Phuket · Ranked

How we rank

Phuket Ranked answers one question per page. For questions about real, operating businesses, every ranking is a meta study: we do not visit or score businesses ourselves. We combine the published best-of lists that already exist for the question and rank each business by how strongly those lists agree.

The rules every ranking follows

  1. Each list awards points: 10 for first place, 9 for second, down to 1 for tenth. A list that names places without ranking them gives each place 5 points. Points are added up across all lists, and the highest total ranks first; a tie goes to the business with more first places.
  2. As many independent published best-of lists as can be found for each question. When fewer than three exist, the page says so.
  3. Lists with identical top 10 entries are treated as copies and counted once. One publisher counts once per question.
  4. A place counts once on each list. If a list names the same place twice, only its higher position counts.
  5. A list that gives no order, such as a guide’s selection, places every business it names at the same middle position.
  6. A best-of list whose order is not a comparison of quality, such as a site’s “relevance” order, is treated as a list with no order.
  7. A list printed without numbers but in a deliberate order, not alphabetical, such as a guide that puts its favorites first, is read as a ranking in the order shown.
  8. Paid placements are left out. A “Featured” or “Sponsored” entry shown on a list is removed and the rest of the list counts. If a numbered position on a list can be bought, the whole list is set aside.
  9. Lists ranked by guest or reader rating count. Lists ordered only by number of reviews, size or popularity do not, because they make no claim about quality. Lists that only count how many other websites mention a place are left out, because they re-count lists already used.
  10. A booking site’s ranking of something it sells, such as hotels, counts only if payment never changes the order and places not sold on the site can still be ranked. Its lists of things it cannot sell, such as restaurants or beaches, count.
  11. When one publisher has two lists on exactly the same subject, only the most recent is used.
  12. A list must have been published or updated within the past five years. When a page would not exist without them, lists up to ten years old are kept and the page says so. A list we cannot date is not used.
  13. A place wholly outside the area a page covers is not counted there. A place listed on Google is treated as open. Reviews are never used to remove a place.
  14. A business must be in the top 10 of at least two of those lists to be ranked, unless only one list exists. A mention below tenth place scores no points, so it does not count toward the two. When fewer than three businesses qualify, the page also shows the highest-scoring places that made the top 10 of only one list, each marked “Named on only one list” or “In the top 10 of only one list”. Places that do not make the top three are shown as honorable mentions.
  15. One place is not a ranking: a page is published only when it can rank at least two places.
  16. A list written by a ranked business, its owner or its manager does not count. A hotel listing its own restaurants is the common case.
  17. A review of a single business is not a list and does not count.
  18. Every source list is named on the ranking page by its publisher, with the list’s date. Links and full details of each list are available on request through the contact page.
  19. A place that is not a single business, such as a market of several cook-shops, may be mentioned but is not ranked, except on pages for markets, street food and things to do.

Why agreement

Any single list reflects one writer or one ratings system. A business that different, unconnected sources each place near the top is unlikely to be there by accident. Counting agreement turns many opinions into one steadier answer, and every step can be checked against the linked sources.

What a ranking does not use

No visits, no tastings of our own and no payments. Rankings are never sold and never changed for payment. Sponsored content, if it ever appears, is labeled and kept on separate pages, away from the rankings.

Corrections

Corrections are made as soon as possible. Please write to us through the contact page.

The full rules

Every rule we use, with how each one is applied, is set out in a white paper. It is available on request through the contact page.