Phuket, Thailand
Traditions and customs in Phuket
5 customs and traditions in Phuket — what they are, and how to take part without causing offence.
Last updated 2026-08-08
1. Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Photo: Joseph Ferris III · CC BY 2.0 · source
Nine days of Taoist observance in the ninth lunar month, including street processions and extreme piercing rituals by entranced devotees.
- Best time: September or October, varying with the lunar calendar
- Tip: Loud, sustained firecrackers are central to it. Not an event for small children or nervous dogs.
2. Peranakan (Baba) heritage
Photo: shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates · CC BY 2.0 · source
The island's Chinese-Malay creole culture shows up in the shophouse architecture, in wedding dress, and in the local dialect.
3. Muay Thai at a local stadium
Photo: Nestor's Blurrylife · CC BY 2.0 · source
Thailand's national sport, with the pre-fight wai khru ram muay ritual dance that most visitors do not expect.
- Cost: 1,000–2,000 THB for a ringside ticket
Watch outTouts on Patong's main strip sell 'ringside' seats at heavy markups for what turn out to be general admission.
4. Loy Krathong
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0 · source
Floating decorated baskets on water to release the past year's misfortune, held on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month.
- Best time: November
- Tip: Buy a krathong made of banana trunk and leaf rather than polystyrene — the latter is now widely discouraged.
5. Longtail boat island hopping
Photo: carey*w · CC BY SA 2.0 · source
The wooden longtail with its exposed drive shaft is the traditional working boat of the Andaman coast and still the way to reach small beaches.
- Tip: Agree pickup time and price before you are dropped anywhere. Being left on a beach is a genuine and recurring problem.
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