Most visitors to Phuket pass through Phuket Town on their way somewhere else and see it briefly from the window of a taxi. This is a significant missed opportunity. The town — and specifically the Sino-Portuguese Old Town at its heart — is one of the most characterful places in southern Thailand and deserves at minimum a half-day and ideally a full one.
Phuket Town’s character derives primarily from the tin mining era of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the island’s mineral wealth attracted Chinese immigrants — primarily Hokkien-speaking people from Fujian province — who intermarried with the local Malay population and created the Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya culture that still defines the Old Town’s architecture, food, and community.
The Sino-Portuguese shophouses that line the streets of the Old Town were built to a specific architectural style — long, narrow buildings with covered five-foot walkways at street level, elaborately decorated facades, and internal courtyards. Many of the original buildings survive and have been thoughtfully restored. The overall streetscape is one of the finest examples of this architectural tradition anywhere in Thailand.
Walk Thalang Road early in the morning — this is the primary Old Town street, with the best concentration of restored shophouses and the morning market at the eastern end. Soi Rommanee, the narrow alley running parallel, has the highest concentration of street art and some of the most photographed building facades on the island. The two streets together form the core of any Old Town visit.
Wat Mongkol Nimit on Thalang Road is the main Buddhist temple within the Old Town zone — a working temple of considerable beauty that is accessible to visitors respectful of the dress code. Pui Tzu Kongsi, one of several Chinese clan houses in the Old Town, preserves a specific tradition of Chinese-Thai cultural practice and is worth visiting if it is open.
The Sunday Walking Street closes Thalang Road to traffic from 4pm to 10pm and fills it with food vendors, craft stalls, and musicians. It is the most accessible introduction to Old Town for first-time visitors and produces a genuinely festive atmosphere without being a tourist performance — the vendors and many of the visitors are local.
The food in the Old Town is the best reason to spend serious time there. The Hokkien noodle tradition, the Peranakan dishes — moo hong, oh tao, various curry preparations that are unique to this community — are available at market stalls and shophouse restaurants at prices that have not yet been adjusted for tourist expectations. O-Tao Restaurant on Soi Rommanee and Kopitiam by Wilai on Thalang Road are the best-known starting points, but the best eating is often at unlisted stalls that have been there for decades.
Early morning is best for the architecture and the market atmosphere. Sunday evening is best for the Walking Street. Avoid midday in the height of summer — the narrow streets trap heat and the walking is uncomfortable. Late afternoon in any season has good light on the western-facing shophouse facades.
— Captain Mark
Exceptional, uncrowded island day trips from Phuket. Family-owned and operated since 2004.
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