9 Museums in Phuket, Thailand 🏛️

1. Thavorn Museum

Built in 1960, the Thavorn Hotel has a long story in Old Phuket Town. The museum originally opened decades ago as a small quirky hotel attraction that was more an anecdotal storage of all the old stuff and equipment used in the many years of the hotel’s operation, including phone dispatches, old rusted movie projectors, and laundry machines. This new museum is a hidden trove of vintage artefacts with true human history attached to each object!

Location: Phuket Town
Address: 74 Rassada Rd, Tambon Talat Yai, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000
Tel: 023 056859
Price: 120 Baht

2. Chinpracha House Museum

Chinpracha House is a privately owned museum still occupied by the owners. It also ranks high on our list of the 18 most beautiful mansions in Phuket. Many other houses in Phuket are wrecks or abandoned; they renovated some with more or less success. Baan Chinpracha is still in excellent original condition, and you can visit it for 130 baht. At that price, it is worth having a look but expects something halfway between a museum and a collection of items gathered in time.

Location: Phuket Town
Address: 98 Krabi, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000
Open: 9 am – 4.30 pm
Phone: 076 211281
Price: 150 Baht

3. Thai Hua Museum

Thai Hua Museum on Krabi Road in Phuket Town was just an empty building. Like other museums in Phuket, it was a soulless, run-down building for a long time. They spent a lot of effort to revive what is now a place worth visiting on your Phuket Town exploration.

Location: Phuket Town
Address: 28 Krabi Road, Phuket Town, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000
Open: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (Daily)
Phone: 076 211 224
Price: 200 Baht

4. Baan Ar Jor House Museum

Baan Ar Jor is more of a private house converted into a hotel and a restaurant, but there is much to explore and discover in each room. It’s more of a living museum with real objects used by the owner of the house, with many photos and original furniture; it gives you a glimpse of what life used to be like in the tin mind era. Read more

Location: Mai Khao Beach
Address: 102 Thep Kasattri Road, Thalang District, Phuket 83110
Open: 10 am – 10 pm
Phone: 062 459 8889
Price: 200 baht

5. Peranakannitat Museum

After many years of renovation, the Peranakannitat Museum opened its doors in the heart of Phuket Town. It is inside the old Standard Chartered Bank intersection of Phang Nga Rd and Phuket Rd. It’s a modest museum, but the location and the Sino-Portuguese building are worth walking in. It is also known as the Baba Museum or Chalermraj Center.

Location: Phuket Town
Address: Intersection of Phang Nga Road and Phuket RoadOpen: Monday to Saturday
Hours: 10 am – 8 pm

6. Thalang National Museum

Thalang National Museum has partly reopened after renovation.

Thalang Museum is a small building built in 1985. It is still under renovation, but two rooms are now open to visitors, and the display is promising. Expect to see a collection of prehistoric artefacts, old potteries, and stones, followed by sculptures and antiques displayed behind glass.

Location: 217 Si Sunthon, Thalang District, Phuket 83110
Open: 9 am – 4 pm (Closed on Mondays)
Phone: 076 379 897
Price: Free for now

7. Peranakan Phuket Museum

The Peranakan Phuket Museum is both a shop and a historical display on the way to Phuket Airport opposite Home Pro. The museum is inside a large modern building, so don’t expect an old heritage house. In addition to quite a large exhibit, this new museum also features a restaurant, a cafe, and a large jewellery shop. The museum was an initiative of the shop’s owners, all of Peranakan descent, to share the fascinating history that shaped Old Phuket Town.

Location: On the way to the airport
Address: 124/1 Moo 1, Sri Soonthorn, Thalang, Phuket 83110
Open: 9 am – 6 pm
Phone: 076 313 556
Price: 200 Baht for Thais, 300 Baht for foreigners

8. Phuket Mining Museum

The Phuket Mining Museum is built with grandeur in a remote and isolated location before Patong. Museums in Phuket are not exactly exciting, but this one gives you a vision of what Phuket was famous for during the tin mining era. Unfortunately, despite its apparent ambition, its location played against its success.

Location: Kathu
Address: Moo 5, Khatu-Nakoh Road, Tambon Khatu, Amphoe Khatu, Phuket 83120
Open: 9 am – 4 pm (closed on Sundays)
Phone: 081 535 3187
Price: 100 Baht per adult, 50 Baht per kid.

9. Kathu Museum

The Kathu Museum is new in Phuket. The display is modest but nicely executed, mostly made of panels describing Phuket’s typical dishes, fruits, vegetables and spices in English and Thai. It is surprisingly enjoyable if you are curious about everything related to Phuket. This small house, abandoned for a very long time, used to be an office with a warehouse for a beer company. The house is in a large park used for fitness and running and a small local market once a month. There is no entry fee.