editorial

The hottest new address in Phuket Town is an homage to the island’s tin-mining past — and the louche exuberance of its former red-light district.
<figure id="attachment_139683" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139683" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-139683 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-1-1.jpg" alt="Charcoal-grilled cuttlefish at Coolies Club; bartenders mix up cocktails at the bar." width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139683" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Charcoal-grilled cuttlefish at Coolies Club; bartenders mix up cocktails at the bar. (All photos courtesy of Coolies Club)</figcaption></figure>
We’re downing wood-smoked Negronis and munching on tasty starters like pomelo salad and crispy chicken skin in what could be a set for a film about Shanghai in the Roaring ’20s. Except this sexy Chinese bar and restaurant is in Phuket, with a design by Bill Bensley, meaning everything is over-the-top and just a bit naughty. Which is fitting, considering these premises were once an opium den and brothel.
<a href="https://cooliesclub.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coolies Club</a> celebrates the Chinese immigrant workers who poured into Phuket from the late 1800s to work the island’s tin mines. One was owner Krystal Na-Ranong’s great-grandfather, who bought this pair of adjoining shophouses after making his fortune as a bookkeeper for a mining company. They’re located on Phuket Old Town’s Soi Romanee, in what had been the red-light district where tin miners would seek hedonistic pursuits after an arduous day’s work. Ranong, who had already twice teamed up with Bangkok-based architect and designer Bensley to transform her family’s pioneering Phuket beach resort into what is now known as The Slate, called on him again to bring his signature flamboyance to this project — no easy task given that the shophouses had sat derelict for decades. Gussied up with a Chinese baroque facade, the resulting venue now boasts boldly hued interiors filled with antique furnishings and period decor. The good looks are matched by serious cocktails and scrumptious dining. With a nod to the open-fire cooking used by bygone miners, the food is mostly smoked or charred — standouts include pork jowl in a tangy jaew sauce and wood-seared tuna belly.
For further proof of Coolies Club’s cheeky throwback vibe, head upstairs, where the former opium den has been recast as private dining salons that once again rent by the hour.
<figure id="attachment_139680" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-139680" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-139680 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-2-1.jpg" alt="Seating at Coolies Club; Spicy Maria, a tequila-based cocktail that features Thai herbs." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-2-1.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-2-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Coolies-Club-Phuket-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-139680" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Seating at Coolies Club; Spicy Maria, a tequila-based cocktail that features Thai herbs.</figcaption></figure>
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October/November 2024</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Pushing Tin”).

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