Phuket · guide

Fitness Street Phuket: gyms, prices and your first week on Soi Ta-iad

Soi Ta-iad is a 1.6 km street in Chalong, in the south of Phuket. Here you can wake up and go to a Muay Thai class, then have breakfast with the protein and calories already counted for you. After that, an ice bath and a second session.

I live nearby and have trained here since June 2026. This is the guide I wanted on my first day.

Pavel Rostovtsev12 min read · prices as of August 2026

What Fitness Street is and where to find it

The official name is Soi Ta-iad. It is in Chalong, in the south of Phuket. You will also see it written as Soi Taied, Fitness Street or Fighter Street. It is all the same place.

The street runs from Chao Fa West Road in the north to Chao Fa East Road in the south, next to the shopping centre. From turn to turn it is 1.6 km, about twenty minutes on foot.

It started with one gym. Tiger Muay Thai opened here in 2003, then other camps came, then cafes, laundries, glove shops and massage places. Today there are more than two hundred businesses and over five hundred classes a week on this stretch. You can live here and barely leave the street.

What is close by:

• Wat Chalong three minutes from the street
• Nai Harn beach 15-20 minutes
• The Big Buddha climb 4.3 km with 330 m of elevation gain
• Bang Wad dam, where PhuketRun meets on Saturdays, about 15 minutes by scooter

To be fair about the downsides: the sea is far, so you drive to the beaches. The street is noisy and dusty, and you will not get a pretty view from your window. If you want views and nature, this street is the wrong place for them.

Getting there from the airport

The drive takes 40-50 minutes. It is easier to sort this out before you fly.

• Grab. Install the app and link your card at home. The ride is 600-900 baht
• Taxi at the exit. Agree on the price before you get in, around 700-1,000 baht
• Minibus. The cheapest option, about 200 baht, but slow and with stops
• Transfer from your stay. Many guesthouses on the street pick you up for a fixed price, ask when you book

On the street itself most people use a scooter. Rental is 150-300 baht a day, and you will be asked for an international driving permit at the rental shop and on the road.

Gyms and types of training

Work out what you want from your body first, then go and look at specific places.

A Muay Thai class runs 1.5-2 hours: skipping rope, technique in pairs, then pad rounds with the coach. Nobody throws a beginner into sparring. You join it when you are ready and only if you want to.

One thing worth knowing before you pay for a camp: they come in three kinds. Soft camps work with tourists, short classes and no contact. Mixed camps, which are most of the street, split people by level. Fight camps prepare people for fights, with clinch and sparring every day. The most common beginner mistake is walking into a fight camp on day one and deciding Muay Thai is not for them.

Air conditioning. People ask about this more than about prices. Almost every gym on the street is open-air with fans. For Muay Thai and functional training that is normal, everyone trains like that. Only two places are cool inside, and both are regular gyms: Ludus and SuperFit.

Where I train myself

Since June I have tried four gyms and stayed with all four.

• KONG. I come for strength and HYROX. After the session you can go straight to the sauna and ice
• Unit 27. Morning Glory and Drill Sergeant at eight in the morning. They take the group up the Big Buddha climb
• Titan. Body 360 at 10:15, calm work on strength technique. Cold towels after the class
• Pirate Camp. On Wednesdays at 7 am they drive from the gym to Nai Harn beach and train on the sand

Prices and passes on Fitness Street

Prices as of August 2026, in Thai baht. They vary along the street, so check on the spot.

• Drop-in class: 375-500 baht
• Week: 2,200-3,200 baht
• Unlimited month: 8,500-12,500 baht
• Full fitness package at Tiger: about 16,500 baht a month

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Prices in baht as of August 2026. Check on the spot before you buy.

Ludus is the cheap one: drop-in 550 baht, week 1,200, month 2,500. The card covers the machine gym on the ground floor and the functional floor upstairs. The pool and spa are paid separately.

Drop-ins or a monthly pass

The common newcomer mistake is buying an unlimited month at the first gym you walk into. A week later you find out the coach's style is not yours or the group is too big.

What works: for the first three or four days take drop-ins at different gyms, one a day. Look at the group size, whether the coach corrects your technique, and whether the class time suits you. Then buy a week at the one you liked. A month makes sense if you stay long and train at least four times a week. It pays off at roughly the twentieth session.

