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Roots Earth in Phuket: audio stories about 40 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 40 places in Phuket, Thailand, in Asia. The Phuket stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Phuket, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 40 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: phuket.md

The 40 places in Phuket with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Phuket Big Buddha
  2. Wat Chalong
  3. Phuket Old Town
  4. Patong Beach
  5. Karon Beach
  6. Kata Beach
  7. Kata Noi Beach
  8. Kamala Beach
  9. Phang Nga Bay
  10. James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan)
  11. Phi Phi Islands
  12. Maya Bay (Ko Phi Phi Le)
  13. Similan Islands
  14. Sirinat National Park
  15. Phuket FantaSea
  16. Ko Racha (Racha Islands)
  17. Ko Yao
  18. Sarasin Bridge
  19. Amanpuri Resort (Pansea Beach)
  20. Khao Lak
  21. Thalang District
  22. Phuket International Airport
  23. Phuket Thaihua Museum
  24. Soi Romanee
  25. Jui Tui Shrine
  26. Phuket Vegetarian Festival
  27. Khao Rang Hill
  28. Saphan Hin Park
  29. Phuket Weekend Market (Naka Market)
  30. Chalong Subdistrict
  31. Rawai Beach
  32. Promthep Cape
  33. Nai Harn Beach
  34. Bang Pae Waterfall
  35. Heroines' Monument
  36. Kathu Mining Village
  37. Wat Phra Thong
  38. Bang Niao Shrine
  39. Ko Sirey (Sea Gypsy Village)
  40. Phuket Walking Street (Lard Yai)

Is there an audio guide for Phuket Big Buddha?

Yes. Phuket Big Buddha has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 40 Phuket places in the app, at 7.8276, 98.31285. Every one of the other 39 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Phuket

Open Roots Earth and choose Phuket. The city has its own map of places with all 40 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 40 places in Phuket, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 40 places in Phuket, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Phuket Big Buddha

Coordinates
7.8276, 98.31285
In one line
A 45-metre seated Buddha of white Burmese marble crowns Nakkerd Hill above Chalong Bay.

2. Wat Chalong

Coordinates
7.84667, 98.33667
In one line
Phuket's most revered Buddhist temple, officially Wat Chaiyathararam, honours the monks Luang Pho Chaem and Luang Pho Chuang, who aided villagers during the 1876 Chinese rebellion. Its towering pagoda and gilded halls draw worshippers and visitors alike.

3. Phuket Old Town

Coordinates
7.88571, 98.38756
In one line
Built on tin-mining wealth, Phuket Old Town preserves rows of pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses along streets like Thalang and Dibuk. It is the heart of the island's Baba culture, a blend of Hokkien Chinese and Siamese traditions.

4. Patong Beach

Coordinates
7.89306, 98.29833
In one line
A 2,850-metre crescent of west-coast sand, Patong is Phuket's busiest resort beach. Popular with European visitors since the late 1980s, it backs onto the neon energy of Bangla Road, the island's most famous nightlife and walking street.

5. Karon Beach

Coordinates
7.86111, 98.29167
In one line
Phuket's second-longest beach, Karon stretches down the island's west coast just south of Patong. Known for fine white sand that squeaks underfoot and a calmer, more relaxed mood, it draws families and, notably, Scandinavian visitors.

6. Kata Beach

Coordinates
7.81972, 98.29694
In one line
A palm-backed crescent on Phuket's west coast, Kata Beach is a popular family-and-surf bay about 17 kilometres from Phuket Town. Known for monsoon-season waves and the islet of Ko Pu offshore, it hosts an annual surfing contest each September.

7. Kata Noi Beach

Coordinates
7.80639, 98.29889
In one line
A small, secluded cove just south of Kata on Phuket's southwest coast, Kata Noi nestles below forested hills.

8. Kamala Beach

Coordinates
7.95728, 98.28303
In one line
Kamala Beach is a quiet 3-kilometre crescent of sand on Phuket's west coast, set beside a traditional Muslim fishing village.

9. Phang Nga Bay

Coordinates
8.28, 98.6
In one line
Phang Nga Bay is a 400-square-kilometre expanse of emerald water studded with towering limestone karsts, sea caves, and hidden lagoons. Protected as a national park since 1981, it shelters stilt villages, mangroves, and waters shaped over thousands of years.

10. James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan)

Coordinates
8.27538, 98.50056
In one line
Khao Phing Kan, known worldwide as James Bond Island, is a pair of leaning limestone islets in Phang Nga Bay. Its slender offshore needle, Ko Tapu, became famous as a villain's lair in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun.

