Shopping and Souvenirs in Phuket

Phuket Town now has several department stores, which make it easy for visitors to find the essentials. Hundreds and hundreds of little shops and street stalls, meanwhile, sell cheap and often very nice beach and sportswear. The department stores usually have fixed prices. You can bargain in the smaller shops. Don’t forget that a smile always smoothes the process of negotiation. Never show any anger or real frustration.

Cultured pearls are one local industry, and a number of shops have jewellery for sale. You can find shops specializing in Thai handicrafts around the island, though many of the crafts or designs are from other parts of Thailand.
While Phuket lacks the variety and sheer volume of handicrafts and other local goods seen in Northern Thailand and Bangkok, there are still some great buys to be had here. Shopping in Phuket offers silks and cottons, ready-to-wear and custom made clothing, batiks, leather goods, jewellery; ceramics and antiques are among the more popular items. And due to the boom of upscale property developments on the island, there’s also a fabulous range of home décor products and furniture.

Large department stores are located in Phuket Town and Patong, and a smaller one is in Thalang Town; they have a broad range of what is available in Thailand, both imported and domestic. Tailors’ shops are everywhere, labour costs are inexpensive so a handmade suit is an attractive purchase. Tailors supply the cloth, or you can select your own from one of the many cloth merchants on Thalang Road in Phuket Town.
Souvenir Pearls, baltiks, and pewter ware are Phuket’s best known products. Shops that specialize in these are found on Rasada Road; Phang-nga Road, Montri Road, Yaowarat Road, and Tilok Unit I Road in town and Tourist beaches such as Patong, Kata, Karon and Rawai.  photo credit: colodio

Several markets in Phuket exist at various locations, adding to the charm of shopping in Phuket; some are permanent, others operate in the mornings and evenings according to Thai tradition and then there are markets specifically catering to tourists, sporting mainly souvenirs and handicrafts; these can be found in most the tourist centres.

Phuket City

Phuket City and vicinity is host to a wide range of shops, from handicraft and antique stores, to the hyper markets of Big C and Tesco-Lotus on the bypass road, to department stores selling brand name clothing, to furniture and homeware stores selling everything from knick-knacks to custom-made rattan living room sets. Shopping in Phuket city is surprisingly good and worth the trip away from the beach areas.

The downtown historical district known as ‘Old Phuket’ is worth exploring for shopping, not only for its unique boutiques and great deals, but also to see some fine examples of Sino-Portuguese architecture. Thalang, Dibuk, Phang Nga, Yaowarat and Krabi roads are particularly charming, as life here among the locals seems to go on much as it did generations ago. There are some great little restaurants – Thai cuisine, noodle shops, roti stands and more – in the area, too.  photo credit: Storm Crypt