What Are the Best Cafés to Work From in Phuket?

In the Old Town of Phuket Town. Three streets, Thalang, Dibuk and Phang Nga, have more cafés than any other part of Phuket, many roast their own beans (often grown in the hills of northern Thailand), and they're where you'll find expats working through the morning.

Living further south or north-west? Rawai and Cherng Talay have cafés aimed at people who live on the island: lower prices, a calmer room, regulars rather than tour groups. Patong and Kata are the opposite, with chain cafés that are dearer and more predictable. A separate breed sits next to yoga studios and gyms, with smoothie bowls, plant milk and breakfasts.

Why does the Old Town win? Coffee. Thai beans are grown up north, in the hills of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai from about 800 m up, on plantations that switched to coffee under a state programme, and that northern crop goes into the specialty roasts served in Phuket Town. It's also the one place where a barista might ask how you like your grind.

Three things, in this order. Sockets first: count them on the way in, because a small café may have only two in the whole room, and if the only one is behind the counter you'll last an hour, not four. Then air-conditioning. A veranda looks lovely, but from 12 to 16 it can be +34 in the shade, and nobody works through that.

Then the Wi-Fi, in the first two minutes. Café connections are often slower than your own phone, which is why plenty of people simply tether. In Patong, Kata, Karon, Bang Tao and Phuket Town mobile internet handles video calls; in the hills, on remote beaches and deep inland the signal gets weaker.

Arrive before noon. After lunch the tables fill with people eating, and in a small café the good seats go first. Opening hours are early-ish to start and early to finish: around 9–10 in the morning, and many places switch off the lights at 17–18, with only a few late cafés on the island.

Staying half a day is fine, but one espresso over four hours isn't. Order a second coffee or lunch every couple of hours, keep off the table for six at peak time, and you'll be welcome back.

Yes, in several areas, including Phuket Town and the west coast. A coworking makes sense when you need a guaranteed connection and the same desk every day, plus a backup line for when the mobile network slows down, as it can at peak hours in Patong.

If you're renting for months, check the internet in the flat itself before signing: condo Wi-Fi is usually good, while stand-alone houses and villas can be slow, and the café or coworking then becomes your office by necessity rather than choice. For tethering, a regular local SIM with a monthly top-up works out noticeably cheaper per day than the 7–30 day tourist packages sold at the airport.

Coconut-milk coffee is the local classic, made with fresh milk rather than a carton. Cold brew steeps for 12–16 hours and goes down better than espresso in the heat. One warning: sugar goes in by default and generously, so ask for no syrup when you order, or you'll get dessert in a cup.

And when a tropical shower hits, usually for an hour or an hour and a half, a café with a glass wall is about the best place on the island to wait it out, with air-conditioning and a second cup.