Street food and night markets—two things you can’t miss when exploring Phuket! So yesterday we went eating on the streets too 🍢🍱
After a heated discussion spanning 2-3 days, my husband and I decided to cover two of the most dazzling night markets on Phuket Island—Naka Weekend Market and Lard Yai Sunday Night Market (also known as the Sunday Market of Old Phuket Town)—all in one evening.
On a sunny Sunday, we rented a scooter for ฿250, gave a deposit of ฿3000, and fueled it with ฿40 per bottle (the price when buying it from the store). Aside from these expenses, we allowed ourselves a collective food budget of ฿450, which we weren’t allowed to exceed.
So which of these two markets was better? How much eating there costs? When should you go and where should you park?
Read ahead for all the details!
SUNDAY NIGHT MARKET AT OLD PHUKET TOWN – ฿135
This market is quite famous and was suggested to us by a local.
Every Sunday from 4 pm to 11 pm, Thalang Road closes to vehicle traffic and opens for pedestrians to enjoy the food, shows, and souvenirs at Lard Yai Sunday Night Market.
As a bonus, it’s located in Old Phuket Town, known for its century-old, brightly painted Sino-Portuguese townhouses.
We parked our scooty across the lane facing Museum Phuket and the Clock Tower. Even though we arrived at dot four in the evening, the lanes with filled with two wheelers and we had to maneuver our way to find a good spot. Thankfully though, due to the off-season or hot sun in the sky, there wasn’t much of a crowd on the lane itself.
First, we visited the quaint little chinese shrine we saw at the begining of the market (from clock tower side).
The videos we had watched beforehand made the market seem huge, but in reality, it’s just a single road lined with food stalls and shops. The sides of the road were dotted with bars, restaurants, and fruit vendors.
We started by watching an enchanting performance of a group of talented young Thai musicians, seated right at the centre of whole lane. In total, there were four performances happening on the full lane at that time.
The seating arrangement with little cute chairs near the performance area reminded us sorely of the juice and seeds shops located at Old Town Hanoi (Vietnam).
Now, onto the main attraction—THE FOOD! Together me and my vegetarian husband had:
- Sugarcane Juice (฿20)
- A Plate of 7 Mini Pancakes – Coconut, Taro & Banana (฿40)
- Iced Thai Tea (฿20)
My vegetarian husband also had –
- 1 Mini Avocado Roll & 1 Mini Seaweed Roll (฿20)
While I had –
- 1 Mini Salmon Roll & 1 Crab Meat Roll (฿20)
- 1 Chicken Breast Skewer (฿15)
Because we had a late lunch, we couldn’t explore/splurge more.
Total cost: ฿135. The beautiful Old Town Phuket area reminded us a little of Georgetown in Penang, Malaysia.
NAKA WEEKEND NIGHT MARKET – ฿245
Our stay in Kathu was close to the Central Phuket Mall, and the Naka Weekend Night Market was just a 5-10 minute drive away. So it was one of our natural go-to choice for the mission of second market exploration of the night.
It’s open every Saturday and Sunday from 4 pm to 10 pm. Parking was easy within the market premises. We explored the vibrant market for 30-40 minutes and found:
- A shopping area with souvenirs, jewelleries, clothes, bags and cosmetics sandwiched between the food sections on both sides of the market,
- Toilet signs (so I am guessing the toilets) on the two opposite sides of market,
- Live performances by a solo singer, a trio band, and a big stage where Thai local children were giving amazing performances.
After getting a good sense of the market, we started gobbling. My vegetarian husband had:
- Veg. Samosa Rolls (฿50)
- Avocado Shake (฿50)
- Water Bottle (฿10)
And I enjoyed:
- Squid Eggs Small Cup (฿40)
- 3 Sashimi pieces (฿30)
- Box of Jackfruit (฿50)
- Sweet Taro Ball (฿15)
Total cost: ฿245.
Both our mobiles had threatening low batteries by that time, so we couldn’t click many photos of the Naka market.
Verdict:
- We stuck to our budget of ฿450 and spent only ฿380 🥳
- NAKA MARKET OR SUNDAY MARKET!
I personally liked the vibe of Naka Market more—it was buzzing with energy. But my husband preferred the Sunday Market for its more authentic feel.
Is there any other way we could have planned this better? Do let us know in the comments.
PS: Banner photo by Red Shuheart on Unsplash