The dry season
December to April: dry, hot days for golf, the zip lines and the parks; the waterfall shrinks to a trickle by March.
Kathu
District
A green valley in the middle of the island: the shrine where the Vegetarian Festival began, waterfalls, golf, adventure parks and local food at local prices.
Kathu in photographs
Kathu. Kathu. Kathu.
- Food
- Local restaurants, two with Michelin mentions
- Nature
- A waterfall in the western hills
- Children
- International schools and a water park
- Access
- Smart Bus between Patong and town
- Quiet
- No beach crowds, no nightlife
About Kathu
Kathu is a subdistrict in the middle of Phuket, about 9 km west of Phuket Town and halfway to Patong. The whole of it, some 35 km², is one town municipality. It borders Si Sunthon to the north, Chalong to the south, Wichit and Ko Kaeo to the east, and Patong and Kamala, the other two subdistricts of Kathu district, to the west.
The town sits in a lowland valley ringed by hills on almost every side, with the forest reserves of the Nakkerd and Kamala ranges on the slopes. Kathu Waterfall comes down from the western hills, and the Bang Wad reservoir lies on its edge; rubber, rambutan and durian grow on the farmland.
Kathu is one of Phuket's oldest communities. From the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth, it lived on tin and farming, and Chinese settlers came with the mines; the Kathu Shrine, where the island's Vegetarian Festival began in 1825, still holds the festival's first scripture. The Phuket Mining Museum tells that story on the town's northern edge.
Today Kathu is where many Thais and expats live between the beach and the town: local markets and restaurants, three golf courses, international schools, a tiger park, a wake park and zip lines. There is no beach and little nightlife; Patong is over the hill.
What is good about Kathu
Eat where Phuket eats
Kathu's fresh markets and family restaurants cook for locals; two of them, Krua Jongjit and Krua Ohm, have Michelin mentions, and meals cost far less than on the coast.
Waterfall and green hills
Kathu Waterfall, free and open 08:00 to 18:00, steps down through the forest above the town; it is at its best from June to October.
Schools and things to do
International schools, a water park, a tiger park, go-karts, zip lines and a cable wake park are all within a few kilometres.
Between beach and town
Patong is about 8 km over the hill and Phuket Town about 12 km away; the Smart Bus between them stops in Kathu for 50 THB (2026).
A working town
Kathu has traffic on the main road but no tourist strip: evenings are for markets and local restaurants, while Patong's nightlife is 10 to 20 minutes away.
Things to do at Kathu
Kathu. Kathu. Kathu.
Culture
Kathu Shrine
The Chinese shrine where Phuket's Vegetarian Festival began in 1825. Quiet most of the year (09:00 to 16:30); in 2026 the festival runs from 10 to 18 October, with Kathu's fire walk at 15:00 on the 18th.
Culture
Wat Kathu
Kathu's temple climbs a hillside in three levels, with the 1981 ordination hall at the top; few visitors, and well loved by photographers.
Culture
Phuket Mining Museum
The tin-mining era that built Kathu and Phuket Town, in buildings made to look like the period. Open 09:00 to 16:00, closed on Sundays; 100 THB for adults, 50 THB for children.
Culture
Fantastic Phuket
A walk through four eras of Thai history with an app that brings displays to life, and a haunted house of Thai ghosts. Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00; 600 THB for foreigners.
Nature · monsoon months
Kathu Waterfall
Free, 08:00 to 18:00. Concrete steps lead to the first two levels and a shallow pool for small children; a café has tables standing in the stream. Best from June to October.
Culture
Pun Tao Kong Shrine
A red-lanterned shrine on the steep road over the hill to Patong, built around 1980 to protect drivers; cars passing it still honk for luck.
Family
Tiger Kingdom
Indochinese tigers from cubs to adults, next to the go-kart track. Walk-around ticket 470 THB; ten minutes in an enclosure 920 to 1,320 THB (2026). Daily 09:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:00.