Free things to do

• Five classes at Unit 27 with any long-term visa, on first sign-up, within one week
• Calisthenics at KONG. The class is called Jungle Bars, Mondays and Fridays 11:00-12:00. Beginners welcome
• PhuketRun every Saturday at Bang Wad dam, free to join
• Soi Saturdays, a run right along the street, no fee and no sign-up

Free class schedules change faster than any article gets updated, so check the current week before you go.

New to Muay Thai? 500 m away, at the next turn, Yak Yai runs an intro class on Mondays at 10:00 for 300 baht.

Sauna, ice and massage

• Titan: sauna and ice bath on a schedule, midweek window 12:00-14:00
• Unit 27: sauna and ice bath 16:00-17:00
• KONG: ice bath and sauna inside the gym, with a chill zone
• Regen Spa: sauna with a cold plunge, red light and massage. Single entry 450 baht, week 1,500, month 3,200 (checked in August)
• Massage places every hundred metres, a one-hour Thai massage is 250-500 baht

What a whole month costs

English-language guides estimate a month on the street at 40,000-80,000 baht all in, roughly 1,200-2,400 dollars. Most of the range comes from housing. A rough breakdown per month, in baht:

• unlimited gym 8,500-12,500
• studio near the street 12,000-30,000
• food, three meals a day 15,000-25,000
• scooter rental 4,000-6,000
• laundry and small things about 2,000

A meal on the street costs 150-350 baht, and many cafes list protein and calories on the menu.

Schedule and the best time to come

The day here is shaped by the heat and the gym timetables, so it looks about the same for everyone.

• 6:00-7:00. Wake up. The early ones go to the beach or run up to the Big Buddha before it gets hot
• 8:00-9:30. First session. Morning groups run in almost every gym
• 9:30-11:00. Breakfast and coffee. The cafes fill up with people in training gear
• 11:00-16:00. Too hot to train. Laptop work, massage, sleep, the pool
• 16:00-18:00. Second session if you do two a day. Ice baths and saunas open
• 18:00-20:00. Dinner and grill
• 21:00-22:00. The street goes quiet, because everyone gets up early

The morning slot is the most popular one. In the middle of the day the gyms are half empty.

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The shortest trip that makes sense is two weeks. The usual stay is 2-4 weeks. People who come to get in shape seriously stay one to three months.

Your first time on the street

Day one, step by step

How a first group class goes

This is how it works in the functional gyms, where I train almost every day.

• Briefing at the board. The coach explains the workout and how to scale it for a beginner
• Warm-up. About ten minutes: rower or air bike, joints, light weights
• Main block. 30-40 minutes of stations or circuits. Everyone picks their own weights, the coach walks around and fixes technique
• Finisher. A short final push, after which everyone lies on the floor laughing
• Cool-down. Stretching, then ice and sauna if you like

The class names sound scary, but everything scales to any level. Next to me people with competition experience finish alongside people in their second week of training.

Heat and hydration

Training at 35°C takes a lot more out of you than at home. Newcomers burn out on day three by doing two sessions a day. For the first week train once a day, drink water with electrolytes and do not chase the group. Active fighters will train next to you, and there is a big temptation to keep up with them. Work at your own pace, the coaches are used to it.

You do not need an electrolyte sachet after every session. For a short, easy session water is often enough. For long sessions look at sodium, sugar and how much water you mix it with.

What to bring

• From home: shoes you like training in, a sports watch, your medicines, an international driving permit and insurance that covers combat sports. Check the insurance separately, many policies exclude them
• Buy on the street: gloves, wraps, shorts, mouthguard, shin guards. Prices are well below European ones
• Easy to forget: flip-flops for the shower, a second set of kit (everything gets soaked), sunscreen, mosquito spray for hikes
• Leave at home: warm clothes and bulky supplements. They are sold two steps from the gym

A few gym manners

• Shoes come off before the ring and the mats. In functional and weights areas everyone trains in shoes, so watch what locals do
• A coach is called "kru", which means "teacher" in Thai
• The wai, a small bow with palms together, is appreciated when you greet the coach. Nobody demands it
• Wash your wraps after every session and wear a rash guard for clinch. In this heat it is about respect for your partners

For women

In the groups I see every week, about half are women, and in morning classes sometimes more. Nobody stares, everyone is busy with their own sets. Unit 27 has a women's class called She Squats. In fitness gyms shorts and a top are normal. In a traditional Thai camp bring a T-shirt. In the evening the street is lit and full of people.

FAQ

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About the author

Pavel Rostovtsev

I live on Phuket and have trained on Fitness Street since June 2026.