something like one million people, there are more than just bar girls. It may seem unfathomable to some people, but there are, in fact, girls on the island who don't work in bars and who have never even considered working in bars.

You can meet these girls easily enough. You can even ask them to go on a date with you if you have half an ounce of personality about you. Being connected is definitely one of the easiest ways to meet people in Phuket. Social butterflies expand their circles daily, so it pays to put yourself out there and meet people.

But what if you're only on the island for a few weeks? How are you going to meet the Phuket girl of your dreams and have a whirlwind romance? Well, you're reading this, so you're evidently able to use the Internet and are also fairly nifty with a search engine.

There are lots of websites that make it easy to meet Phuket girls. And no, they are not all websites offering Thai brides and whatever else in a package deal that usually ends up with you buying a house somewhere in Northern Thailand. Most people seem fairly adept at using Facebook and MySpace. These resources are your friends for meeting people in Thailand.

There are dedicated networks for Phuket on both of these websites, so you can connect with people without having to do more than click your mouse a few times. Though you may not be keen on meeting people through the Internet, it's really no big deal in Thailand and most people end up doing it at some point.

Another website, although this one won't be to everyone's liking, is ThailandFriends.com. This website is more like a dating site and it can at times feel a little overcrowded with foreign males searching for Thai pretties to try and seduce, but you can meet some decent folk through this website and there are regular get-togethers that you can also be a part of.