Family
Andamanda water park
A 100,000 m² water park with 25 attractions on the road to Phuket Town; 10:00 to 19:00, 1,500 THB for adults and 1,000 THB for children.
Sport
Wakeboarding and zip lines
Phuket Wake Park pulls riders round a lake on a cable, and Flying Hanuman's jungle course has 28 platforms, one zip line 400 m long.
Sport · dry season
Three golf courses
Loch Palm, Red Mountain and Phuket Country Club, all 18 holes, lie in Kathu's hills and old mining land.
Food and drink
Michelin-mentioned local cooking
Krua Jongjit and Krua Ohm are simple Thai restaurants that Michelin's guide has noticed; Kathu has many more like them, with dim sum, som tam and seafood.
Food and drink
Kathu's fresh markets
Talad Sot Kathu, a big covered market at the main crossroads, opens 06:00 to 22:00; the older Kathu Fresh Market on Wichitsongkram Road runs 05:00 to 14:00.
A day at Kathu
Start where Kathu shops: Thai breakfast and fruit at the old fresh market on Wichitsongkram Road.
Climb Kathu Waterfall's first levels while it is cool, then coffee at the café in the stream. Kathu Waterfall
Lunch at one of Kathu's Michelin-mentioned Thai restaurants, Krua Jongjit or Krua Ohm.
The Phuket Mining Museum before it closes at 16:00, then Wat Kathu and the Kathu Shrine. Phuket Mining Museum
Drive the hill road to Patong for sunset on the beach, honking as you pass Pun Tao Kong Shrine. Pun Tao Kong Shrine
Dinner from the stalls at Talad Sot Kathu, open until 22:00.
Places in Kathu
Our picks
Kathu Shrine
Chinese shrineA Chinese shrine in Kathu, one of the island's four Tao Bo halls and one of the three that run the biggest programmes of the Vegetarian Festival.
Wat Kathu
Buddhist templeA Buddhist temple in Kathu, moved to its present raised site; a centre of Buddhist education since 1956.
Phuket Mining Museum
MuseumA museum in Kathu on the tin-mining era that shaped Phuket, in a building and exhibits designed to recreate that time.
Fantastic Phuket Museum
MuseumA museum in Kathu presenting Thailand's four historical eras — Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Thonburi and Rattanakosin — where almost everything on display is also for sale.
Kathu Waterfall
WaterfallA small waterfall in the forest above Kathu, with a café whose tables stand in the stream.
Pun Tao Kong Shrine
Chinese shrineA roadside shrine on Patong Hill to Pun Tao Kong, a guardian of drivers and travellers, built by local people around 1980 because of the steep road's accidents.
Tiger Kingdom Phuket
AttractionA tiger park in Kathu where visitors can walk round or enter the enclosures of Indochinese tigers, from cubs to adults.
QSI International School of Phuket
A small nonprofit American-style school in Kathu, founded in 2000 as part of the Quality Schools International group and accredited by the Middle States Association.- No photograph yet
Kajonkiet International School Phuket (KIS)
The international school of the Kajonkiet group, a day school for ages 2 to 18 on 15 rai of grounds in Kathu.
Museums
Kathu Museum (former Kathu Liquor Distillery)
MuseumThe former Kathu liquor distillery of the Excise Department: three buildings run by the Kathu municipality, among them the heritage-listed distillery in a Sino-European style.
Parks
Bang Wad Reservoir
ParkA reservoir in Kathu whose shaded loop road, with almost no traffic, is used every day for walking, jogging and cycling.
Attractions
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Phuket
AttractionAn elephant sanctuary with three camps (Thalang, Bang Tao, Kathu) where visitors feed the elephants by hand and, in some programmes, join them in a mud bath and shower.
Restaurants
Da Sandro
RestaurantA small family-run Italian trattoria on Wichit Songkhram Road in Kathu, about 10 minutes by car from Patong.
