Thalang Road
The main street of the Old Town: a long row of restored shophouses, and the site of the Sunday market.
6 places
Phuket Old Town: the streets and houses, compared
The shophouse streets, a tin baron's house and the museum of the Chinese community side by side: entry, time to allow and the best time of day.
Phuket Town's Old Town was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Hokkien Chinese merchants who came for the tin, and its interest lies in its streets as a whole: rows of shophouses with arched windows and shuttered upper floors, painted in strong colours. Thalang Road, Soi Romanee, Dibuk Road and Krabi Road are a few hundred metres apart; on Krabi Road, Baan Chinpracha and the Thai Hua Museum let you step inside.
Come early, between about 8 and 10 am, or from about 4 pm: the middle of the day is hot, and many shops close in the hottest hours. The two houses charge an entry fee, and sources disagree on their opening days or hours, so check before you plan a morning around them. Our Old Town guide covers the history, the food and a walk through the streets.
Compare at a glance
| Places | Access | Entry | Time to allow | Best time | Distance (from Patong) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thalang Road | By road | A stop on an Old Town walk | Before 10 am, or from 4 pm | 11 km | |
| Soi Romanee | On foot from the road | A few minutes, on an Old Town walk | Before 10 am, for an empty lane | 10 km | |
| Dibuk Road | By road | A stop on an Old Town walk | Early morning or after 4 pm | 10 km | |
| Krabi Road | By road | A morning, with a house or a museum | In the morning, when the houses are open | 10 km | |
| Thai Hua Museum | By road | Entry fee at the gate | Part of a morning in the Old Town | A day you have checked it is open | 10 km |
| Baan Chinpracha | By road | Entry fee at the gate | Part of a morning in the Old Town | In the morning, as hours differ | 10 km |
Soi Romanee
The short lane of pastel shophouses between Thalang Road and Dibuk Road, once the red-light quarter of the tin miners.
Dibuk Road
A longer, quieter street of shophouses and family houses, where, according to The Phuket News, one of the first ornate shophouse rows was built.
Krabi Road
The street of the tin families' grand houses: Baan Chinpracha, the governor's mansion and the Thai Hua Museum.
Thai Hua Museum
The island's first Chinese-language school, built in 1934, now a museum of the Chinese community, the tin trade and the town.
Baan Chinpracha
A tin baron's house from 1903, still owned by his descendants and open to visitors.
See these places with us
Things to do · the Old Town
Old Town
A grid of painted shophouses built on tin money, a food culture that earned Phuket a UNESCO City of Gastronomy title, and a Sunday market that fills Thalang Road: the Old Town is the part of Phuket that is not about the sea.
Where to stay · Old Town
Old Town
The island's only real town, with shophouses, markets and its own food, and no beach. Which streets to sleep in, what the evenings are like, and who would be happier by the sea.
Where to stay
Where to stay
Kata and Karon for a first trip, Patong for the nights, the Old Town for the food, Mai Khao for the airport: the area you sleep in decides your beach, your evenings and your drives.
Common questions
How long do you need in Phuket Old Town?
Three to four hours to walk the main streets, five to six with a museum, a long lunch and a market.
Which Old Town houses can you visit inside?
Baan Chinpracha, a tin baron's house from 1903 on Krabi Road, still owned by his descendants, and the Thai Hua Museum, in the island's first Chinese-language school, also on Krabi Road. Both charge an entry fee. Next door to Baan Chinpracha, the governor's mansion is now the Blue Elephant restaurant: you see the inside as a diner.