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Real Phuket

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.

      Hok Nguan Kong Shrine

      Hok Nguan Kong Shrine in Phuket Town ⛩️

        Hok Nguan Kong Shrine is a Chinese temple near the Surin Clock Circle in Phuket Town, founded more than 80 years ago by the Chinese-Thai community in Phuket. Hok Nguan Kong Shrine’s design features many traditional Chinese motifs, including columns wrapped with large dragon images, wall murals with tigers, and bright red and yellow colours throughout

        Kathu Shrine

        Kathu Shrine – Lai Thu Tao Bo Keng Shrine ⛩️

          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, 1825 to be precise. 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.

                    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.

                      Baan Ar Jor House Museum in Phuket

                      Baan Ar Jor House Museum

                        Baan Ar Jor is a hotel, a restaurant and a museum with a long history that started in 1936. This house has always been one of the most mysterious old mansions of Phuket, standing lonely near Mai Khao Beach in the north of Phuket.

                        Jadjan Restaurant in Phuket Towm

                        Jadjan by Ko Daeng

                          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.

                              Ketho Dim Sum Restaurant in Kathu, Phuket

                              Ketho Coffee & Kitchen Dim Sum Restaurant

                                Ketho Coffee & Kitchen is a dim sum restaurant very popular with locals for their breakfast, mostly for their dim sums but also for their soups and rice porridge.

                                Wat Kathu in Phuket

                                Wat Kathu (Wat Nai Tu) – วัดกะทู้

                                  Wat Kathu, or Kathu temple, is a not very well-known landmark among tourists, but local photographers know how beautiful it is. This Buddhist temple is on the way to Phuket Town and not far from Patong, but because it stands away from the main road, most people don’t even consider visiting it.

                                  Jui Tui Shrine

                                  Jui Tui Shrine (Kew Ong) ⛩️

                                    Jui Tui Shrine (Kew Ong) is one of the oldest and most important on Phuket Island. It plays a significant role during the famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival, usually held in October and November. The festival dates use the Lunar Calendar, and the festival’s exact dates change every year.