Indy Market in Phuket Town ~ Hotel Accommodation

The 'Indy Market' in Phuket Town is a place we like to visit now and then with our kids. It's only existed since late 2010 and was set up as an outlet for young people to meet up, sell handmade goods or clothes, have a snack and a laugh, listen to some live music .. and it's all very wholesome and clean. It's very popular with teenagers, all trying to dress to impress. It's not a big market, just one street called Limelight Avenue on Dibuk Road in Phuket Town next to the popular Lemongrass restaurant, and it's open only Thursday and Friday evenings from late afternooon until about 10pm. In Thai, the market is called "Lad Ploy Kong" (หลาดปล่อยของ) - which means something like 'Market to get rid of things'. The Thai word for market is 'talad', but the South Thai dialect misses off the first sylable, so you have 'lad'. They do the same with other words, for example 'sanook' (fun) becomes 'nook'.

You enter at the enrance gate above where I always see youngsters snapping photos of each other with their smartphones and no doubt uploading direct to Facebook! This is a very different little market to the larger Weekend Market (which is open Saturdays and Sundays). It's almost all teenagers, the odd family here and there and I have never seen too many tourists. I mean, it's not a huge attraction, but certainly worth a look if you are around Phuket Town on a Thursday or Friday. We combined our last visit with a walk on Thalang road and a meal in a small restaurant nearby. You may also be able to pick up some reasonably priced and original Phuket souvenirs or artwork. But mostly it's clothes, shoes and local teens trying to look cool :)

(above) Girls get their nails painted at the Indy Market.

You can walk around the whole thing in 15 minutes, longer if you are interested in shoes and clothes - and it's mostly girls stuff. There might be some live music going on, just local kids who want to take the stage. And there are quite a few snack and drink stalls. One popular stall does some very tasty deep fried pork which is served with sticky rice. And our kids like these crepes (see below) onto which can be added a variety of sauces and toppings. Since the market is mostly for teens, most of the drinks for sale are non-alcoholic, though I did see one stall selling beers. Anyway, we just got some orange juice.