Krabi Town

The main town of Krabi is located about 30 minutes drive from Klong Muang. Krabi Town reminds me of the small towns in Malaysia. It’s not much different except for some very unique traffic lights! The traffic lights at the Krabi Town Square are held up by ape-men statues to commemorate the archaeological findings of 43,000-year-old human skeletons in the Krabi district.
The main road in Krabi town is filled with rows of shops including food shops where visitors can have a cheap authentic local meal. There are also some food stalls along the pavements for a quick pick-me-up. For visitors who would like to engage in a spot of retail therapy, there’s the Vogue Shopping Mall in the middle of the town. It’s quite small, but adequate I guess. There’s a small supermarket and a Boots pharmacy on the ground floor as well as a KFC and Dunkin’ Donuts.

We also spotted a brand new Wat (temple) being built nearby at the back of a hill.

Away from the main street, there’s also a market opposite the City Hotel. When we were there at 1pm, there were many fruit stalls where the king of fruits, the durian, are sold as well as many other local fruits. A section of the market houses food stalls selling Muslim food. The fragrance of the curries filling the air is really hard to resist! Chao Fa Pier is also located nearby. I’m told that a night market opens every night in Krabi Town where visitors can buy souvenirs and other local foodstuff.

Unfortunately, we were not able to go to Krabi Town at night as again, transportation costs from our resort is really expensive! It costs THB500 per way from the resort which works out to almost RM50 each way!

Finally, there’s also a Big C Shopping Mall and Tesco Lotus (where I’m told there’s lots of great Thai food!) on the way to the airport.

All said, I think Krabi Town is a good location to stay if accessibility is what visitors look for. The only downside is there’s no beach.

Food discoveries at Ruen Mai Restaurant, Krabi

One of the most amazing food discoveries we had in Krabi was at Ruenmai-Thai Restaurant near Krabi Town. I've read about this restaurant in several blog posts so it was already one of my top to-do-lists in Krabi. The entrance to Ruen Mai is simple, just a little dirt road off the main road. It’s hidden from view, so entering into this restaurant made me feel like I’ve stepped off into some exotic oasis. Ruen Mai is set within the confines of a “mini jungle”. There’s a small stream that runs through the garden as well as a small pond where carps thrive. Big lanterns are hung on the trees, to light up the restaurant at night I presume. I imagine it must be a lovely sight at night. It’s also a great place to have a quiet meal amidst the flora. Young explorers will be kept happy whilst their parents enjoy a nice meal as there’s lots to explore here. We ordered the Tom Yam Koong (Tom Yam Prawn Soup) which came in a claypot packed with big prawns. The prawns were extremely fresh and the soup was perfectly sour and spicy! This is the best tom yam soup I’ve had yet! The mango salad with cashew nuts were good as well. The crisp julienne young mango contrasted perfectly with the crunchy roasted cashew nuts.We also ordered a plate of stir-fried ferns. Very tasty! The last dish was the egg omelette with fresh crab meat. There were chunky pieces of crab meat in the fluffy omelette which our daughter loved. The omelette was not too oily either. As it was a hot day, we ordered watermelon juice (perfect to keep cool) and mandarin orange juice. The juices were thick and nice, the perfect thirst quenchers!

Ruenmai-Thai Restaurant is located at 315/5 Maharaj Road, Muang Krabi, 81000 Thailand. Tel : 075-631797. If you're ever in Krabi, this is one restaurant you don't want to miss!