Jongjit Kitchen
RestaurantA modest family restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road in Kathu cooking southern Thai family recipes for a mostly local crowd; listed in the MICHELIN Guide.
Ka Moo Boran
Local eateryA Kathu shop that does one dish: pork leg braised until it falls off the bone.
Kaif
RestaurantA restaurant in the Baan Chalekiri village on Phra Phuket Kaew Road in Kathu.
Ketho Dim Sum
Local eateryA casual dim sum breakfast restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road in Kathu, busy from 06:00 until noon.
Khrua Ohm
RestaurantA small, casual southern Thai restaurant on Wichit Songkhram Road in Kathu, whose cook buys the catch at the market each day; listed in the MICHELIN Guide.
Cafés
Chez Mori
BakeryA Japanese café and patisserie on a quiet street in Kathu, cooking yoshoku — Japanese takes on Western comfort food.- No photograph yet
Elephant Jungle Cafe
CaféA café in Kathu with rescued female elephants, where visitors feed them in a guided one-hour session. 
Luna Kathu
CaféA specialty coffee and brunch café in Kathu with an entirely halal menu.
The Glassic
CaféA glass-walled café in Kathu with high ceilings, greenery and a large car park; reliable Wi-Fi, cards accepted. A café by day, an evening bar after 17:00.
Top Cat Café
CaféA café combined with a rescue cat sanctuary in Kathu: more than 30 cats of different ages and breeds, exotic and hairless ones among them.
Shops
Lotus's Kathu
HypermarketA Lotus's hypermarket in Kathu, between Phuket Town and Patong.
Markets
Kathu Fresh Market
Fresh marketA local fresh market in Kathu, opposite the Shell station on the road between Patong and Phuket Town; the smaller of Kathu's two fresh markets.
Talad Sot Kathu
Fresh marketA large fresh market at the main Kathu intersection, by the Caltex station on the road between Patong and Phuket Town; one of the biggest on the island, renovated and enlarged in recent years.
Health
Bajor Wellness
ClinicA licensed clinic in Kathu with Russian-speaking doctors.
Phuket Dental Studio
Dental clinicA dental specialist centre that has long served local patients.
Svoboda Medical Center
ClinicA private clinic in Rassada for people with addictions and acute health conditions, part of a network from Moscow.
Schools
Kajonkietsuksa School
One of Phuket's oldest private schools, founded in 1954 in Kathu and the first on the island to run an English Programme.- No photograph yet
Phuket PALS
A tutoring and test centre in Kathu, set up around 2010, which prepares teenagers for the American GED high-school equivalency diploma as an alternative to a full international school.
Kids
Andamanda Phuket
Water parkA water park in Kathu, between Patong and Phuket Town, built around Thai mythology themes; opened in 2022.
Flying Hanuman
Adventure parkA jungle zip-line park in Kathu, between Phuket Town, Kathu and Patong, on Soi Namtok Kathu.
Patong Go-Kart Speedway
Family attractionAn outdoor go-kart track in Kathu on Vichitsongkram Road, between Patong and Phuket Town, next to Tiger Kingdom.
Phuket Circus
Family attractionA circus show in Kathu: aerial acrobatics, tightrope and fire acts, and motorcyclists riding inside a steel globe.
Phuket Kart Speedway
Family attractionAn outdoor go-kart track in Kathu, the faster of the two tracks facing each other below the Patong hill road, running two-stroke racing karts.
Phuket Wake Park
Adventure parkA cable wakeboarding park in Kathu on Vichitsongkram Road, around an O-shaped lake.
Golf
Loch Palm Golf Club
Golf courseAn 18-hole golf course in a valley in Kathu, next to Red Mountain, laid around Crystal Lake, the largest lake on any Phuket course.
Phuket Country Club
Golf courseOne of Phuket's oldest golf clubs, in Kathu near Patong, with the island's cheapest 18-hole round.
