Map of Phuket town in Russian. Phuket Town is a city with “wild” architecture for a tropical island. Streets of Phuket Town

Important economic and Cultural Center region. It is not surprising that the entertainment industry in general and the tourism industry in particular are fully developed here. In addition to many attractions and very diverse entertainment, the city of Phuket also stands out for its huge selection of budget hotels and restaurants with quite affordable prices.

Previously, the capital of Phuket was called Phuket Town, now the city is assigned official name Phuket City. The center has many beautiful old buildings in the Portuguese colonial style. In addition to architectural monuments, temples and museums, Phuket City is famous for its magnificent parks - Khao Rang, Rama IX Park, Park named after. Queens of Sikirit, "Sapan Hin". For tourists, in the capital of Phuket there is an entire street that at the beginning of the 20th century was a red light district - Soi Rommani. Now it’s all guesthouses, cozy cafes and souvenir shops, but the red paper lanterns remain hanging above the entrance to every house.

Phuket city hotels

Phuket City has a variety of accommodation options to suit every budget. Double Room in a good “four” it will cost around 900-1800 THB, a three-star hotel will cost 600-1500 THB, only a hostel is cheaper - from 300 THB.

Of the budget hotels, the winner of Traveler's Choice-2016 has found favor with tourists - the three-star The Tint At Phuket Town - it is located near the pier and is especially suitable for those who are planning to travel to the islands.

One of the oldest and, paradoxically, cheap hotels, as well as one of famous places in the city - the On-On Hotel - the filming of the film “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio took place here. Price per room - from 300 THB.

Shopping

Thailand is famous for its exotic goods: in any province you can buy interesting souvenirs and unusual food products, and Phuket is no exception. In its northern part there is the largest market of the island - “Super Chip”. It’s worth coming here for spices and herbs, oils and balms. There is also a wide selection of silk clothing available here. In addition, large shopping centers are concentrated in Phuket City: Tesco, Makro, Index Living Mall and Big C. The Sentral Festival shopping center features stores of famous European brands: Calvin Klein, Dior, Chanel, Armani, Lacoste, but the prices are pleasantly different from European.

Thai cosmetics and all kinds of care products deserve special attention - body and hair oils, creams, balms, toothpaste. They don’t cost much here; it’s better to buy them at the Chatuchak market in the southern part of Phuket City. They also bring pillows and mattresses made of foam latex from here - they are compactly packaged in vacuum bags. At the huge night market Phuket Night Bazaar you can find fruits, national clothes and souvenirs at very reasonable prices.

Cuisine and restaurants of Phuket city

Phuket City has many establishments offering Thai, European and even Russian cuisine. Those who don't want to experiment with exotic cuisine, you will find borscht and pancakes here. There is pizza and fast food familiar to Europeans.

The world-famous spicy tom yum soup with shrimp and coconut milk is considered business card Thai cuisine - it's definitely worth trying in Phuket.

“Tom Kha” is also a coconut milk soup with chicken (dietary and not at all spicy). The most common products of Thai cuisine (found in many dishes in different combinations): rice, shrimp, noodles, and meat - chicken and pork. Many dishes are very spicy - check with the waiters before ordering. In city restaurants, dinner for two with drinks will cost 1000 THB.

An interesting establishment in Phuket City is All You Can Eat. Its rules state that if a guest does not finish a dish, he must pay twice the price stated on the menu. The city is also famous for its coffee shops offering delicious and unusual fruit desserts. Some of the best coffee is served at the Circle Cafe, which also offers free Wi-Fi.

Street food is varied: portions are small, almost all dishes are above average in spiciness. For 50-100 THB you can buy a full lunch at makashnitsa (street stalls).

Entertainment and attractions

The two main symbols of the capital of Phuket are the Promthep clock tower (the clock is faulty, but this fact does not detract from the beauty) and the Golden Dragon statue in the park. Queens of Sikirit. There are many beautiful Chinese temples in the city, since the main population of the city is Chinese. The oldest of them, the Taoist Pud Jor, dates back to the 19th century.

