Phuket: Old Town, beaches and island trips

What is Phuket Old Town?

Phuket Town grew rich on tin in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hokkien Chinese migrants came to work the mines, and European traders brought their own building styles. The result is the Sino-Portuguese shophouse: European-style facades with arches, shutters and stucco, wrapped around Chinese-style interiors.

Thalang Road is the classic place to start, lined with pastel shophouses that now hold cafés, shops and small hotels. The Thai Hua Museum, in a former Chinese school, tells the story of migration and tin mining.

Who are Phuket's Baba people?

Many Hokkien miners married local women, and their descendants formed a distinct Peranakan community, known locally as Baba. Their influence lives on in Phuket's food, dress and heritage homes, some of which are open to visitors.

The Vegetarian Festival

Phuket's best-known festival lasts nine days in the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, usually in late September or October. Participants follow a strict vegetarian diet, and dramatic street processions start from Chinese shrines such as Jui Tui in the Old Town. Its origins are traced to the nineteenth century and a visiting Chinese opera troupe.

Beaches and sea safety

Patong is the busiest and most built-up beach, with the island's nightlife; Rawai, in the south, is quieter. Wat Chalong, the island's most revered temple, is an easy stop between beaches.

The Andaman coast's calmer, drier months are generally November to April. During the southwest monsoon, from roughly May to October, with September and October usually the wettest, storms can bring strong currents and waves of more than two metres. Swim only where lifeguards are on duty, follow the warning flags, and do not swim when a red flag is flying. The Gulf islands, such as Koh Samui, have a different pattern, with their heaviest rain in October and November.

Bikinis are fine on the beach and by the pool, but topless sunbathing is not accepted anywhere. Cover up when you leave the beach, and men should not walk around town or ride a scooter shirtless.

Island trips

Phuket is the starting point for boat trips to the limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay and to the Phi Phi Islands. In the monsoon season, wind and waves can cancel boat trips and make snorkelling impossible, sometimes at short notice; book with operators who check the forecast and provide life jackets. If you rent a jet ski, photograph or film it first and have any existing damage noted in writing: disputes over old scratches are a well-known scam. For what to eat back on land, see our guide to Thai food.