Red Mountain Golf Club
Golf courseAn 18-hole golf course in Kathu, in the centre of the island, built on a former tin mine and opened in 2007.
Muay Thai
Big Gecko
Muay Thai campAn open-air Muay Thai and fitness gym in Kathu with new equipment.- No photograph yet
DE GYM MUAY THAI PHUKET
Muay Thai campA Muay Thai training centre founded by a world middleweight champion. - No photograph yet
Kangaroo Muay Thai
Muay Thai campA modern Muay Thai gym in Kathu whose fighters compete locally. 
KAOSIBSAM Phuket Muay Thai Gym
Muay Thai campA Muay Thai gym in central Kathu.
Oleydong Boxing & Muay Thai Gym
Muay Thai campA boxing and Muay Thai gym in Kathu, close to Patong, with a strong focus on technique.
Phuket King Muay Thai
Muay Thai campA Muay Thai gym in Kathu, between Patong and Phuket Town, with a full-size ring, heavy bags, free weights and Olympic bars, cardio machines and a functional area.
Gyms
Just Fit Gym Phuket
GymA fully equipped gym in Kathu with more than 150 machines: spin bikes, TRX frames, cardio and a free-weights area.
Padel and tennis
Coconut Pickleball Center at PSU
Pickleball courtsA spacious indoor pickleball venue at PSU in Kathu.
Coconut Tennis Academy
Tennis courtsA tennis and pickleball academy on courts rented from Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in Kathu.
Padel Tennis Phuket
Padel courtsA padel centre in Kathu with courts for padel, tennis and pickleball.
Pickleball Phuket
Pickleball courtsA pickleball centre in Kathu with three courts.
Water sports
- No photograph yet
Swim Simple
Swimming poolA swimming school in Kathu with professional coaches.
Sports
PSU Phuket Sports Complex
Sports complexA large multi-sport centre on the Prince of Songkla University campus in Kathu.
- The zone
- A home and its rent
- A place, as the list numbers it
Homes and places on the map
Chinese shrine
Buddhist temple
Chinese shrine
Museum
Museum
Waterfall
Attraction
Attraction
Restaurant
Restaurant
Local eatery
Restaurant
Local eatery
Restaurant
Restaurant
Restaurant
Restaurant
Restaurant
Restaurant
Seafood restaurant
Local eatery
Bakery
Café
Café
Café
Hypermarket
Fresh market
Fresh market
Clinic
Dental clinic
Clinic
Water park
Adventure park
Family attraction
Family attraction
Family attraction
Adventure park
Golf course
Golf course
Golf course
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Muay Thai camp
Pickleball courts
Tennis courts
Padel courts
Pickleball courts
Swimming pool
Sports complex
Homes in Kathu
Town houses and shophouses in the old centre, housing estates and pool villas in the valleys, and golf-course villas and townhouses at Loch Palm and Red Mountain. Condos are fewer than on the coast; most homes come with a garden.
4 homes for rent in KathuKathu through the year
The monsoon months
Rain from late April to November, heaviest in October and November. The waterfall is at its best from June to October, and the Vegetarian Festival fills the Kathu Shrine for nine days in October (10 to 18 October in 2026).
Kathu with children
Kathu is a practical family base: international schools in the subdistrict, a water park, a tiger park and a waterfall with a children's pool, hospitals close by, and rents well below the coast.
- QSI International School and Kajonkiet International School are in Kathu.
- Kathu Waterfall's lowest pool is shallow enough for young children.
- Andamanda water park and Tiger Kingdom fill a day; go-karts sit next to the tigers.
- The private hospitals are 10 to 15 minutes away; the beach is 20 to 30 minutes.