The most popular tourist street in the capital of the island is Soi Rommani. Every building on it is a monument of history and architecture; the most cozy cafes and souvenir shops are located here; in the evening, multi-colored paper lanterns flash above the houses, creating a unique atmosphere for romantic walks.

A place shrouded in legends is the mansion of the Chinpracha family, built in the 19th century. It is located on Krabi Road and is famous for the fact that many Hollywood films were filmed here (for example, Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth and The Adventures of Indiana Jones). Now there is a School of Culinary Arts, offering master classes in Thai cuisine for tourists.

A place that couples in love and just romantics need to visit is Cape Promthep. This magnificent natural Observation deck is located 30 km from Phuket City, the most convenient way to get here is by taxi. Locals They believe that this cape is sacred, and the gods protect it from the tsunami.

The main event of the year is the Vegetarian Festival, which is held in the 9th lunar month (most often this is the end of September-beginning of October). A large-scale Asian carnival with ritual costumed processions, performances by street dancers and musicians and an evening fire show usually lasts 9 days.

5 things to do in Phuket City and surrounding areas

Take a tour of the oldest On-On Hotel and check out room 37, where the movie “The Beach” was filmed.
Take part in the Vegetarian Festival and watch legendary artists pierce their cheeks with swords.
Visit the “Upside Down House” and wander through the labyrinth garden next to it.
Sign up for a culinary master class at the School of Culinary Arts to learn the secrets local cuisine and learn how to cook Thai dishes.
Enjoy a breathtaking sunset at Cape Promthep.

Phuket city for children

There are several places in Phuket City that are interesting to visit with children. Both adults and children will be curious to visit the zoo (office site in English), located 10 km from the city on the way to Chalong Beach - Asian and African animals and birds live here, shows with elephants, monkeys and crocodiles are held daily .

Introduce children to underwater world The Andaman Sea will be helped by an aquarium - walking through a spacious multi-meter tunnel, you will feel as if you are diving into the seabed. It takes about 20 minutes to drive from Phuket City to the aquarium - it is most convenient to order a transfer from a travel agency.

And, of course, children will be delighted with the Upside Down House - Baan Teelanka (office site in English). After all, many in childhood dreamed of walking on the ceiling, and here these dreams come true. Another wonder of this amazing place- a labyrinth garden covering an area of 1000 square meters. m. The house is located 3 km north of the city. June

July

August

September

October

november

December

Phuket City has a humid tropical climate; the year can be roughly divided into two seasons: the dry season lasts from November to May, and the rainy season from June to October. During the rainy season, the wind increases many times over - there are often storms, and typhoons and tsunamis are not uncommon. The recommended visiting time for tourists is from mid-November to early April. The most comfortable months in terms of temperature and humidity are from December to February.

If you want variety, then you should visit the city of Phuket (Phuket Town). Enough Big city and recently it even began to be officially called “city,” but people are not yet accustomed to this prefix. Phuket may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it can offer real local flavor rather than a glossy cover. tourist resorts. You can visit the city and go shopping and see the sights. Local hotels are very good, so you can stay for a couple of days and explore the city at your leisure and in style.

Review

Phuket Town is the capital of Phuket Province and is home to approximately 70,000 citizens. The city was founded in the mid-19th century as a trading center for the local tin mining industry. The industry flourished, the city grew quickly and soon became central city islands and took the title of capital from Thalang.

It is now the administrative center of Phuket. A strange mixture of antiquity and modernity. Modern shopping centers have sprung up next to the old markets, luxury hotels have been built next to the old guest houses, and the lights of discotheques sparkle next to bars where Thai folk music plays quietly.

The city has its own character and many attractions.

Old city

The Old Town is where miners and industrialists originally settled. Miners came here to sell ore and spend the money they earned in local shops and dens. In general, this is the area around Dibuk Road, Krabi Road, Thalang Road, Ranong Road and Ratsada Road. The buildings in this area are over a hundred years old.

