What to do in Phuket other than chilling at the beach

When you think of Phuket, you think: sun, sand, sea. Is there really anything else to do if you aren't a fan of the beach, or you're just tired of lying around the whole day on a bed of sand? Well, here's a list of 5 things to do in Phuket that don't involve the beach!

1. Go for a cooking class

Cooking classes in Thailand are gaining a lot of hype, and for good reason! The Thais can really cook up a storm and you can be sure that any random restaurant that you go to will serve good quality Thai food. I chose to try my hand at a cooking class in Phuket with Eing, who runs Organic Thai Cooking School. You can choose between a 3-course or a 5-course meal package, and you can pick any of the dishes offered on the website - it need not be the package combinations that they offer. What I like about it is that it's one of the cheapest cooking schools I could find and it's also not one of those big, established ones, so we got a lot of personal interactions. Since I went as a group of 4, it was just us and Eing. We opted to go for the 3-course meal, which costs 1450 Baht, inclusive of the actual meal after cooking and also transport to and from our accommodation by Eing's husband, Roger.

The 3-course meal we opted for was: Pad Thai, Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Prawn Tom Yum soup. It took about 2 hours and Eing will show us the ingredients for each of the dishes before proceeding to tell us how to deal with them. She let us have a go at cutting some of the ingredients and also frying later on. Since we had 4 people, the work got split up and we didn't need to spend much time preparing the ingredients. If you're a beginner wanting to try cooking, or if you just want to know how Thai food is cooked and what ingredients are added, I would recommend trying it out with Eing and Roger at Organic Thai Cooking School! My friends and I really enjoyed our experience there.

Pad Thai

Chicken with Cashew nuts

Tom Yum Soup

2. Explore Chillva Market

I've been recommending this to everyone going to Phuket because it was THE BEST night market on the island. It may not be the biggest, but the prices there are kept low because it's meant for the locals. The food was also amazing, and very cheap. I would describe it as Artbox with local prices. They have all the hipster decorations going on so for those who love to take instaworthy pictures, you will not be disappointed for sure. I spent most of my time there exploring the food options, but they do have a pretty selection of clothes - I managed to snag a jumpsuit for 300 Baht!

Roast Pork - 55 Baht (Other snacks like Lemongrass chicken went for 15 Baht, and beef went for 10 Baht)

3. Take a walk in Phuket Old Town

My friends and I found this place to be similar to Malacca, or Penang, because of the Sino-portugese architecture in the area. Even the snacks they sold were similar, which is really interesting because it showed how history played a part in the amalgamation of culture across different countries. You can cafe-hop there, or just take a stroll through all the different streets - there are many hidden gems in the area for photo taking!

Typical sino-portugese architecture

Classic car!

Peranakan-style housing

Random cafes everywhere!

A mansion turned into a museum

Graffiti that reminds me of Penang

Fried beehoon with pork rib soup - 40 Baht

4. Tour Chalong Bay Rum Distillery

Phuket has its own rum distillery hidden amidst a housing estate - they use the sugarcane produced in Thailand to ferment and distill their own white rum. I would recommend going for the tour they conduct hourly from 2-6pm everyday. It's 450 Baht/person and it comes with a mojito, as well as rum shots to let you try the different flavours of rum they make. There's a bonus - the place is nicely designed for instaworthy pictures as well!

Try your hand at jenga after a mojito and 5 shots of rum!

5. Promthep Cape to Karon 

I know, this is a rather touristy location, but I tried going there and the scenery wasn't too bad. It's nice to just soak in the sun, wind and watch the waves for a little while you're at a pretty good vantage point. Perhaps it's just the timing that I went but there weren't that many tourists. We proceeded on to walk around the Karon area for a little while (not on the beach) and if you're a fan of Ubud, I think you'll enjoy the Karon area.

Transport in Phuket

For those who are able to ride scooters, or willing to try riding one, this is the best way to get around. However, if you're not so confident, I would then recommend either taking Grab, or perhaps renting a car. There are no buses or trains in Phuket!

There are other things to do as well - island hopping to Koh Yao Noi, but we didn't do that due to a lack of time and because the Bang Rong Pier was too far. I also would have wanted to try trekking in the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park, but will reserve that for another trip instead!