Phuket Town
Khao Rang View Point (ext. of Patiphat Rd)
Siri Temple (from Si Suthat Rd)
Local Bus Station (at Ranong Rd)
Bus Station for Mainland (at Pang Nga rd)
Book Shop (at Phuket Rd)
Post Office (at Bangkok Rd)
Asia Dental Center (at Phuket Rd)
Bycycle Repair Shop (at Bangkok Rd)
Fruit Market (at Bangkok Rd)
Porcelain Market (at Bangkok Rd)
Tawan Daeng Karaoke Restaurant ( at Hap Ek Rd - take Phun Phon Rd and Soi 1)
Robinson Warehouse (at corner of Ong Sim Phai Rd and Tilok Uthit 1 rd)
Shoe Market (at Montri Rd)
Road 402 to Phuket Airport (Thep Krasattri Rd)
Clock Tower Roundabout
Fountain Roundabout
To Saphan Hin Sport Center
Road 402 to Rawai Beach - Chao Fa Rd
The Chinese Shrine Chui Tui (at Phuthon Rd - off Ranong rd)
Phuket fisher port. Reached by Anuphat Phuket Kan rd along the channel.
A good map is also find on internet: http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/phuket_map/phuket_map_town.html
I hear many people say that Phuket Town is no good. So I hope the following description will give them a new view of the town.
You will get a good view of Phuket Town and it's surroundings in northeast east and southeast from Khau Rang View Point (1 at the map):
I like biking in Phuket town. I often make a stop at my favourite place for fried bananas (kluai tot). I pay 5 Bath for 5 (0.13 US$) bananas - a delicacy:
In the 90 meter long fruit market on Bangkok Road (9 at the map) I am well taken care of Mrs Sai, Who is here seen with Cempedak (cham-pa-da). In the background there are papaya (ma-la-ko) and in the foreground mango (ma-muang):
Night time Sai and her family (3 persons) are sleeping on a bed in their stall. They are protected against mosquitos by a net:
East of the fruit market there is a porcelain market (10 at the map) with a myriad of pots, vases and cutlery. It is 90 meters long and 25 meters wide:
South of Ranong Road the Chinese Shrine Chui Tui is situated (19 at the map):
Here I stopped one day to take som photos, when I met a group of people - a Bangkok family and a Kuala Lumpur family. They were very friendly and interested of my doing. I found out that the Malay family lived very near the house where I and my family lived in during the years 1975-1976, when I was working for UN in Kuala Lumpur. Now the Malay family wanted me to join them for lunch. Thus I got a nice pause in my biking and both the families were very nice:
In the midle of the picture in the most right is the Malay father Wong Yoon Bing. He is manager director of Mascorn in Malaysia. His daughter Chiew Ling and son Chun Wei to the left and two more brothers in the center picture - Chun Hai and Chun Voou. The man to the left in the right picture is the Thai father.
Sometimes I have to visit a bike repair shop at Bangkok Road. Here they are very clever. As I have a Swedish bike they normally do not have spare parts for me. But that has never caused me any problems. They are good inventors. They say 'mai pen rai' = no problems:
It may be worth while to visit one of the post offices in the town to by beutiful stamps for cards to be sent home (15 Bath at present). Printed year 2007:
Or why not these larger stamps printed year 2008:
For this purpose I got a nice assistanse from Jo at the office at Bangkok Road:
Worthy to visit is also Robinson - a warehouse like Harolds in London (to exaggerate a little), in the corner of Ong Sim Phai Road and Tilok Uthit 1 Road. A big textile shop you will find at Ratsada Road (north side). A good book shop at Thungka Road. If you want to relax from the city life take Chao Fa Road north to Kho Sim Bi Road, which is winding up to a view point, from where you can look over a big part of the town.
One day with my wife in town we saw a lady selling home made chop sticks with holders. Her little son was helping her to clean the pieces:
Craftsmen with their entire workshop are often seen on the pavements in the town. Here Kien is encapsulating Buddha amulets in small bakelite cases. His tools are simple but ingenius. In the foreground his drill with a trapeze handle. When he moves the handle up and down he gives the drill rotation. His customer - Nam - is patiently waiting for his two amulets.
On Bangkok Road This lady is doing some tailoring on a very old but still very good mashine:
It is a pleasure to see here change the under thred, creating a new under thred reel, adjusting the thred presure and sew. Customers come making their small orders and pay some few Baths for it.
Being in town to buy shoes I recommend a shop difficult to find if you do not know exactly where it is:
The address is Montri road at the cross roed fo Thalang road (13 on the map).
In the town there are several Karaoke restaurants very popular among the local people. My massage girl, who I got to sing during her work, persuaded me to join her and three of her friends to one of these restaurants. Tawan Daeng (11 on the map) is a large beautiful restaurant with many separate VIP chambers:
Here there was a big TV screen, comfortable sofas and a table. We found our places and our taxi driver and the girls started to sing and dance. A waitress served us continually with drinks. This turned to be a night I will never forget. But what I forgot was that I am 80 years old:
On this picture: Jit - our taxi driver - Aum, Ray, Kung and Lam Duan. Kung was best - she reached 100 %, Lam Duan and Jit 97%, while the others about 92. I managed to reach 80 % once. After som exercise I am sure I could improve my records here.
At a later visit at Tawan Dang I brought my wife and my daughter with her family together with four Thai girls from the massage. Even this night was a success. In the following picture you find my son in law Johan, who promised he would not sing, in a singing duet together with Aum:
If you want to go to Phuket Town from the west side of Phuket and have no bike a tuk-tuk (open taxi) is one alternative not too expensive (250 Bath = 6.50 US$) but why not take the bus. It is comfortable and you always meet nice people. Price only 30 Bath (= 0.5 US$):
It is a nice bus. After one 1 hour you end up at Ranong rd (3 at the map). There is a nice atmosphere in the bus.
North-West
of the town there are two big ware houses - Big C and Lotus. One km north of
Lotus there is a big jewellery factory. A visit to this place may result in
buying some of their products. Whether you do so or not the taxi driver, if you
had one, will get 50
Through the town runs some channels (klong). Some of these have been marked on the map with a blue collor. The following photo is taken from the last bridge over the channel that leads down to the fisher port (20 on the map):
This fisher port (20 on the map) is worth a visit. You reach it through Anuphat Phuket Kan rd:
One day I was lost in the town and could not find the way out on road 402. So I asked a lady for the road to the airport. She could explay very clear with several crossings. My plan was not to go to the airport but to Sarasin Bridge, but half way she appeared in a car and offered me a lift to the airport. I explained to her that I) in fact was heading for Sarasin Bridge. We talked a little and she told me she was going to the airport in order to post a parcel from her company - Kannaphat Curtain - where she is the manager director and which is situated where I first met her in the town. Her name is Kannaphat Intharaarporn:
North-West
of the town there are two big ware houses - Big C and Lotus. One km north of
Lotus there is a big jewellery factory. A visit to this place may result in
buying some of their products. Whether you do so or not the taxi driver, if you
had one, will get 50
When you are in these surroundings you have a good opportunity to visit the fresh water dam Bang Wat Dam which has a storage capacity of 7.31 million m3. But because of last 2 years missing rain this dam is only half full (Mars 2006). It is situated beautifully embedded between mountains and have some nice plantations. I have been here many times but never seen any other tourist. The place is used by the local people for relaxing purpose:
In
the east part of Phuket