Over the past couple of decades, the area has not been dealt with and Old city is gradually destroyed. The pretty arches were blocked with bricks, the facades collapsed. But recently local authorities realized that we were losing tourist attractions, and began to restore the area. Now this is all in the process: in some places the buildings have been restored and brought into marketable condition, in some places they stand and wait in the wings.

And yet, walking around the old city is interesting, as well as admiring the masterpieces of Sino-Portuguese architecture.

Sino-Portuguese architecture

This is exactly how the architectural style of the old city is determined. This refers to the wild mixture of influence of Chinese and European cultures on the architectural style of the city. The buildings, mostly shops, are three or four stories high. Families ran their businesses on the ground floor, while living quarters were usually located on the upper floors or in the backyard. Many of the buildings are very narrow, up to 5 meters wide, but long - up to 50 meters. Chinese influence is felt in the design of doors and windows, and European influence is visible in the structure of arches and passages.

Chinese influence was brought by the numerous Chinese migrant workers who came to work in the mines. Well, the close trade cooperation between Phuket and Penang also had an impact. At that time, the island of Penang in Malaysia was the main commercial port, and the Chinese diaspora dominated there. If you visit modern Penang, you will notice an undeniable similarity in architectural style.

The reference to the influence of the Portuguese is, in fact, not entirely correct. The Portuguese were among the first Western traders on the island, but left long before Phuket began to flourish. European influence in architecture is represented by the British colonial style, which came to the island from Penang, at that time already a British colony.

Soi Romanee

Soi Romanee is a charming little lane between Thalang Road and Dibuk Road, one of the oldest streets in Phuket. Previously, there were hangouts for walking miners. It is now a charming, quiet street with quaint examples of Sino-Portuguese architecture. There are cute and cozy bars where you can sit and immerse yourself in nirvana. The local authorities recently removed the hanging power cables and the view is much better.

China Inn Cafe

China Inn Cafe: This is a great example of local architectural style where you can stop by and look around. One of best cafes of the city is located at the intersection of Thalang Road with Yaowarat Road. The owner of the cafe did a titanic restoration job, returned the establishment to its former charm and filled the room with souvenirs from the times of the founding of the city and the prosperity of the mines. The cafe is located in small garden in the backyard of the house. The kitchen is good. But a little expensive by local standards. But the decorations are worthy of a museum, and the owner doesn’t mind when people come in just to gawk and don’t order food or drinks.

Colonial mansions

The mansions, in contrast to the shops, which were built in the so-called Sino-Portuguese style, are built more in the Sino-Colonial style. The two best examples are located on Krabi Road. On the corner of Satun Road is the imposing Phra Phitak Chyn Pracha Mansion, named after its original owner: Phra Phitak was a Chinese tin baron. This mansion now houses the Blue Elephant restaurant. Nearby there is another colonial mansion that can be visited for a small donation - Chyn Pracha House.

is a mixture of two styles and is often called colonial architecture (although Thailand was never a colony of anyone). Such buildings, not typical of the Thai tradition, can be found in the Old City, in the area of Phuket Rd, Phang Nga Rd, Thalang Rd, Krabi Rd, Ranong Rd and those closest to them.

Just walk through them up and down and you will see everything you need. The walk is unlikely to take more than two hours, because... the old quarter is quite small and old houses are nearby. What’s interesting is that these buildings have not been turned into lifeless museums and architectural monuments, but still provide shelter for people: some contain offices, others have bank branches, and others are given over to hotels. Of course, they have undergone restoration both inside and out, so they do not look old and dilapidated. The only house (built in 1934) dedicated to the museum is called Thai Hua Museum and is located on Krabi Street.

Viewpoint on Rang Hill

Hill is located in the north of Phuket Town. It’s better to rent a motorbike or take a taxi to get up there, because... in 30-degree heat, the climb will be too long and difficult (walking uphill for half an hour is not a pleasant thing). The road to the viewpoint starts at the beginning of Patiphat Rd where it intersects with Mae Luan Road. At the very top there is a small “Health Park”, a restaurant and an observation deck, which offers excellent views of Phuket Town and the surrounding areas. In the distance you can see famous beach Patong. Don't forget your camera - you are guaranteed great photos.

