Phuket's History, Culture and People
&
Day Trips in Phuket
People of Phuket
Official Phuket records show a local population of around
200,000 inhabitants. It is quite possibly more due to Phuket's
transient population. The two main population centers are
on opposite sides of the island. On the east coast is Phuket
Town, the capital and on the west coast is Patong Beach,
Phuket's center of tourism.
The residents of Phuket are Thais and Chinese
who migrated from the mainland to work in tin mines, Malaysian
Muslims who came to work in the rubber plantations and the
Chao Ley or sea gypsies, one of the earliest groups to inhabit
Phuket.
The Chinese make up around 35%
of the island's population. They are different from the people
who settled in Bangkok and other regions of Thailand, as they
arrived mainly from the Hokkien region of China the same as
the people now living in Singapore and Malaysia.
As elsewhere in Asia, many of
the Chinese have now become fully integrated into Thai society
and many of them own businesses both large and small. They
are responsible for a large part of the trade volume on Phuket
and their influence is visible in many places such as the
Chinese temples on Phuket or the annual Chinese
Vegetarian Festival in October, a major tourist attraction
of Phuket.
The influence of the Indonesian
and Malayan culture is also apparent in the ethnic makeup,
language, art and religion of southern Thailand. About one
third of the Thai's living on Phuket are Muslims. Concentrated
mostly around Bang Tao and a few other big villages, they
work as rice and rubber farmers. In addition to the Thai and
Malay languages, many also speak "Yawi", an ancient
dialect of the Malayan language.
Phuket History
The most significant event in the history of Phuket was the
attack by the Burmese in 1785 after king Taksin had fought
them back. Sir Francis Light, a British East India Company
captain passing the island, sent word to the local administration
that Burmese forces were preparing for an attack.
Kunying Jan, the wife of
the recently deceased governor, and her sister Mook then assembled
forces. After one month of siege the Burmese had to turn back
on March 13, 1785, and the two women became local heroines,
receiving the honorary names Thao Thep Kasatri and Thao Sri
Sunthon from King Rama I.
Heroine's monument
During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama
V) Phuket became the administrative center of the tin-producing
southern provinces. In 1933 the Monthon Phuket was dissolved
and Phuket became a province by itself.
Old names of the island include Ko Thalang,
and Junk Ceylon, an English corruption of the Malay Tanjung
Salang (Cape Salang).
More information
Phuket Island
The island is mostly mountainous with a mountain range in
the west of the island from the north to the south. The mountains
of Phuket form the southern end of a mountain chain, which
ranges for 440 km from the Kra Isthmus.
The highest elevation
of the whole Phuket chain is the Khao Phra Mi with an elevation
of 1138 m, however the highest elevation on the island itself
is Mai Tha Sip Song (Twelve Canes), at 529 m above sea level.
70% of the island is covered by forest.
The western coast has many white sandy beaches, while on the
east coast the beaches are more muddy with mangroves.
The famous Tuk
Tuk of Phuket (cheap if you bargain the price)
Journey around the Island along the west coast
road and get great views of Phuket's most famous beaches such as, Bang Tao, Kamala,
Patong, Karon, Kata, Nai harn and Rawai. A nice end to the day would be seeing
the sunset at Cape Promthep on the island's extreme southwest point. The Cape
offers a superb view of the Andaman sea and offshore islands.
West coast sunset
Coming in towards Phuket
Town from Rawai, turn right at the roundabout and visit the
Chalong Pier where you can see hundreds of yachts and boats
in the protected waters of Chalng Bay. If you turn left at the
roundabout you could visit the most revered temple in Phuket,
Wat Chalong.
Ten minutes drive further from
the temple will take you to the mega shopping center area on
the outskirts of Phuket Town, the main shopping complexes are
Tesco-Lotus, Big C and Central, but there are many more that
seem to pop up overnight. Turning right in this area will take
you to Phuket Town.
Phuket Town is the bussling business
centre of Phuket and has a wonderful mixture of new and old
influences. Chino Portuguese architectrue is evident in the
landmark buildings as you walk down Thalang Rd towards the center
of town. The local government is now undertaking a restoration
project to bring many of the se buildings back to their former
glory.
If you're in the mood for some
respite from the mid day sun, then a visit to Khao Rang Hill
is in order. From here the view is outstanding.
Cool Shady trees provide shelter
from the sun allowing you to gaze out at the sprawling metropolis
of Phuket. You can see the whole Town, tranquil Ma'dam Bay and
the turquoise, turtle-shaped island in the distance.
Ban Pae Waterfall
Up north along
Thep Kasatri road is the Heroines monument. Here you can learn
the great history of Chan and Mook. These two heroines are famous
for saving Phuket from a Burmese invasion in 1785.
Further up
from the monument is the Ton Sai waterfall and just a few kilometers
away is Bang Pae waterfall. These beautiful falls are surrounded
by orchids and exotic birds in the Khao Phra Taew National Park.
It is also where you will find Phuket's Gibbon Rehabilitation
Centre.
Click
for photos of Songkran in Phuket
More about Phuket Beaches
Surin Beach
Bang Tao Beach
Patong Beach
Kamala Beach
Day Trips in Phuket
Taking day trips from Phuket is an absolute must
when visiting this Asian tropical paradise. Within a few hours
drive or boat ride are a number of world class landscape attractions
including the famous Phi Phi islands, the jaw-dropping Pha Nga
Bay, exclusive diving off the Similan islands, the Khao Lak
coast and the amazing karst-scapes of Krabi.
There are lush forested national parks, curious
fishing villages, fantastic waterfalls, azure waters, private
little islands, exclusive beaches and pristine mangroves to
seek out.
Phuket is undoubtably Thailand’s most popular
and best developed island, a world class, jet-set destination
that has gone very upmarket in recent decades. If you’re
heading for Phuket for your next vacation you’ll invariably
find yourself based at one of the half-dozen gorgeous bays that
line the West Coast. From here you can either hire a car or
take tours on Phuket to any one of a dozen different day trip
destinations.
For starters exploring the island itself is highly
recommended. There are so many beautiful and exciting eaches.
The best are clustered towards the south from Kamala, past popular
Patong, and onwards to the sweeping Karon and posh Kata.
Each of these is worth stopping at for a few hours
to work on your tan or pick up a piquant spicy Thai papaya salad
for lunch. Keep going south and you’ll end up at the undeveloped
Nai Harn beach, and avoid the crowds. All the Phuket beaches
have their own special character.
You can read more about Phuket
Beaches here
It takes a full hour to drive to the North of
the island, which has escaped the rampant tourism development
and the mangroves of the east coast offer an altogether different
idea of the island.
Phi Phi Island
But the best scenery is offshore, and number
one on all itineraries is a trip to Phi
Phi Island. This remarkable craggy butterfly-shaped
island, featured in the blockbuster The Beach and Tsunami tragedy,
never dissapoints. There are actually several islands, and most
trips stop off for a snorkelling adventure en-route.
Packed lunch is usually served once you reach Phi
Phi Ley’s paradise-like Maya bay. Since no one but park rangers and campers
are allowed to stay overnight, you’ll have this pristine beaches all to yourself,
unlike Phuket, Phi Phi Don is more drammatic and was frightfully overdeveloped
before the tsunami washed it all away.
The resorts are found on a small sandwich of
coconut palms between two pretty bays, with towering karst cliffs
all around. It's so beautiful on Phi Phi Island that you won't
want to catch your tour boat back to Phuket! Phi
Phi island guide
You can read more information
about Phang Nga here
You can read more about
Krabi here
HOTELS IN PHUKET
MAP
Some of the information on this page comes
from From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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free documentation licence. |
