Visiting Phuket, Thailand: Top Sights on Foot

Phuket is Thailand’s largest island and a historic crossroads between India and China. Among the best things to do in Phuket is exploring Old Phuket Town, where Sino-Portuguese buildings, Chinese shrines, former schools and local museums reveal the island’s multicultural past. Neywo also offers a free audio guide for Phuket with 5 narrated places.

What to See in Phuket’s Old Town

Old Phuket Town

Old Phuket Town is a lively historic quarter in the heart of Phuket. Its Sino-Portuguese buildings line Thalang, Phang Nga, Krabi, Dibuk and Yoawarat streets, creating one of the most distinctive urban landscapes on the island.

Many of the old structures now house shops, hotels, restaurants and small museums, so the neighbourhood feels lived-in rather than preserved as a static monument. The same area may also be associated with names such as Lard Yai Sunday Night Market, Museum Phuket and the Chartered Bank Intersection.

The buildings reflect Phuket’s position on the historic trade route between India and China. Portuguese, French, Dutch and English ships appeared in the island’s records, although Phuket was never colonised by a European power. The island was once known as Thalang, while its present name likely comes from the Malay word “Bukit”, meaning hill.

Phuket Thai Hua Museum

On Krabi Road, the Phuket Thai Hua Museum occupies a Sino-Portuguese building with a rectangular, symmetrical design arranged around a central courtyard. Its roof combines hip-and-gable forms and is covered with traditional earthen banana-leaf tiles.

The building was erected in 1904 as a Chinese Hokkien school. It later became Phuket Jong Hua School in 1946 and Phuket Thai Hua School in 1948. When the school moved to a new campus in 1995, local organisations restored the historic structure. The museum opened on 1 October 2008, and the building was registered as a historic site in 2002.

Inside, displays include old school photographs, artefacts, books and stories connected with the Phuket Thai Hua School. A dedicated exhibition room explores the journey of Chinese migrants to Phuket and the island’s multicultural story.

Jui Tui Shrine

Jui Tui Shrine is a Chinese place of worship on Soi Phuthon, off Ranong Road. Locals call it อ๊าม, a word meaning a small shrine or hermitage.

The shrine began construction during the early years of King Rama VI’s reign. Its name also connects the site with the area’s earlier landscape: “จุ้ย” means water and “ตุ่ย” means a rice mortar. In the past, a wide canal ran through the area, and villagers built a water wheel there to pound harvested rice.

Peranakannitat Museum

The Peranakannitat Museum is a local history museum in Phuket City. It forms part of the historic centre’s compact collection of places that explore the island’s communities and changing identity.

Together with the old shophouses, the Phuket Thai Hua Museum and Jui Tui Shrine, it helps turn a walk through the city into a journey through Phuket’s Chinese and local heritage.

Phuket Beyond the Historic Quarter

Phuket consists of the main island and 32 smaller islands in the Andaman Sea off Thailand’s west coast. The island is connected to the mainland by the Sarasin Bridge and parallel bridges to Phang Nga province, and Phuket International Airport serves the northwest of the island.

Its history is closely linked to the sea and to commerce. Today, tourism is central to Phuket’s identity, but the city’s historic streets preserve another side of the island: one shaped by migration, trade, education, religion and local craftsmanship.

For wider travel planning, Phuket is part of Thailand, and nearby destinations include Krabi and Koh Lipe.

Explore Phuket with Neywo’s Audio Guide

Neywo’s Phuket self-guided walking tour, Old Phuket Town: Shrines, Schools and Sino-Portuguese Shophouses, covers 1.25 km in 38 minutes and includes 4 narrated stops: Jui Tui Shrine, Phuket Thai Hua Museum, Old Phuket Town and Peranakannitat Museum.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Download Neywo and explore Phuket’s historic centre while the city unfolds around you. Narration is available in 11 languages.