Shopping centers and hypermarkets

They're practically coming one after another and are located on the western outskirts of the capital. Central Phuket Festival is the main one on the entire island. Here you can buy almost everything: clothes, shoes, equipment, jewelry, watches, accessories, groceries, in short, everything! In addition to shopping pavilions, there are a bunch of restaurants and a large cinema with several halls.

Big C and Tesco Lotus are economy class hypermarkets, like our Auchan. Thais believe that Tesco is cheaper and therefore prefer to shop there. In addition, Tesco also has restaurants and fast foods where you can have a snack after a successful and inexpensive shopping. The range of goods at these two hypermarkets is similar: groceries, clothing, shoes, audio-video, computers, phones, household appliances, etc.

The night market is open only at weekends. The first tents open at 16:00, but most at 17:00. It closes around 22:00. In all guidebooks it is considered a serious attraction, but in fact you can’t buy anything special there for a penny. Even in Big C and Tesco Lotus, flip flops will be 20-30 baht cheaper. And the range of goods is small - clothes, shoes, handbags, backpacks, wallets, CDs, small souvenirs and other small items. Naturally, all are fakes - no real brands. Although no, brands are available at several Second Hand locations. There really are real second-hand Levi's jeans for 2000 baht (in the next tent there are fakes for 400 baht).

There are also several food aisles at the market, where they sell fruits (you can buy them cheaper at other markets), sweets and Thai food. Among the exclusives, which are rarely found in other places, are freshly squeezed cane juice (very pleasant, with a sweet taste) and Thai sweets (there are really a lot of them).

Located on Wirat Hong Yok Street, near its intersection with Chao Fa (West) Street and about half an hour’s walk from the Central Festival (if desired, you can walk in 20 minutes).

Rama IX Park

It is also called Queen's Park. There is also a Thai name, which is hardly worth remembering. Located in the south of Phuket Town, on the Chao Fa (East) highway. It will be on your right hand if you go south from the capital, towards. The second entrance is located on Wirat Hong Yok Street, near the night market.

Royal Park - perfect place recreation, located within the city. The area is very large. There is a lake (even several), playgrounds, exercise equipment open air and a sports club with barbells and dumbbells (working out costs only 10 baht for the whole day, although there is no air conditioning). This favorite place active rest for Thais who come here in the evenings to run along the paths around the lake, work out on exercise machines for free, kick the ball with their hands and feet (football, volleyball), and play badminton (by the way, it is very popular among the Thais).

In the evenings the main lake is illuminated and it becomes very beautiful here. Since the territory is huge, the people are evenly distributed along the entire perimeter - because of this, it seems that the park is not crowded.

There are two parking lots for motorbikes, but it is better not to park here at night (after 11 p.m.), because... there were cases of theft Vehicle, because there are almost no people at this time.

Saphan Hin Park

A great place for morning and evening relaxation. It is located in the southeast of Phuket Town, right on the seashore. There are benches near the coast where you can sit and admire the surrounding beauty. Nobody swims here, because... the water is not particularly clean due to large quantity fishing boats, and the entrance to the sea is rocky in many places.

Independent trip to Phuket Town

Today we will visit Phuket Town. Few excursion programs include this item (we have not heard of these). It is probably more interesting to find out details about uncharted lands.

In this article you will learn:

where is Big Ben installed?
how blue differs from pink;
is the “yellow man” lying?
where in Phuket you can find coins with a face value of less than one baht;
where sushi comes straight to your mouth;
Why are there televisions installed at taxi stands?

Such funny discoveries await you ahead.

Local bus

For one of the days we planned a trip to the administrative center of Phuket -. We decided to try to get there by songthaew (local bus). At least one way. And the return will come as soon as the cards fall.

What was confusing about the online reviews? The fact that interest in the city was limited only to shopping centers (Central Festival, Big C, Tesco Lotus). Before leaving, I looked it up on the Internet. Google map, where you can use the “yellow man” to see photographs of those places on the map where this man is installed. Mostly, of course, along the roads. So here it is. The photographs of Phuket Town were somehow not very impressive. Well, let's see.

