Thai Hua Museum in Phuket

Thai Hua Museum Highlights

The Thai Hua Museum features a charming inner courtyard, which is open to the sky. It is considered one of the highlights of this type of Sino-Portuguese structure as the courtyard helps air the house, especially during summertime. It also has a lovely garden that exhibits large and heavy tools and machines from Phuket’s tin-mining years.

There are more than a dozen interesting exhibition rooms and short films in Thai and Chinese with English subtitles on both floors of the museum. Overall, the Museum does well in explaining Phuket’s history through many different angles with explanations about the Phuket-China connection, Thai Hua as the first Chinese-language school in Phuket, the Sino-Portuguese buildings on the island and Phuket’s traditional ceremonies, as well as its local cuisine.

Almost all of the Phuket Chinese left their homeland because of poverty and the majority came from Fujian Province towns such as Fuzhou and Xiamen. And because Phuket is a relatively small island, it’s easy to find out where exactly where the well known and influential Phuket families with Chinese backgrounds migrated from. Visitors will be able to see just that in one of the display rooms.

Among notable local migrant families are the Aikwanich who own Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa in Patong and Cheraim Spa Village across the road from Central Festival Shopping Mall and the Hongsyok clan who own Phuket Country Club Golf Course in Kathu.  

Good to know about the Thai Hua Museum

The Thai Hua Museum runs under the management of Kusonsongkhroh Foundation (aka Lok Xian Kok), a charitable organization with a long history dating back to the mining era in Phuket. It was set up by a group of the local well-to-do immigrant Chinese businessmen. Their original plan was to help their unfortunate fellow immigrants and to help improve living conditions for the islanders by building hospitals and schools. They still carry on the same mission today.

Thai Hua Museum

Opening Hours: Daily from 09:00 – 17:00
Location: 28 Krabi Road, Phuket Old Town area within walking distance from the famous Soi Romanee and Baan Chinpracha Mansion. Its parking space is open until 17:30 only. 
Tel: +66 (0)76 211 224
Price Range: 200 baht per person + 200 baht to take photos!