Central Phuket is Central Pattana’s shopping centre in Wichit, Mueang Phuket, made of two buildings, Floresta and Festival, which a THB 7 billion expansion announced in February 2026 will take from 300,000 to 500,000 square metres by 2028. Central puts the value of the finished project above THB 26 billion, on 110 rai plus a further 14 rai for a new attractions zone.
- THB 7bn
- new spendingCentral Pattana, February 2026
- THB 26bn+
- total value once completeCentral Group, 4 March 2026
- 500,000
- square metresup from 300,000
- Q3 2028
- the last phase opensper Central
Three phases, three dates
The luxury wing comes first, this year. The everyday half and the attractions follow in 2028.
Floresta, the luxury wing doubles
Fifteen houses named for it, among them Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada (a 597 sq m boutique) and Tiffany & Co.
Festival, rebuilt
The everyday side: about 250 fashion and high-street brands, including what Central calls Zara’s largest store in Southeast Asia.
The 14-rai attractions zone
An aquarium, an arena for entertainment and culture, and an immersive park.
Read the full announcement detail
Central Pattana announced the plan to the Thai press on 24 February 2026 and in its group newsroom on 4 March 2026. It calls Floresta “the pinnacle of urban luxury” and Festival “the everyday urban lifestyle gateway”, and dates them Q4 2026 and Q1 2028. The 14-rai zone is dated Q3 2028 in both the release and the Thai press; a post that recirculated the plan in October 2026 said the end of 2028.
A food hall of more than 20,000 square metres runs through the plan. The names Central gives include Haidilao’s first branch outside Bangkok, Phuket’s largest Starbucks Reserve, Thai Brasserie by Blue Elephant and % Arabica. The new interiors take their cue, Central says, from Phuket’s name as the pearl of the Andaman and from the Sino-Portuguese shophouses of the Old Town.
The money is often misreported. Several English headlines called it a US$836 million expansion. That figure converts the THB 26 billion total value of the finished project. The new spending is about THB 7 billion, as Thansettakij and Thairath reported on 24 and 25 February 2026.
What has not been named
The attractions are the least defined part, and the roads are not part of the plan at all.
- The aquarium and the arena. No operator, size or capacity has been published. Central says only that the aquarium is designed to rival leading international ones.
- A timetable by building. Both buildings stay open during the work, so expect hoardings and moved entrances through 2027 and 2028.
- The traffic. 200,000 more square metres arrive at a junction that already queues in high season. Central cites the planned Kathu to Patong expressway, which is still waiting for Cabinet.
How far it is from where buyers live
Central sits on the east side of the island, by Phuket Town. The branded homes most buyers look at are on the west coast, 12 to 19 km away over the hills.
| From Central Phuket | Straight line | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok Hospital Phuket | 1.9 km | The island’s main private hospital |
| Phuket Old Town | 2.9 km | Thalang Road and the shophouse streets |
| Patong Beach | 7.9 km | Over the Kathu hill |
| ICONPHUKET | 9.0 km | Siam Piwat’s site at Thalang, opening 2029 |
| Kamala Beach | 12.4 km | The nearest of the west-coast shores |
| Surin Beach | 13.6 km | Between Kamala and Bang Tao |
| Boat Avenue | 13.8 km | The shops beside Laguna |
| Laguna Phuket | 15.0 km | Banyan Group’s estate, to its golf course |
| Bang Tao Beach | 15.5 km | The west-coast beach at Laguna |
| Layan Beach | 18.5 km | North of Bang Tao |
| Phuket airport | 25.4 km | At the north of the island |
Straight-line distances measured by Embark on OpenStreetMap on 11 October 2026, from the Central Phuket Floresta building. The drive is longer: the west coast is reached over the island’s central hills.
What it changes for a buyer, and what it does not
It changes the weekly trip, not daily life on the west coast. We publish no figure that says it makes any home worth more.
A reason to live here all year
Central names long-stay residents as the audience, and the luxury and dining it adds are things a resident uses, not a holidaymaker.
Kamala and Surin look east
At 12 to 14 km they are the west-coast shores nearest to it.
Bang Tao and Laguna keep their shops
Boat Avenue and Porto de Phuket stay the everyday stop; Central is 14 to 16 km away.
The beach still decides
The branded homes follow the west-coast beaches, and the roads between the two sides are today’s roads.
Read Central's own forecast for the island
In the same release, Central Pattana forecast more than 4,700 branded-residence units across 26 projects, and more than 20 new luxury hotels with about 5,200 rooms, arriving on Phuket between 2026 and 2029. It also cited the airport’s expansion and the planned expressway. Those are Central’s figures and Central’s forecast, not ours.
Our own register of Phuket branded residences lists the projects we can name and date, and shows which are built, which are building and which are still on paper. For the north of the island, ICONPHUKET at Thalang is the nearer destination once it opens in 2029; we set out what is known about it in our ICONPHUKET article.
“A global luxury coastal city for living.”
Central Pattana, on what it wants Phuket to become, in its release of 4 March 2026.
Homes you can move into on the west coast
If the point is a home to use all year, start with buildings that are finished. Three of them, on the shores nearest to Central and on Bang Tao, are below; the register has the rest.
Facts as of 11 October 2026, from Central Group’s release of 4 March 2026 and the dated reports listed under Sources. Distances are our own measurement. Renders are Central’s and subject to change. General information, not investment advice.