Getting to Kathu and parking
- From the airport, by car
- 40–55 min
- From Patong, with the traffic
- 10–20 min
- From Phuket Town
- 15–25 min
Kathu lies on the main road between Phuket Town and Patong: about 12 km from the town, 8 km from Patong and 37 km from the airport. The Smart Bus between town and Patong stops here, and songthaews run the same road.
- The Smart Bus. Route 2 of the Smart Bus, Phuket Town bus terminal to Patong, stops at Andamanda and Kathu Fresh Market; the fare is 50 THB (2026).
- Songthaew. Local songthaew buses run between Phuket Town and Patong through Kathu.
- Grab and taxis. Taxis and ride apps are easy to find; Patong is 10 to 20 minutes away.
- By scooter. Handy for the waterfall and the parks; the hill road to Patong is steep, with blind bends.
- By car. The best way to the golf courses, the schools and the airport, about 40 to 55 minutes north.
Parking. Easier than on the coast: the sights, parks and markets stand on wide roads with room for cars and scooters.
Who will love Kathu, and who will not
Will love it
- Long-stay residents who want local prices, the hospitals near and both coast and town in reach.
- Tight budgets: a one-bedroom rents for about 12,000 to 22,000 THB a month (2026).
- Families who need an international school near home.
- Friends after adventure: zip lines, a wake park, go-karts and golf.
- Remote workers who want fibre internet and cheap local food away from the beach crowds.
Will not
- Anyone who wants the sea at the door: the nearest beach is 20 to 30 minutes away.
- A first holiday in Phuket: stay on the coast and visit Kathu for a day.
- Those wanting real quiet: the main road between Patong and town is busy.
Tips for Kathu
See the fire walk in daylight
Kathu Shrine holds the island's earliest fire walk, at 15:00 on the festival's last day (18 October 2026); the procession leaves at 06:45 the day before.
Check the closing days
The Mining Museum closes on Sundays and Fantastic Phuket on Mondays.
Shoes with grip at the waterfall
The steps reach Kathu Waterfall's first two levels; above them the rocks are slippery.
Tigers before 16:00
Tiger Kingdom's last entry is at 16:00; the tigers are often most active in the morning.
Ride the Smart Bus
Route 2 links Kathu with Patong and Phuket Town's bus terminal for 50 THB (2026).
Go early to the old market
Kathu Fresh Market on Wichitsongkram Road closes at 14:00; Talad Sot Kathu stays open until 22:00.
Honk at Pun Tao Kong
On the hill road to Patong, drivers sound the horn as they pass the shrine, for a safe journey on its blind bends.
Questions about Kathu
Where is Kathu in Phuket?
In the middle of the island, on the main road between Phuket Town (about 12 km) and Patong (about 8 km over the hill). The airport is 37 km to the north.
Is Kathu the same as Kathu district?
No. Kathu district has three subdistricts: Kathu, Patong and Kamala. This page covers Kathu subdistrict, the inland town; Patong and Kamala have pages of their own.
When is the Vegetarian Festival at Kathu Shrine?
In the ninth lunar month; in 2026 from 10 to 18 October. Kathu's procession is on 17 October at 06:45 and its fire walk on 18 October at 15:00.
Is there a beach in Kathu?
No. Kathu is inland; Patong Beach is 10 to 20 minutes away by road, Kamala and Karon a little further.
Is Kathu Waterfall worth visiting?
Yes in the rainy months, June to October, when the water is high. It is free, open 08:00 to 18:00, with a café whose tables stand in the stream.
How much is Tiger Kingdom Phuket?
A walk-around ticket is 470 THB; ten minutes inside an enclosure costs 920 to 1,320 THB, depending on the tigers' size (2026).
How much is rent in Kathu?
About 12,000 to 22,000 THB a month for a one-bedroom and 30,000 to 50,000 THB for a three-bedroom villa (2026), among the lowest on the island.
How do I get from Kathu to Patong?
Over the hill road, 10 to 20 minutes by taxi or scooter, or on the Smart Bus route 2 for 50 THB (2026).