Standard Chartered Bank

Phuket Town


Thailand's sun-yellow oldest foreign bank is a fine example of Phuket Town's historic Sino-Portuguese architecture. Though you can admire the restored century-old exterior at any time, inside is a small, modest museum devoted to Phuket's Baba (Peranakan) culture, which was born in the 19th century as the Phuketian and Chinese populations mixed.

Right opposite is the yellow-walled, similarly styled Thai Police Building, with its distinctive four-tiered clock tower.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Phuket Town attractions

1. Thai Police Building

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Painted in a striking yellowy-mango shade, this ancient building has a unique, early 1990s four-storey clock tower and a traditional police-cap roof. The…

2. Thavorn Hotel

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Opened in 1961 by the tin-mining Chinese-Thai Thavorn Wong Wongse family, the Thavorn was Phuket's original five-star hotel. It's one of the oldest hotels…

3. Phuket Philatelic Museum

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The island's original post and telegraph office, recently given a coat of canary-yellow paint, is a fine example of Phuket's Sino-Portuguese architecture…

4. Soi Romanee

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Branching off Th Thalang, in the heart of the Old Town, this small, vibrant street flaunts some of Phuket's most gorgeously revamped Sino-Portuguese…

5. Hai Lam Shrine

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A crimson-coloured Sino-Portuguese facade with bright-yellow flourishes, at the heart of old Phuket Town, gives way to this quiet Chinese shrine.

6. Shrine of the Serene Light

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A handful of Chinese temples pump colour into Phuket Town, but this restored shrine, tucked away up a 50m alley now adorned with modern murals, is…

7. Wat Mongkhon Nimit

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Just beyond the northern end of beautiful Soi Romanee, Phuket Town's working main Buddhist temple is over 85 years old and is one of the island's four…

8. Phuket Thaihua Museum

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Founded in 1934 and formerly a Chinese-language school, this flashy museum is filled with photos, videos and English-language exhibits on Phuket’s history…