Phuket Old Town
Developed during the 19th-century tin-mining boom, the district’s defining Sino-Portuguese shophouses reflect a functional commercial design where ground floors served as active storefronts and trading houses while upper levels housed merchant families. Strolling through the vibrant neighborhood reveals preserved arcaded walkways (five-foot ways), boutique traditional dispensaries, heritage textile shops, and lively night markets that showcase centuries of maritime trade and Peranakan business culture. Colourful Sino-Portuguese shophouses that once served as homes, trading houses and businesses, many of which have now been transformed into cafés, restaurants, and boutiques. 

Thavorn Museum
Housed within the former Thavorn Hotel, the Thavorn Museum provides an insight into Phuket’s early tourism and business history, as well as the legacy of one of the island’s pioneering local families. The collection features historic photographs, furniture, household objects and memorabilia including vintage hotel register books, antique safes, early cinema projectors, classic radios, and authentic tin-dredging artifacts. It serves as a fascinating museum dedicated to the early mid-20th-century business leaders who helped transition Phuket from an industrial mining port into a destination for global tourism.

Phuket Museum
Phuket Museum introduces visitors to the island’s history and changing way of life through exhibitions and collections covering local communities, traditions and everyday life. Museum Phuket (Peranakannitat) chronicles the economic rise of the island. The museum’s curated exhibits walk visitors through four major commercial eras: the ancient forest period, the golden tin-mining boom, urban civic expansion, and the rise of modern international tourism. Highlights include an interactive walkthrough of a restored bank vault display, illustrating how early financial institutions, foreign capital, and rubber trade networks fueled the growth of the local economy.

​

Pearl Farm & Showroom
Phuket Pearl Farm offers an opportunity to discover an important part of Phuket’s coastal heritage, where pearl farming has developed as a traditional family-based industry and a source of livelihoods for local workers and communities. Visitors can learn about the complete pearl-farming process, from oyster seeding and cultivation to harvesting, grading and the creation of finished jewellery, providing an insight into how local knowledge and marine resources have supported the island’s economy. The farm’s approach combines traditional expertise with modern cultivation and research, while its connection with academic and government institutions reflects ongoing efforts to improve pearl production. The accompanying showroom presents the finished products of this industry, including Mabe, Akoya and South Sea pearls, incorporated into necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings and other jewellery, with opportunities for customised designs. The showroom also displays notable pearl creations and crowns produced by local craftsmen, demonstrating how Phuket’s pearl-farming heritage has evolved into a distinctive local craft and tourism experience.