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Budget Travel

phuket town west 27

Ranong Road – The other side of Phuket Town

    While most tourists rush to the renovated old Phuket Town, mostly located around Thalang Road, we start to prefer the more authentic west side of Phuket Town, which is mostly around Phuket Town Central Market, Ranong Road and Krabi Road

    Sam Sae Chu Hut Chinese Shrine in Phuket Town

    Sam Sae Chu Hut Shrine ⛩️

      Sam Sae Chu Hut Chinese Shrine is a modest and discreet Chinese shrine located near the intersection of Khaw Sim Bee Road and Mae Luan Road, on the way up to Khao Rang Hill in Phuket Town; opened in May 2002.

      Khao Tom Thanon Dibuk Phuket Town

      Khao Tom Thanon Di Buk Phuket Town

        Khao Tom Thanon Di Buk is a local restaurant famous for its morning rice porridge and noodle soup, located on Phang Nga Road in the back of Phuket Town, and only open from 6 in the morning to 12 pm. The restaurant has been listed three years in a row in the Michelin Guide for Thailand.

        We Camping Phuket

        We Camping Phuket

          We Camping Phuket is a local restaurant in Kathu, with a fun camping decor and a vast outdoor sitting area. Despite the name, the place is not related to camping at all.

          Tha Rua Shrine

          Tha Rua Shrine ⛩️

            Tha Rua Shrine is one of the oldest Chinese shrines in Phuket, found in Thalang District on Thepkasattri Road about 800m south of the Heroines’ Monument. It’s an important site during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival, when thousands of devotees come to hold ceremonies and eat vegetarian food during the event’s nine days.

            saphan hin shrine

            Kio Thian Keng Saphan Hin Shrine ⛩️

              Kio Thian Keng Shrine is a colourful Chinese shrine that is set on the seashore inside Saphan Hin public park in Phuket Town. It’s a place of worship for the local Chinese-Thai community, and it plays an important role as the site of the final farewell to the gods during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival.

              Kathu Shrine

              Lai Thu Tao Bo Keng Shrine in Kathu ⛩️

                Lai Thu Tao Bo Keng is one of the oldest Chinese shrines in Phuket, and many believe it was the birthplace of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival nearly two centuries ago. The shrine is located in the subdistrict of Kathu in the island’s interior, between Phuket Town and Patong Beach.

                Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town

                Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town ⛩️

                  Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town is one of Phuket’s oldest and most revered Chinese shrines. It’s one of the main shrines taking part in the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival It is a place of worship and merit-making activity for the local Chinese-Thai community throughout the year.

                  Lim Hu Tai Su Shrine in Phuket Town

                  Lim Hu Tai Su Shrine (Sam Kong Shrine) ⛩️

                    Lim Hu Tai Su is a Chinese Taoist shrine on the north side of Phuket Town, also known as Sam Kong Shrine, for the neighbourhood in which it’s found. Though not as well known by visitors as larger Chinese shrines like Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket’s Old Town area, Sam Kong Shrine is a revered place of worship for the local community. It’s become a key part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival when it hosts several ceremonies and a procession during the annual 9-day event.

                    Red Clam Kathu Restaurant in Phuket

                    Red Clam Restaurant in Kathu (Hoi Pai Daeng)

                      Red Clam in Kathu, or Hoi Pai Daeng in Thai, is a local restaurant serving good and simple Thai food, perfect for sharing with your friends at the end of the day, the way Thai food is best enjoyed.  The restaurant is modest, but the setting is fun, with a vast open-air garden with open tables and those typical bamboo huts so popular in Thai restaurants. In case of rain, there is also a large covered area in the back.

                      Wanlamun Sweet Shop in Phuket Town

                      Wanlamun Phuket – Sweet Shop in Phuket Town

                        Wanlamun is the most popular Thai sweets and Thai desserts restaurant in Phuket Town. The restaurant has been open for decades and serves an astonishingly large choice of local sweets you probably didn’t even know existed.

                        Krua Ohm Restaurant in Kathu, Phuket

                        Khrua Ohm Restaurant Phuket

                          Krua Ohm is a small and modest local Thai restaurant in Kathu with a mention on the famous Michelin Guide for two consecutive years.

                          Phuket Blue Bus at Ranong Market

                          Phuket Local Blue Bus and Pink Bus

                            The Phuket Blue Bus (known as Song Taew) is the oldest and best-known local bus to get from Phuket Town to destinations around Phuket. It often looks more like a wooden truck than a bus as you know it. Those will only take you from Phuket town to a beach or a small set of beaches, but not between beaches.

                            Ta Tuay Michelin Thai Restaurant in Phuket

                            Ta Tuay Restaurant in Phuket

                              Ta Tuay is a little-known local restaurant, hidden not far from the Sarasin Bridge in the very north of Phuket, near Sai Kaew Beach. Ta Tuay serves excellent local food and dishes from Phuket.

                              Jadjan Restaurant in Phuket Towm

                              Jadjan Restaurant in Phuket Town

                                Jadjan is an excellent local Thai restaurant hidden on the outskirts of Phuket Town. Not many travellers know that a former chef from a 5-star hotel in Bangkok runs it.

                                Krua Jongjit Restaurant in Phuket, Kathu

                                Krua Jongjit Kitchen Kathu in Phuket

                                  Krua Jongjit restaurant in Kathu is proof that a restaurant doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to be excellent, and even receive a Michelin Plate for fresh ingredients, carefully prepared. The restaurant is local and modest, the prices are low and the food served is excellent and truly local, making it a good culinary experience while in Phuket.

                                  Hong Khao Tom Pla Restaurant in Phuket Town

                                  Hong Khao Tom Pla Restaurant

                                    Hong Khao Tom Pla is a discreet and long-established restaurant in Phuket Town, named after its famous fish rice porridge speciality. Behind this modest appearance is a little gem, so good that the Michelin Guide awarded them a ‘Bib Gourmand’, which is a sign of good quality and good value cooking.