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. Here, the colourful renovation hasn’t started, and Thai people still live and run their businesses the way they have been doing for many decades.
Local markets and small shops are selling all kinds of snacks and candies you have never seen before; people talk to you with genuine smiles, happy to recommend some local drinks or candies. It’s like being in a village in town, or maybe like time travel. There are small streets to nowhere, tiny restaurants in heritage shophouses, and hundreds of photo opportunities. Here and there, you can admire a few street paintings that people may have seen on the internet but never saw in real life.
Ranong Road
Ranong Road is mostly known for the Phuket Town Central Market, Thai Airways office and Jui Tui Shrine, which is a significant landmark during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival that occurs each year.
Ranong Main Market
The Ranong Main Market is not to be confused with the other fresh market located on the other side of town. The market is surprisingly split into two parts: the main area is inside a large concrete building, and the open-air market is hidden in a small area across the street.
Location: Phuket Town
Address: Ranong Road, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000
Hours: 12 am – 12 pm
Khaotha Cafe
Khaotha Cafe is one of those places that’s easy to miss but worth finding. It’s on Ranong Road, just next to Ranong Main Market (the central market) in Phuket Town — not far from where the old blue songtaew buses line up to take you to the beaches. Most people rush to Thalang Road with its colourful buildings and cafés, but this side of town still feels proper local.
Location: Phuket Town
Address: Ranong, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000
Hours: 7 am – 5 pm
Phone: 0939935614
Jui Tui Shrine
Jui Tui Shrine is one of Phuket Island’s oldest and most important Chinese temples. The place is relatively quiet on weekdays and a little busier on weekends, but if you visit it during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, you will have a huge surprise, as it plays a significant role during the event, usually held in October and November each year.
Cham Cha Market
Cham Cha Market (ตลาดฉำฉา) is a small food market on Ranong Road in Phuket Town, sometimes called Lor Rong Market. This is where locals come for traditional Phuket dishes with Chinese-Hokkien roots that you won’t find in tourist restaurants. The market has about a dozen vendors selling popiah, fresh spring rolls, mee hoon, fried vermicelli with pork rib soup, loba, deep-fried pork offal, kanom krok, coconut sweets, and o eow, shaved ice. Everything is freshly prepared. The market is past the local bus station and the Jui Tui Shrine.
Location: Phuket Town
Address: Ranong Road, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket 83000
Open: 6 am – 4 pm
More photos of Ranong Road
Krabi Road
Kaeng Liang Restaurant
Kaeng Liang Restaurant is a small place in a beautifully decorated old shophouse hidden on Krabi Road. The name Kaeng Liang is the name of a traditional spicy shrimp paste soup from central Thailand. The food is good (we had some Hokkien noodles), and the owner is very friendly, plus she speaks a bit of English. The decor is a beautiful photo opportunity for selfies (apart from the strange fridge on the front terrace).
Address: 51 Krabi Road, Talat Nuea, Amphoe Mueang Phuket, Chang Wat Phuket 83000
Hours: 11 am – 9 pm (closed on Monday)
Phone: 087 284 2735
Popular Ways to Discover Phuket Town
Krabi Road Photos
Phuket Town West Map
Other Streets of Phuket Town
