Digital Nomad Guide for Phuket, Thailand
Phuket is an island in Thailand which has a bit of a reputation. And that’s definitely true if you go to the infamous Patong beach area. However, Phuket is a big island and it has so much more to offer than just tourist traps!
Recently, digital nomads have started discovering it too and this year (2023) I’ve decided to give it a go too!
Here’s my digital nomad guide for Phuket, Thailand!
Things To Do
Phuket has many different things to do, but of course, the main attraction are the gorgeous beaches, especially on the west side of the island.
Here a few things to do while you’re on this tropical paradise island:
Hit up the beaches
Phuket has some of the most amazing beaches I have seen in all of Asia. The water is calm and clear (in dry season), the water temperature is perfection and the sand is silky soft and pearly white.
These were some of my favourite beaches in Phuket that I visited:
Go island hopping
There are many beautiful smaller islands surrounding Phuket, such as the (in)famous Phi Phi island, Maya Beach (the famous island from “The Beach” movie), Monkey Beach, Hong Island and many more. There are many tour providers that can take you to multiple islands in one day, so it’s a fun activity to do as a fay trip! Check out GetYourGuide activities for example.
Another thing you can do if you’re staying a bit longer and an island hopping tour would be too intense for you, is booking a weekend away on one of the surrounding islands.
Visit Phuket Old Town
Phuket Old Town is small and quaint and it’s lovely to walk around and try the different coffee places and shop at some of the boutique stores. It is a tad bit touristic, I have to say, but if you go with that in mind, you can bear with it.
Visit the night markets
Night market in Phuket Old Town
There are a few really cool night markets in Phuket, the biggest one probably being the one in Old Town. It is only open on Sundays and it gets quite packed, but it’s fun to see and taste all the different snacks they sell.
Another, smaller night market that we lived close to, was Chillva Market. It was open every night except Sundays, and it was a bit more local than the one in Phuket Old Town, so I actually liked it a bit better.
Visit Big Buddha
One of the main sights to see is the Bid Buddha in the south of the island. The big statue is located on top of a mountain, that can be reached via motorbike, car or buggy ride. You then need to climb a few steps to get to the Buddha statue, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful view as well.
Shop til you drop at the Mall
One of the main malls in Phuket was Central Phuket that actually has two buildings that are connected: Central Phuket Festival and Central Phuket Floresta. Both have nice food courts too. If you’re tired from the hot weather, then diving into one or both of these malls definitely provides a fun half a day outing.
Hit up the Spa
Like in most places in Thailand, there are many amazing Spa’s in Phuket as well. I went to one called Kim’s Spa (they have multiple “shops” in Phuket) in Phuket Old Town. They have a variety of different spa packages, all of them for a very good price. I tried to go every week while I was there because it was so relaxing!
Things To Eat
Lunch at Kin Kub Ei
There’s a lot of great food in Phuket, and because it’s a big island, it’s hard to make a selection. Since we lived quite close to Old Town, most of the places I list here are located there.
Thai/Local Cuisine
ร้านอาหารเจดอกบัว Dok Bua Vegetarian Restaurant, $, Nice vegetarian Thai place, that we wished we had discovered sooner and not on our last day..
Roti Taew Nam, $, For authentic Phuket breakfast, try this popular local Roti place
Kin Kon Krua, $, Another very delicious local breakfast cafe located in Phuket Old Town
Kin-Kub-Ei, $$, This popular lunch cafe has been mentioned in several big blogs/vlogs such as Mark Wiens. It’s definitely a great spot for some authentic Thai lunch, so also recommended from my side (it is however currently closed for renovations - keep an eye on it!)
International Cuisine
Day & Night of Phuket, $$, A really nice, somewhat fancier restaurant with decent Italian options as well as local dishes. Do try their Boksu dessert (shaved ice), it was so good!
Marni, $$, Great Italian place with decent Napolitan pizza!
FIVE Loaves Burgers, $$, Decent burger place in Phuket Old Town
Specialty Coffee
Coffee at Graph cafe in Phuket Old Town
Above is just a small selection; there are literally so many specialty coffee places in Phuket! See also my blog post on Best Specialty Coffee in Phuket for a full list of where to find the best specialty coffee in Phuket.
Brunch
Hohiho Cafe, $$, A slightly more upscale brunch place that serves great brunch and coffee in a beautiful location
Bartels Bang Tao, $$, really nice brunch cafe with good coffee and amazing sandwiches made from their own home-baked sourdough bread
Fold Sourdough, $$, They make some amazing sourdough bread and have really nice breakfast dishes as well as coffee. Also a great place to work from, by the way!
