From Wikitravel

Phuket Town is the provincial capital of Phuket Province.

[edit] Understand

Phuket Town (เมืองภูเก็ต Mueang Phuket) is the largest town in Phuket Province. It has a population of 63,000 and is the economic hub of the island. For the most part just an ordinary, scruffy provincial Thai town, it's hardly a major tourist attraction, but the Chinatown area is worth a quick look and there are some great Thai-style shopping opportunities too. Overall, accommodation and food in the town is cheaper than near the beaches, and can provide a refreshing change of pace.

[edit] Get in

Buses and songthaews connect Phuket Town to major beaches around the island, and start from Thanon Ranong at the Ranong market. The most popular service is the one to Patong Beach (20 baht, 45 minutes) which leaves every 30 minutes between 07:00 and 18:00. Fares to other beaches range from 15 to 30 baht. If you miss the last bus back a taxi will cost 200-400 depending on your bargaining skills.

Phuket International Airport is 30 km to the north of Phuket Town, about 30 minutes by taxi (500 baht) or 45 minutes by shared minibus (100 baht).

[edit] Get around

Phuket Town is just a little too big to be covered comfortably on foot. There's little organised public transport as such, but motorbikes and four wheel tuk-tuks whizz about looking for fares.

[edit][add listing] See

Phuket Town's low-key attractions are mostly related to its colourful Chinese history and heritage, found in the Chinatown area on the north-western side of the city around Thanon Thalang.

• Jui Tui and Put Jaw Temples, corner of Thanon Ranong and Soi Phuthon (just west of the Ranong bus terminus). Put Jaw is the oldest Chinese Taoist temple in Phuket, first built over 200 years ago and dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy (Kwun Im), while the adjacent and connected Jui Tui is its larger, more modern annex. If you have a question that is puzzling you, ask it and throw the two red mango-shaped pieces in front of the altar in the air: if they land the same side up the answer is "no", while if they land on different sides the answer is "yes". Free entry but donations welcome.

• Sino-Portuguese Mansions, Thanon Krabi. Built by tin and rubber magnates in the late 19th century, these remain impressively huge even today.

• Wat Mongkol Nimit, Thanon Dibuk. A classical Thai-style temple with a soaring roof and lots of colourful glass tiling.

• Phuket Culture Museum, at Rajabhat University. It's free and very informative. Phuket's history is told in pictures and still scenes.

[edit][add listing] Do

[edit][add listing] Buy

Shopping seems to be the main reason for visitors to come to Phuket Town. In addition to local markets and a slew of malls and departments stores, Chinatown's Thanon Thalang offers a large selection of boutiques and galleries retailing traditional handicrafts as well as antiques from the region. Phuket Night Bazaar is a large area, where you can get local stuff (though you might find the same things much cheaper at the Big C supermarket!).

[edit] Markets

• Ranong Market, Thanon Ranong, is the largest local market. A warren of stalls selling anything and everything, it can be a hot, sweaty and chaotic but an interesting experience if you've not been to one before. However it is closed (2008) as they are constructing a new building.

• Weekend Market - endless stalls with the cheapest of Thai souvenirs.

[edit] Shopping malls

• Ocean and Robinsons are next to each other on Tilok Uthit 1 Road. Robinsons is a big department store, and there is a Tops supermarket, as well as McD's , KFC etc.

• Central Festival, Thanon Chaloem Phra Kiat - Phuket's branch of the Thai department store chain, also selling anything and everything but now in air-con comfort and a zero added to the price tag. It's still probably cheaper than the street markets at the beaches.

• SuperCheap claims to be the biggest and cheapest mall in Phuket, a cross between a Metro Market, Walmart, a Bazaar, and a normal local market for nearly everything from groceries to motorbike and car supplies and electronics. The best time to visit is in the evening. Take a small dinner in the nearby Thai restaurant (all you can eat for 69 baht - but when you leave something on the plate it costs 100 baht!) and afterwards join the Thai people at the market. SuperCheap is situated on the road to the airport, about 5 km out of Phuket Town centre, just behind the Esso site. Open until midnight.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Siam Bakery, 13 Thanon Yaowaraj (north of the Ranong traffic circle). French-run bakery offering pastries and drinks (~50 baht) in pleasant air-con surroundings.

• All You Can Eat, at Super Cheap, but you have to empty your plate - otherwise it costs double. That's not a joke, but very useful in keeping guests eating things they really like to eat and not wasting food. If you order water with ice, the ice costs extra!

• Ruam Jai Restaurant, 215 Th Ranong, tel. 076-222821. Open: 6.00 - 16.00. A local run restaurant with friendly staff serving delicious all-vegetarian food. The prices are very reasonable, for example a plate of white/brown rice choosable with two or more dishes from the buffet of about 15 different courses is around 25-35b. Try also locally made fresh juices, 10b each. Popular among locals; it can be crowded around mealtimes. One of 3 vegetarian restaurants in very close proximity near the local bus terminal.