The morning turned out to be cloudy, which was good for a trip to the city. We arrived at the final bus stop. We were convinced of the fallacy of another thesis from online reviews. For some reason, eyewitnesses report that buses run once an hour. I don't confirm. There is a schedule at the final stop - buses to Phuket Town depart every 20 minutes. And exactly on schedule.

Let's get going. There are five people in the “salon”. The salon consists of two benches along the left and right sides of the bus and another one along the center line. The bus travels very slowly along the coast of Kata and Karon. At the northern tip of Karon there is a salon ( seat place) is filled almost completely: half are local, half are compatriots. At this point, the driver collects money from passengers (35 baht each) and off they go. An hour after the start time we were at the Central Festival shopping center. Very close to it there is another shopping center - Big C. Quite a distance away - Tesco Lotus.

At the stop near the Central Festival shopping center, my wife and I were the only two left on the bus, i.e. The songthaew turned into a big tuk-tuk.

A funny thing happened at the entrance to Phuket Town. The driver stopped, although we didn’t ask him to. A local friend looked into the back and asked if we were going to the shopping center. Having heard a negative answer, he invited us to get off the bus to proceed further in a tuk-tuk standing nearby. It seemed to us that this time he had guessed wrong. Even after he said the word “free”. We have a very, very good time on the bus. The bus driver, seeing that no one would be able to make money this time, took us, as it unexpectedly turned out, on a tour of the city.

City center tour

Let me explain. The fact is that Ending station all local buses do not have where they start their route in Phuket (near the fish market), but at the intercity bus station. Thus, the bus passes through almost the entire old city from west to east. And not in a straight line, but meanders through the streets. As a result, during the trip we already got our bearings in the city and briefly looked at some of the sights.

In general, there are not many of them, but they exist. We walked along the main street and looked at local Big Ben, which with different sides shows on the clock different time, and it’s not correct on all sides. And the clock doesn't work anymore. Then we got to Buddhist temple. It so happened that during my stay in Phuket this was not the first such temple. They are all very similar to each other. But how beautiful!

There is also an interesting monument or sculpture in Phuket. This Golden Dragon, which was once given to Phuket by entrepreneurs from Hong Kong.

There is a funny place next to the golden dragon. Part of the sidewalk is paved with tiles, on which some design is applied. It seems like what’s wrong? But the applied pattern creates the effect of “wavy” tiles. This is noticeable even in the photograph. And when you walk along such a sidewalk, the sensations arise unforgettable. I wish I had an oar in my hands.

Well, and, of course, buildings in colonial style. There are few of them, but they exist.

In general, you can walk around the entire city center in an hour. Taxi drivers periodically pester you with an offer to show you the city, but I don’t even know what new they can tell you.

From blue to pink

What's next. The day before, it was decided to get acquainted with the city by bus(pink buses), especially since we needed to get from the old city to the main shopping centers. Bus number 1 was suitable for this. By the way, it also passes by the fish market. There we sat down.

A little about this area. The departure point for all local buses from Phuket Town is located here. The proximity of the fish market adds additional freshness. There are several buses to the coast, with a wide variety of sizes and designs. For example, the bus to Patong has seats that are more familiar to our transport. There is no schedule anywhere!

The surrounding reality is quite sad. The "yellow man" didn't lie. I won’t go into detail, other than to say that the Kata coast looks much more like a city than Phuket Town in the area.

Let's return to “city” buses. The rules are like this. Pink buses, unlike blue ones, have stops marked with pink signs. When a bus approaches, you need to wave your arms. The conductor sits in the cabin at the entrance. He collects money and... issues a ticket! Maybe I didn’t mention it earlier, but there are no tickets on blue buses. The fare on pink buses is purely symbolic - 10 baht.

Self-service at the checkout

We successfully tracked it all down. We drove through the entire old city again, but now in a zigzag, and very quickly reached the shopping center Tesco Lotus. I won’t dwell on the maintenance of the counters, however, rarely does anything happen without incident. This happened this time too.

