Phuket Old Town is the best place on the island to see how Chinese tin money, Thai Buddhism and Muslim-Thai cooking built one town. It is for travellers who want history, food and shrines more than a beach. Come in the morning for breakfast, and on a Sunday evening for the Walking Street. In the rainy months it is also the best plan B when the west coast is rough.
Phuket Old Town at a glance
Best beaches by season, if you stay near Old Town
Old Town has no beach, so plan around the weather. In the dry season you can spend the morning here and the afternoon on the west coast. In the wet season, make Old Town the main plan and treat any beach as a bonus.
Top 5 things to do in Phuket Old Town, ranked
- Walk Thalang Road and the Sino-Portuguese shophouses: They show the tin-era wealth better than any museum. Also look at Dibuk Road, Krabi Road and Soi Rommanee.
- Eat a Phuket breakfast at the morning market zone: Hokkien noodles, dim sum, kanom jeen and coffee are best early, and many dishes sell out by mid-morning.
- Visit the Phuket Thai Hua Museum on Krabi Road: It sits in a Chinese school building founded in 1911, and explains the Chinese community that shaped the town.
- See a Chinese shrine such as Jui Tui or Sang Tham: They are working shrines, so go quietly and respect worshippers.
- Come on a Sunday for the Lard Yai Walking Street: It is a street food market on Thalang Road, free to enter, with Phuket specialities.
Our ranking is opinion. We ordered by season, safety and how much of local life each one shows you.
What to eat: market zones and local dishes
Old Town has the island's best food zones. For breakfast, look for the morning market area around Ranong Road, where stalls sell congee and flatbread, and the dim sum shops near Mae Luan Road. For dinner, the Sunday Walking Street on Thalang Road sells local snacks. Weekday night markets such as Chillva and Indy also operate in Phuket Town, and the Naka weekend market sits on the outskirts. Hours change, so check before you go. Our full Phuket local food guide explains each dish.
Labels show the usual recipe. Ask the vendor, and look for a halal certificate if you need halal food.
Which shrine, mosque or temple we recommend
Visit Jui Tui Shrine, one of the two largest Chinese shrines in Phuket Town, especially during the Vegetarian Festival. Add Sang Tham Shrine off Phang Nga Road if you want a quieter one. For a mosque, we recommend Yameay Mosque (also called Masjid Taling Chan), a three-storey mosque with a green dome in central Phuket Town. A university heritage site lists it as open from about 4 am to 8 pm and asks visitors to dress modestly, women with a head covering. Check with the community before you go and avoid Friday midday prayers. For a Buddhist temple, drive south to Wat Chalong.
A little history
Phuket's modern town was founded in 1827 as a tin hub, and Hokkien labourers and merchants from southern China followed the tin. Their descendants who married local Thai women became the Baba-Nyonya, or Peranakan, community, and their Sino-Portuguese shophouses line Old Town's streets. Soi Rommanee was once a red-light district and is now guesthouses and galleries. The whole story is in our guides to how Phuket became multicultural and Old Town's Peranakan heritage.
Tips from our other guides
- Eating in October? The Phuket Vegetarian Festival guide explains the yellow flags and what changes at the stalls. Dates are in the Phuket festivals 2026 guide.
- Need a base? See where to stay in Phuket.
- Giving back: we donated water to Kathu Shrine, described in our Kathu Shrine post.
Island tour from Phuket Old Town
Hotel transfer is included in our tour price, so you can stay in Phuket Old Town and still do an island day. Old Town is a good half-day on the day before or after your boat trip. The Phi Phi Island and Bamboo Island tour runs 8 hours, picks up between 08:15 and 09:15, and costs 3,900 baht for adults and 2,900 baht for children aged 4 to 11. For a calmer day in Phang Nga Bay, with lunch at the stilt village of Panyee, see the James Bond Island and Panyee Island tour. Tell us your hotel when you book so we can confirm your pick-up. Our guests rate us 5.0 from 607 Tripadvisor reviews.
Nearby areas
- Kathu: the tin-mining centre where the Vegetarian Festival began
- Chalong: home of Wat Chalong, south of town
- Cape Panwa: the southeast tip, close to the aquarium
Back to the full Phuket areas, history and food guide.
