Karon Temple Market

Shop and try local food at Karon Temple Market

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The Karon Temple Market has grown steadily in popularity in the past years. Because it only occurs twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays), people start to plan their evenings around that event. Night markets have always been popular in Phuket and all over Thailand, but a Temple market sounds more exotic. Also, Karon Beach lacks a few attractions, so the fair is always a welcome breeze of fun.

The Karon Temple Market starts to set in mid-afternoon on the land surrounding the temple found in the back of Karon Beach about 500 meters away from the Karon Circle, and it’s surprisingly big and fun.

What to buy at Karon Temple Market

You will find a good mix of cheap clothing at this night market. Most of them are great for this tropical weather: light colourful dresses, shorts and those cotton elephant pants so popular with young travellers. As expected, you can browse a lot of T-shirts with all kinds of dumb messages printed on them, mostly silly stuff to wear on the beach.

There are a lot of local cosmetics and beauty products to look at; they are cheap and fun to browse but hard to tell what they do: shampoos, creams, lotions, balms, you name it. As always, you will find tourist souvenirs, including the beautifully carved soaps that make a beautiful and affordable gift to take home.

Try the local food!

Most interesting is the large choice of local food to try, don’t be shy to sample street food in Thailand, it is safe to enjoy, and it would be such a waste not to pick here and there. There is always the possible random ‘bad luck factor’, or you may have a sensitive stomach, but the consensus is ‘street food is safe’.

There are a lot of fruits on display too at the temple market: mangosteens, passions fruits, delicious bananas (try them, they taste so different from what you can find at home), and most importantly, don’t miss one of the most demanded Thai desserts: the famous mango sticky rice which always competes in popularity with the all-time favourite banana pancake!

You will walk by a lot of grilled meat and skewers to take back to your table with a local beer or fruit shake or some very delicious chicken rice saffron! However, the big winner is always the lady cooking a fantastic Pad Thai at the very entrance of the temple!

The Karon temple fair has all the ingredients for a fun and memorable evening! Take your time to browse the market stalls. It’s fun and a chance to buy a little souvenir to bring back to your friends at home; superbly carved soap is so cheap and always surprising. People are smiling and friendly; it is a unique experience and a good photo playground too.s