GOING on holiday should be a well-deserved break, but if you want to take the kids, how much of a break are you going to get?

You arrive at your destination, jetlagged and tired and all you can think about is how far is it to the sparkling blue sea or the nearest ice cold piña colada.

But there’s not much chance of that with a couple of kids pulling at your sleeve, demanding round-the-clock entertainment.

Many parents consider the most important ingredients for a family holiday to be a beach, reasonable health facilities and a positive attitude towards young children.

The kids, on the other hand, will be more concerned about the best way to get to the beach, is there a zoo, will there be other children to play with, and can they ride on a train, or perhaps a tuk tuk?

Phuket has all the right ingredients, and it’s the perfect holiday spot for families.

Thai people have a fun, loving nature, and they absolutely adore children.

The younger and paler your kids are, the more attention they will get.

Unlike many European holiday spots, most places on Phuket are accessible for kids and there are heaps of activities on the island to keep them entertained.

Phuket is also a safe place for children of all ages, and there are plenty of bizarre and interesting things for them to do.

They might see an elephant lumbering through the streets, a monkey collecting coconuts from the top of a palm tree, or a family of five – and their dog –on a motorbike.

Phuket is ringed by some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and the kids can amuse themselves for hours, swimming or paddling in the sea, building sand-castles, discovering fascinating sea creatures in the rock pools, or burying dad in the sand.

Most of the beaches have plenty of shaded sun chairs, food stalls, for when the hungries hit, and just about everything else you need for a day at the beach.

There are also lots of day activities where you can spend time together as a family.

One activity where age doesn’t matter, is an elephant ride, and the kids can hand-feed the elephants bananas, and ride on them along jungle paths.

Images of The Jungle Book and Dumbo will spring into their young minds, and this will be one experience they won’t forget in a hurry.

Club Med in Kata has a 9-hole pitch and putt golf course with a training area and putting green for players of all levels, and for the younger ones there is mini-golf at Dino Park, where the course has a ‘Jurassic Park meets mini-golf’ theme complete with scaled-down replicas of prehistoric dinosaurs, an active volcano and a 12-metre waterfall.

For something a bit more adventurous, try the Kathu Cable Ski Park, where kids from about 10 years up can try wakeboarding, waterskiing or kneeboarding.

When the sun sinks into the west, head out to Phuket FantaSea cultural theme park with its Thailand’s Myths, Mysteries and Magic Show.

The show features music, acrobatics, magical illusions and elephant stunts, and the kids will love it.

Phuket Aquarium is by no means large or that spectacular, but there are some fascinating sea creatures there to amaze the kids., including manta rays and sharks.

The Phuket zoo has the usual tigers, monkeys and birds, but the animal shows are fantastic and feature dancing elephants, wrestling crocodiles, and monkeys doing all sorts of tricks.

Most of the larger hotels in Phuket are set up to cater for families, with children’s themed rooms, kids clubs and baby-sitting services.

All sorts of kids activities are on the menu, ranging from arts and crafts to face-painting, play-stations and internet games, and supervised swimming.

Some kids will scowl at the thought of being palmed off to a kids club, but once they give it a try, and meet kids of their own age, you probably won’t see them again until it’s time to go home.

At The Sheraton Grande Laguna, there are fireside story telling sessions, and stargazing, and the hotel even has its own resident elephants which the kids can feed.

The Family Challenge Programmes can also be just the thing for some great family bonding.

If your child is always promising to run away to the circus, then send them to the circus workshop at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort where they can learn to walk a tightrope and juggle, tumbling and clowning.

Club Med also has a circus school which takes kids from the age of four.

The nightly themed sleepovers are also a big hit with kids at The Evason Phuket and the Six Senses Spa.

The kids will pitch their own tents, set up sleeping bags and roast marshmallows over a camp fire.

But the most important ingredients for any well-planned family holiday are good weather, clean accommodation and plenty of things to do.

Phuket has all of that.