Pud Jor Shrine

Pud Jor Shrine is a Chinese shrine on Soi Phuthon, off Ranong Road in Phuket Town, built in 1909 near the end of the Qing dynasty to house a carved image of Guanyin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, known here as Guanyin Pud Jor. It’s free to enter, open daily 08:00–17:00.

According to the shrine’s own history, a merchant sailing from Penang on a three-masted junk carried the carved Guanyin Pud Jor image into old Phuket town. He took a liking to this spot — then a canal mouth where boats could dock, with a jetty and an existing shrine already standing — and installed the statue there. The building that grew up around it follows traditional Hokkien architecture, and it’s still tended today by Phuket’s Thai-Chinese community, many of whom come to pray for blessings around children and marriage.

Watch out: This is a working shrine, not a museum piece — incense smoke can be heavy indoors, and during the Vegetarian Festival it gets loud and crowded fast. If you want a quiet look at the architecture, avoid visiting during the festival’s nine days unless the ceremonies themselves are what you’re there to see.

Pud Jor is one of the shrines that takes part in that festival, held each autumn on the lunar calendar, when devotees dressed in white honour the Nine Emperor Gods with processions and ceremonies across the island. The tradition traces back roughly two centuries to Phuket’s tin-mining era, when a Chinese community held a ceremony to pray for the end of an epidemic — the outbreak subsided afterward, and the ritual has been observed annually since.

Insider Tip: Combine it with a walk through Phuket Old Town — Pud Jor sits close enough to the Sino-European shophouse streets that it fits naturally into a stroll rather than needing a special trip.

Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and remove your shoes before stepping into any prayer hall. Small bills are useful if you want to light incense or leave an offering alongside the regulars. Photography is generally fine in the open areas, but ask before photographing anyone at prayer. The shrine is a short tuk-tuk, songthaew, or walk from anywhere in central Phuket Town — pair it with Jui Tui Shrine or Bang Niew Shrine if you want to compare Phuket Town’s Chinese shrines in one afternoon.