Khao Rang hill above Phuket Town
The town's lookout, with a café view over the rooftops to the sea.
- Area
- Old town & culture
- Start from
- Phuket Town
- Distance
- about 10 min
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Best season
- All year
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Transport
- Taxi, scooter, or walk
- Tickets & rules
- None
Why go
Khao Rang is a forested hill on the edge of Phuket Town with a viewpoint over the town, the harbour and Chalong Bay.
It's where locals come to exercise in the morning and watch the lights come on in the evening.
There's a statue of the town's founder figure and several restaurants with views.
The view at night is especially nice when the town lights up and the ships in the bay switch on their lights.
The hill has a small park, a temple and a fitness area.
A morning visit is a completely different experience. Locals walk and jog up the hill at dawn, older people practise tai chi in the small park, and the town below is wrapped in soft haze. Breakfast at one of the hilltop restaurants, with the bay turning from grey to blue, is a lovely way to start a day in town.
From the viewpoint you can trace the shape of the old town, the harbour and the road out to Rassada pier, and understand how compact Phuket Town really is.
The story
The statue on Khao Rang honours Phraya Ratsadanupradit, a governor who modernised the region in the early twentieth century.
The hill was once on the edge of the mining town.
The hill has long been a lookout for the town, from mining days to now.
The governor's statue is a place of respect; visitors bow and leave flowers.
Phraya Ratsadanupradit, whose statue stands on the hill, governed the region in the early 1900s and is remembered for building roads, schools and hospitals and for modernising tin mining. Locals still credit him with turning Phuket from a frontier mining district into a proper town, and his statue is decorated with flowers on anniversaries.
Getting there
Drive or walk up from Phuket Town.
Walking up from the old town takes around 30–40 minutes on a steep but quiet road; take water.
A suggested plan
- EveningArrive before sunset.
- SunsetViewpoint.
- DinnerRestaurant on the hill or back in town.
- MorningJoin locals walking up for exercise.
Where to stay
Phuket Town.
Good to know
- Combine with the old town.
- Walking up is a good workout.
- Tung-Ka café is a local institution with a view.
- Combine sunset on Khao Rang with dinner in the old town, a few minutes' drive below.
- Weekdays are quieter than weekends.
- Monkeys sometimes snatch food.
- Steep road.
- Avoid walking down in the dark alone.