• The Living Room Restaurant, Dibuk Road just past Montri Road. Great restaurant for tasty Thai and Thai-Chinese food. Relatively new with both an indoor and outdoor eating section / beer garden. Dimly lit interior for chill or romantic dining, they've got a spot for live music as well. Dishes 80-200 baht.

• Weekend market - numerous stalls sell a variety of meats, vegetables, noodles, fruits and sweets that can fill a stomach for a handful of baht.

• La Romantica - 70 Phang-Nga Road, across from the On-On Hotel. Best Italian food in Phuket Town, their pizzas and calzones, baked in a brick oven, rival those of Italy.

• Circle Cafe - On the Ranong circle, between Rasada and Yaowarat. Great mix of Thai and International food, and a very friendly, young owner who will offer you great advice on what to see and do while in Phuket.

[edit][add listing] Drink

• Anything Goes A little shop in an attractive Sino-Portuguese style building, just opened in February, by 2 MBA-graduates who recently move from Bangkok. It sells delicious handmade Italian ice-cream, coffee, design products and accessories made in Thailand and special recipe cocktails at friendly prices (87 Yaowarad Rd.)

• China House, 43 Thanon Yaowaraj. Chinese tea and other drinks in an impeccably tastefully restored shophouse that doubles as an art gallery. On the expensive side though, with drinks 50-100 baht.

• Coffee Max, on the roundabout where Thanon Ranong meets Thanon Yaowarat. Small, friendly coffee shop offering hot and cold coffee and tea drinks and a selection of pastries and cakes. Free Wi-Fi for customers.

• Michael's Bar, 12 Takua-Pa Road. Owned by a British expat, a friendly, low-key place to grab a few drinks at a reasonable price. Has Wi-Fi or a solitary PC for customer use, free for the first 20 minutes.

• Smile Cafe Newly opened cafe near the junction of Thanon Montri and Thanon Phang-Nga, run by a friendly young Thai couple who make a great ice-blended coffee or green tea.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Budget

• Ban Nai Inn, 22/98 Luang Poh Cham Rd, Soi 1 A. Muang, Phuket 83000. Tel 076-214907-9, Fax 076-232276. Small guesthouse located directly behind the long distance bus terminal (walk past the motorbike taxi drivers). Rooms are basic but cheap, and include tv, refrigerator, A/C, separate shower and wardrobe with lockable drawer. Little English is spoken, suggesting that this is a destination more popular with Thai tourists.

• Crystal Inn (คริสตัล อินน์) 2/1-10 Soi Surin Montri Road (Tel: 0 7625 6789 Fax: 0 7625 6666 www.phuketcrystalinn.com), 54 rooms: 900 baht

• Imperial Hotel 51 Phuket Road (Tel: 0 7621 2311, 48 rooms, Bt650-750 , rooms have free wi-fi, mini bar with fridge and cable tv.

• On On Hotel - 19 Th Phang-Nga, tel. 0 7621 1154; Old and a bit musty Sino-Portugese building with rich atmosphere, located almost in the center of the town. A small travel agency, laundry and cafe downstairs. Few scenes from the movie The Beach (2000) was shot here; check out room 38 for familiar views. Providing probably one of the cheapest accommodation of the island. Rooms from Bt 180 - 400. The cheapest rooms have shared bathrooms.

• Phuket Backpacker [1] - Tel: +66-7625-6680. New (2005) establishment for western travellers, with sociable common room and kitchen facilities. It is located in the heart of Phuket town, next to the local food market on Ranong Road. Its central location allows easy trips - via buses and taxis - to Phuket's surrounding beaches and sights. There is also abundant shopping and dining in the area. Fan cooled rooms at the back are popular with cockroaches and mosquitos, so be prepared to share or fight for your space (and bring your own lock for the door). Free Wi-Fi, but the range does not extend to the outlying rooms.

• Phuket Cyberinn Hotel [2] - Tel: +66-76220 100. Phuketcyberinn on Soi 4 off Bangkok Rd is located in the heart of Phuket Town. A 3-storey hotel is surrounded by many shops, street bazzars and wonderful old buildings. Easy to reach many beaches aound Phuket. It is just 30 minutes away from Phuket international airport. Bt750.

[edit] Mid-range

• Metropole Phuket, 1 Soi Surin, Montri Road, ☎ +66 76 215-050, 214-020-9 (fax: +66 76 215-990), [3]. Large hotel, 5-10 minute walk from the main bus station and the market. May once have been an opulent choice, but it feels like a decision was made some decades ago to spend minimal effort on upkeep or cleaning of the hotel - at least the cheaper rooms and the "gym" are in desparate need of renovation! Wi-Fi 3000 baht/day.  edit

[edit] Splurge

[edit] Get out

see the Phuket Province article

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