In general, a friend took us to the cash register and showed us how to read barcodes (in principle, this can be learned in any supermarket and at home). This was done successfully. Then we chose the cash payment method. The machine sucked in our 1,000 baht bill and spat out several bills and coins as change. Here another surprise awaited us. The fact is that in Phuket, one baht coin is used as the smallest coin for payments. At least we haven't seen anything smaller. And this unit also gave us smaller coins. Where else could we see them?

Another unusual establishment in Tesco Lotus. This sushi buffet. Those. for 590 baht you can endlessly eat Japanese food for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The trick of the establishment is that you don’t need to get up from the table unless absolutely necessary. The conveyor along which the filled plates move is laid along the tables - you just need to reach out and take the dish you like.

We really liked traveling around Phuket by bus, so we got to the shopping center in the same way Big C. Then we walked to the Central Festival shopping center, since it is very close there, and the final stop for bus number 1 is near Big C.

Another common misconception. Supposedly it is more profitable to exchange money in a bank than in a street exchange office. Not at all. There were no banks spotted near the hotel, so the opportunity to compare exchange rates appeared only now (there are a lot of bank offices in shopping centers). I’ll give specific figures: in banks they gave no more than 32.1 baht for a dollar; in street exchange offices on the coast (no such were seen in Phuket) on the same day you could exchange dollars at a rate of 32.38. On the coast, exchangers are found at every step; in Phuket, we haven’t seen any (except for banks in shopping centers).

Is life easy for taxi drivers?

When the shopping was done, all that remained was to find the place where our dear blue bus stopped on the way to Kata. It is not easy for people with poor orientation (don’t think anything bad) to find this stop, so it would be better to prepare for this issue in advance. We found it quickly, despite the fact that taxi drivers pestering us everywhere naturally showed us the opposite direction.

Lyrical digression. In Phuket, sometimes you get the feeling that there are only taxi drivers around. There are a lot of them. As we noticed at the tuk-tuk parking lot near our hotel, most taxis stand idle for a while. And they stand idle in the dark. Judging by the sequence in which cars line up during the day, we can conclude that sometimes the driver gets 1 - 2 trips per day.

In order not to waste time (or rather, not to die of boredom), taxi drivers installed wooden platforms with couches and televisions in their parking areas. What a job! True, the earnings are not very high by our standards. As the tour guide told us, the driver earns about 9 thousand.

There is one more feature of local taxis. Each taxi driver has his own waiting place, i.e. he cannot lie down on someone else's bed. And driving around the island in search of a client will cost you more gas. In this regard, taxi drivers include part or all of the cost of the return trip to their home stop in the price of the trip. Because of this feature, it can be quite profitable to agree on delivery to the destination and back (perhaps with some kind of waiting at this place).

We return to the bus. This time the travel conditions were not entirely comfortable, since it was raining and, to put it mildly, there weren’t very many walls on the bus. True, in this case the bus has transparent awnings on each side, which are deployed if necessary. And we had raincoats, without which it would be completely uncomfortable to live in Phuket. In general, we arrived ok.

With that, the trip ended safely.

The next article will talk about our stay in Thailand.

Phuket Town is main city islands and central in Phuket province. In this post, we’ll figure out where to go and what to see in Phuket Town, what attractions are worth seeing and what shops and markets to go shopping. At the end of the article you will find a map with the main points of the city for a better understanding.

If you are vacationing on an island, you may not even get into the city, since it is located closer to the center, away from the beaches and main attractions of Phuket.

What to see in Phuket Town?

Yes, one daylight is enough to see all the sights of Phuket Town, because the city is very small. The name alone is the “capital” of the province. But it has its own charm! Plus you can combine the inspection interesting places and the road to the Rassada pier (it’s next to the city), from where they sail to the neighboring islands.

Plus, if you want to see something less touristy than the popular beaches, then a tour to Town is a great option.

Old town of Phuket Town

The heart of the area is the old town of Phuket. This is the name of the area in the area of Dibuk, Krabi, Thalang, Phangnga, Ratsada, Ranong streets. The boundaries are very arbitrary. It was here that the city was founded.