Where To Stay
Because the island of Phuket is so big, different areas in Phuket have different characteristics.
If you want to stay close to cafes, night markets and such, I’d recommend you to stay near Phuket Old Town.
If you want to stay near amazing beaches, you should probably find somewhere to stay on the west coast of the island or in the south. Though definitely avoid Patong beach, as this is where the worst tourism is concentrated.
I’ve heard that there are digital nomads in Kata beach and Karon beach. I have visited Kata beach and I liked the vibe - albeit it was also quite a touristy spot as well, though it seemed a bit more quiet tourism - not like the Patong tourism which is like rowdy and loud.
Another digital nomad hotspot seems to be Ra Wai Beach, although I haven’t visited it. It seems to have a goof vibe though and there are many remote workers and it is also next to the beach.
Cafes To Work From
Phuket has so many cafes… it really isn’t normal! We basically tried a new cafe almost every day in the 5 weeks we spent there. It is really insane the amount of cafes and specialty coffee places. And they all have fast wifi!
Here are a few of our favourite cafes to work from in Phuket:
RestDay Coffee Bar & Bake House (see picture above)
Accommodation
View from our apartment in Phuket
We found our accommodation via Airbnb and stayed in the north of Old Town, in an area called “Ban Ratsada”. Because we went during high season, accommodation on Airbnb was in quite high demand, and prices were rather high for a month. I would recommend to book earlier if you already know that you will be in Phuket. Also on Booking.com you can find some good accommodation options, if you select apartments or aparthotels for example.
I’m not sure how easy it would be to find accommodation on the spot while you’re there… but I’m sure it must be possible, especially if you will stay for multiple months. There are also a few co-living spaces worth checking out, such as Homa, which actually looks really nice.
Sim cards & Internet
Internet is really fast pretty much anywhere you go. Most cafes and restaurants will have fast wifi.
I also got an eSimcard from AIS (a Thai network provider) which was really cheap if you buy it from the store. If I remember correctly it was around 20 euros for 30 days with plenty of GB. If you go to the store they will help you download and install the eSimcard which is really easy. Make sure your phone is compatible, otherwise they also have physical simcards.
For even more convenience you can also try Airalo, which is an eSim card provider app, that you can conveniently download via the app. You can get your eSim card on Airalo here. Just make sure your phone is compatible with an eSim card!
When To Go
The best time to go to Phuket is during dry season from November / December to March. We went in February and it was really amazing weather. However, because it’s also high season it meant that the prices were fairly high as well.
Monsoon season is from May to October.
Transportation
The best and easiest way to get around the island is by motorbike. There are many bike rentals around the island, so it’s super easy to find something. We paid around 100-120 euro for a one month motorbike rental.
Although no one really checks, it is technically possible that you are stopped by the police at some point. In that case you do need to show an international driver’s license, otherwise you will get a fine. However, most people seem to do fine without one, as far as I’ve heard.
If going around on a motorbike is not your thing, then there are also Grab’s available. However, I would make sure to stay somewhere where you can get around by walking, such as Kata beach or Ra Wai Beach.
Digital Nomad Community
To be really honest with you - we failed to find any sort of digital community while we were in Phuket. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t there! I think the area we stayed in was not very ‘digital nomad-y’ and we also didn’t sign up to any co-working space.
Apparently, in the southern part of the island, there is more of a community, if you go to Ra Wai Beach for example.
Just a note that the island is very popular with Russians, especially in high season - the majority of tourism in Phuket is from Russia. So we also saw there were a lot of Russians in co-working/co-living spaces. In low season, there seem to be more tourists from India, China and Taiwan.
Travel Insurance
Don’t forget to get a travel insurance when you go to Phuket as a Digital Nomad! My favourite travel insurance made specifically for remote workers, is Safety Wing. I think it’s great value for money, as all the rest of the ‘digital nomad insurances’ can be quite pricey. Whenever I travel I book with them.
Find more info and book your Safety Wing insurance via this link.
Final Thoughts on Phuket as a DN Destination
I personally enjoyed my stay in Phuket! If you love beaches, cafes and water activities then Phuket is definitely something for you. What I also enjoyed is that there were also some malls and many restaurants - which made me think of Chiang Mai a bit and I liked the combination of having that as well as the beach close by.
Because it is traditionally known as a touristic place (especially Patong) there are some places in Phuket that can be rather touristy and crowded. Therefore, if that’s really not your thing and you prefer a more laid back island that is off the beaten track, maybe Koh Lanta or Koh Phangan is more your cup of tea.
I hope this blog post has been helpful! Please leave a comment if you have any other questions about Phuket:)
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