San Chao Saengtham

This guide to San Chao Saengtham in Phuket Town's old quarter follows the private family shrine built in 1891 by Luang Amnat Nararak, a Hokkien Chinese-Thai official whose family had come from Fujian during the tin-mining boom. It traces why the shrine had no proper entrance for over a century, reached only through a narrow alley behind the shophouses, and what the hand-painted murals rising two storeys inside depict from the Song Dynasty legend of Xi Ying Gui. Look closely at the ceramic dragons and stone lions on the terracotta roof before you step through the courtyard gate.