It is very pleasant to walk around the old town and take colorful photographs. It is notable for its buildings with Chinese-Portuguese architecture, such a funny combination of Asian and European.

The Chinese style appeared after the Chinese arrived in Phuket to work in the tin mines. By the way, this is exactly what the old city looks like most.

The Portuguese lived in Phuket even before the era of miners, and they still managed to leave some elements in the architecture. This is noticeable primarily in unusual windows and arches. Reminds me of the scenery for some Brazilian TV series, doesn’t it? :)

Each building was the home of one family, and it could be only 5 meters wide, but up to 50 meters deep. On the first floor there was usually a store, shop, brothel or other dubious establishments (do not forget that Chinese workers lived here at first).

Now it is prohibited to build new buildings in the old city; the authorities have done a lot of work to restore the buildings, so we can see such beauty.

Check out Soi Romanee, once the busiest street in the area, now just... a good place for photo shoots.

The old town is full of cute cafes and shops with souvenirs, antiques, and jewelry stores. Some great graffiti.

What else to do and see in Phuket Town?

Phuket is not your typical tropical island town, but still has the feel of an old port city.

Viewpoint at Rang Hill

Climb the mountain north of the city and see a magnificent panorama of the entire southern part of the island. It’s best to come here closer to sunset - it’s not so hot anymore, and the setting sun gives a good, pleasant light. There are several good cafes at the top.

View of the city from Monkey Mountain

Monkey Mountain

Another observation point is on Monkey Mountain, where about 400 of these animals live. They behave quite arrogantly and you should be careful with them. They can snatch a bag from your hand or a camera, in general, extortionists are still the same! It's somewhat similar to the city north of Bangkok, where these monkeys are roaming around the city.

Temples Put Jor and Jui Tui

These two Chinese Taoist temples are located at the western end of Ranong Street. The first is dedicated to the goddess of mercy, and the second to the vegetarian god. This is where the biggest festivities are during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival in October, and the rest of the time there are several vegetarian cafes nearby.

Another Chinese Shrine of The Serene Light— was built in 1889. It's hidden in a hole on Phangnga Road. Just a few meters - and you watch the burning sticks in silence and absorb the peaceful atmosphere of this place.

Entrance to Shrine of The Serene Light

There are several museums in the city, and if you want to diversify cultural life, then it’s worth a look there.

First of all in Phuket Thaihua Museum- it used to be a school for studying Chinese language, now here you can see photographs and exhibits telling about the history of Phuket. Entrance 200 baht.

Clock tower

Is there some more museum in the Thavorn hotel building- the first five-star hotel in the city. Here you can see old photographs from the island's tin era, tin mining tools, smoking pipes...

The attractions of Phuket Town include several more interesting places: a 3D museum, a museum of optical illusions, and many art galleries.

Hotels in the city

The selection of hotels in Phuket Town is very good and prices are generally low.

The most famous hotel is in the city, because it was here, in room 37, that the film “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role was filmed. Actually, after the film, I went to Thailand again more people looking for unusual experiences and paradise islands. And it was after “The Beach” that the Phi Phi Islands gained unprecedented popularity.

Shops, shopping centers and markets in Phuket Town

There are a lot in the city shopping centers, shops, local markets and prices are not inflated like on tourist beaches.

In the large shopping malls Robinson, Ocean, Centrlal Festival you can buy anything and everything good quality(although the latter is not exactly in the city).

Next to the same Central Festival there are the Big C and Tesco Lotus hypermarkets, where you can buy groceries at low prices, such as Auchan and Lenta in Thai.

The largest night market in Phuket is also located in Town on Wirat Hong Yok Street. It is open on Saturday and Sunday from 16:00 until about 22:00.

The market with inexpensive vegetables/fruits is located a little inland next to the songthaew stop for the beaches on Ranong Road.

On Sundays, there is also a night market on Thalang Street in the old town. In general, there are several other markets in the city, but I have indicated the main ones.