11. Phi Phi Islands

Coordinates
7.73333, 98.76667
In one line
The Phi Phi Islands are a six-island group in the Andaman Sea, ringed by towering limestone cliffs and white sand. Famed for diving and beaches, they were devastated by the 2004 tsunami and rebuilt, and now sit within a protected national park.

12. Maya Bay (Ko Phi Phi Le)

Coordinates
7.67889, 98.765
In one line
Maya Bay is a small cliff-ringed cove on Ko Phi Phi Le, made famous by the 2000 film The Beach. After overtourism destroyed much of its coral, it closed from 2018 to 2022 to recover and now welcomes visitors under strict limits.

13. Similan Islands

Coordinates
8.6525, 97.64083
In one line
The Similan Islands are a pristine Andaman archipelago famed for granite boulder formations, coral reefs, and white sand. A national park since 1982, the eleven islands rank among the world's top dive sites and close each year for the monsoon.

14. Sirinat National Park

Coordinates
8.09, 98.3
In one line
Sirinat National Park protects 90 square kilometres of beaches, mangroves, and reef on Phuket's quiet northwest coast. Established in 1981, it shelters the island's longest beach, Mai Khao, and a coast where sea turtles come to nest each year.

15. Phuket FantaSea

Coordinates
7.96, 98.29
In one line
A 60-acre cultural theme park at Kamala Beach, opened in 1998. Its centerpiece is the Palace of the Elephants, a 3,000-seat theatre staging a lavish Thai spectacle blended with illusion, acrobatics, and special effects.

16. Ko Racha (Racha Islands)

Coordinates
7.60611, 98.36639
In one line
A pair of small islands south of Phuket, Ko Racha Yai and Ko Racha Noi, prized for some of the Andaman Sea's clearest water. White-sand bays and coral make them a favored day-trip for snorkeling and diving.

17. Ko Yao

Coordinates
8.11167, 98.59083
In one line
A quiet island district in Phang Nga Bay, set among limestone karsts between Phuket and the mainland. Its two main islands, Ko Yao Yai and Ko Yao Noi, hold mostly Muslim fishing villages, rice paddies, and rubber groves far from the resort crowds.

18. Sarasin Bridge

Coordinates
8.20152, 98.29803
In one line
The first bridge to link Phuket with the mainland, opened in 1967 across the Pak Phra channel. Spanning 660 meters, it ended the island's isolation. Now a pedestrian promenade beside its modern successors, it is a favorite sunset viewpoint.

19. Amanpuri Resort (Pansea Beach)

Coordinates
7.98459, 98.27615
In one line
Opened in 1988 on Pansea Beach, this was the first Aman resort. Designed by Ed Tuttle in the style of ancient Ayutthaya, its pavilions among the coconut palms launched a new vision of intimate, design-led luxury that reshaped hospitality worldwide.

20. Khao Lak

Coordinates
8.68889, 98.25
In one line
A stretch of beaches in Phang Nga province, about 60 kilometers north of Phuket, backed by forested hills. Hardest hit in Thailand by the 2004 tsunami, it has since been rebuilt as a quieter resort coast, with memorials honoring those who died.

21. Thalang District

Coordinates
8.032, 98.334
In one line
Phuket's northern district and former capital, where two sisters rallied the defenders against a Burmese siege in 1785. Now home to the Heroines Monument, ancient temples, and the international airport, it holds the island's oldest layers of history.

22. Phuket International Airport

Coordinates
8.11306, 98.31667
In one line
Thailand's third-busiest airport, set in Mai Khao on the island's northern tip. Once a modest regional field, it now welcomes over 17 million passengers a year, the gateway for nearly every Phuket arrival.

23. Phuket Thaihua Museum

Coordinates
7.88521, 98.3876
In one line
A graceful Sino-Portuguese mansion that opened in 1934 as Phuket's first Chinese-language school. Reborn as a museum in 2010, it tells the story of the island's Hokkien settlers, the tin boom, and Baba heritage.

24. Soi Romanee

Coordinates
7.88485, 98.3883
In one line
Old Phuket's prettiest lane, lined with candy-colored Sino-Portuguese shophouses. Once the tin-era red-light district of brothels and gambling dens, it is now a beloved street of cafes, galleries, and guesthouses.

25. Jui Tui Shrine

Coordinates
7.88336, 98.38505
In one line
One of Phuket's oldest and most revered Taoist shrines, founded in 1911 and dedicated to Tean Hu Hoo, patron of the performing arts. It stands at the heart of the island's famous Vegetarian Festival.

26. Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Coordinates
7.8846, 98.3866
In one line
A nine-day Taoist rite of purification held each autumn, tracing back to 1825. Devotees in white forgo meat while entranced mediums pierce their bodies and walk on fire to honor the Nine Emperor Gods.

27. Khao Rang Hill

Coordinates
7.895, 98.3798
In one line
A leafy hilltop above Phuket Town, beloved by locals for its sweeping viewpoint, breezy restaurants, and exercise park. Friendly monkeys roam its slopes, and a white pavilion dome crowns the panorama over town and sea.

28. Saphan Hin Park

Coordinates
7.8687, 98.4055
In one line
A breezy seaside park at the southern tip of Phuket Town, built on a former tin-dredging port. Its drill-bit monument honors Captain Edward Thomas Miles, who brought the first tin dredge to the island in 1909.

29. Phuket Weekend Market (Naka Market)

Coordinates
7.8729, 98.3898
In one line
Phuket's largest weekend bazaar, locally called Naka Market or Talad Tai Rot, fills a sprawling lot near Phuket Town each Saturday and Sunday evening with secondhand goods, street food, and hundreds of vendors.

30. Chalong Subdistrict

Coordinates
7.8396, 98.3452
In one line
A subdistrict in southern Phuket wrapped around Chalong Bay, home to Wat Chalong, the island's most revered temple, and a busy pier that serves as the main gateway to nearby islands and dive sites.

31. Rawai Beach

Coordinates
7.7762, 98.3245
In one line
A working fishing beach on Phuket's southern coast, Rawai is the island's longtail-boat harbor and seafood market, and home to communities of Urak Lawoi sea people who have fished these Andaman waters for generations.

32. Promthep Cape

Coordinates
7.762, 98.3056
In one line
The southernmost headland of Phuket, Promthep Cape is the island's most celebrated sunset viewpoint, crowned by a Brahma elephant shrine and a lighthouse built in 1996 to mark King Bhumibol's golden jubilee.

33. Nai Harn Beach

Coordinates
7.7747, 98.3033
In one line
A sheltered crescent of white sand in southern Phuket, Nai Harn Beach has stayed remarkably unspoiled thanks to a Buddhist monastery that owns much of its shoreline. A freshwater lagoon and forested hills frame the bay.

34. Bang Pae Waterfall

Coordinates
8.0167, 98.3792
In one line
A jungle waterfall in the protected Khao Phra Thaeo rainforest of northern Phuket, Bang Pae is also home to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, founded in 1992 to return captive gibbons to the wild.

35. Heroines' Monument

Coordinates
7.9958, 98.3649
In one line
A bronze statue of two sword-bearing sisters stands at a busy Thalang roundabout, honoring Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon, who rallied the islanders to repel a Burmese siege in 1786.

36. Kathu Mining Village

Coordinates
7.909, 98.333
In one line
Kathu, the cradle of Phuket's tin rush, traces its boom to rich ore found around 1809 at Baan Ket-ho. Chinese miners poured in, reshaping the island's people, food, and faith, a story now told in Kathu's mining museum.

37. Wat Phra Thong

Coordinates
8.0399, 98.3334
In one line
In Thalang stands Wat Phra Thong, home to a half-buried golden Buddha called Luang Poh Phra Thong.

38. Bang Niao Shrine

Coordinates
7.8823, 98.3906
In one line
Bang Niao Shrine, one of Phuket's five oldest Chinese temples, anchors the island's Nine Emperor Gods festival. Born of a 19th-century tale of an ailing opera troupe cured by fasting and prayer, it sends one of the festival's two largest processions through the streets.

39. Ko Sirey (Sea Gypsy Village)

Coordinates
7.8833, 98.4333
In one line
Just east of Phuket Town, a short bridge crosses to Ko Sirey, home to Thailand's largest community of Urak Lawoi sea gypsies. Roughly 1,900 people live in stilt houses by the shore, while a hilltop temple shelters an 18-metre reclining golden Buddha.

40. Phuket Walking Street (Lard Yai)

Coordinates
7.8845, 98.389
In one line
Every Sunday evening, Thalang Road in Phuket Old Town closes to traffic and becomes Lard Yai, the Big Market. Launched in 2013 along a row of restored Sino-Portuguese shophouses, this walking street fills the historic quarter with food, crafts, and music.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

  • No account
  • Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection
  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app.