Situated in the heart of Old Phuket Town, this famous night market along Thalang Road opens every Sunday from 4pm till late. Roads are closed to traffic by mid-afternoon and stall owners set up shop in the centre, leaving two walking paths at the side.
I must admit that after visiting Chillva Market and Naka Weekend Market, this market is definitely the most appealing one in my opinion. If you only have time to visit one market during your trip, I highly recommend this one!
This market stretches as far as the eye can see, and in addition to the makeshift stalls set up in the centre, you can also check out the brick-and-mortar shops on both sides. Furthermore, there’s something awfully charming about shopping and eating at a night market against the backdrop of colourful heritage shophouses (:
However, it was insanely crowded during our visit! My husband and I were pushed and nudged quite a bit as personal space clearly didn’t exist here. Every time we dove back into the crowd from our corners of respite, it felt like we were holding our breath and anticipating the next checkpoint to make an exit for another breather.
The first dish that caught my eye was freshly cooked crab meat fried rice (THB60). The stall owner plated the fried rice first before throwing in sizeable chunks of crab meat from a separate tray. It was savoury and peppery, yum!
The second dish we tried was fried noodles (THB40), which tasted pretty average. I think we were attracted by the idea of comfort food in the form of instant noodles and the visually tantalizing pan of steaming noodles 😛
Next up was a cup of iced Thai milk tea (THB35), a delicious sweet treat to sip on as we continued scouting for more food.
We then spotted a stall selling freshly grilled items, so we got the perfect pairing of grilled enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon (THB25). The green sauce was too spicy for me though.
Having had Thai milk tea, my husband ventured to try some Taiwan milk tea (THB19). Unfortunately, this failed to impress as the consistency was a tad too thin for our liking.
For dessert, we bought a dirty chocolate cake (THB75) from MWD Bake. This was very chocolatey, indulgent and enjoyable!
My husband spotted a stall selling bracelets and bands, and ended up getting a dark green paracord bracelet (THB230) for himself.
You will also find many buskers and live acts at various junctions, adding to the market’s buzzing atmosphere. We especially enjoyed the bboy dance crew performance as they were so energetic!
My overall rating of the experience: 5 out of 5 stars. Combining the vibrant, bustling market vibes with the heritage shophouse charm characteristic of Old Phuket Town, Lard Yai Market is indeed a happening place to be on a Sunday evening ❤ It is a huge market with a very decent variety of food and retail stalls. The abundance of buskers and performers along the way also livens up the atmosphere. One of the thrills of exploring a market is discovering stalls that sell more unique and intriguing items or services. We experienced this thrill quite a bit here, which made getting squeezed like sardines with the crowds worth it. We could certainly do with repeated visits to this market to try the whole range of food on offer!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 