Phuket Province

Phuket
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: World Meteorological Organization ; wetterkontor.de

Phuket
	ภูเก็ต
statistics
Capital:	Phuket Town
Telephone code:	076
Surface:	543 km²; 75.
Residents:	335.913 (2009); 65.
Population density :	619 E / km² ; 3.
ISO 3166-2 :
Governor :	Chamreon Tipayapongthad
map

Phuket ( Thai ภูเก็ต^?^/^I [ pʰūː.kèt ]) is a province ( Changwat ) of Thailand . It consists of the island of the same name and a number of smaller side islands in the Andaman Sea off the coast of southern Thailand . Phuket is also the name of the provincial capital.

geography

Ko Phuket is the largest island in Thailand, it is located in the Andaman Sea ( Indian Ocean ).

The province of Phuket has an area of just over 543 km². By far the largest part of it is taken up by the hilly main island. The secondary islands, which also belong to the province, are much smaller.

Phuket has a north / south extension of about 50 km and a maximum east / west width of about 21 km.

Adjacent provinces and areas:
north	Phang-nga
east	Krabi
south	Coast to the Andaman Sea
west	Coast to the Andaman Sea

The climate in the province is tropical - monsoonal . The maximum temperature in 2008 was 34.8 ° C, the lowest temperature was measured at 23.0 ° C. On 188 rainy days fell 2451.6 mm of precipitation in the same year .

climate

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Phuket

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	32.4	33.3	33.8	33.7	32.5	32.1	31.7	31.7	31.2	31.4	31.3	31.5	O	32.2
Min. Temperature (° C)	23.9	24.3	24.9	25.3	25.1	25.0	24.6	24.8	24.2	24.1	24.3	24.0	O	24.5

Precipitation ( mm )	23.3	25.8	59.0	137.8	269.8	236.9	284.1	282.8	386.5	295.9	173.7	61.9	Σ	2,237.5

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	9.0	9.4	9.0	7.7	6.0	4.8	6.0	5.9	4.8	5.9	6.8	8.1	O	6.9

Rainy days ( d )	4.2	3.0	5.8	11.4	19.8	19.2	19.7	19.1	22.8	22.1	16.1	8.3	Σ	171.5

Water temperature (° C)	27	28	28	29	29	29	28	28	28	28	28	27	O	28.1

Humidity ( % )	76	75	77	82	84	82	82	83	85	85	83	78	O	81

Source: World Meteorological Organization ; wetterkontor.de

Economy and Importance

The main sources of income in the past were the mining of tin and the cultivation of coconut and rubber . Today it is tourism, which is almost exclusively limited to the tourist places on the west coast, for example Patong , Karon , Kata and also to the island's capital. In 2009 the province of Phuket had 3,375,931 visitors, of which 2,721,269 were guests with at least one overnight stay. The income from tourism was 94.006 billion baht .

The Gross Provincial Product ( GDP ) of the province in 2011 was 104.616 billion in baht . This corresponds to an economic output per capita of 345,269 baht, the highest value among the provinces in the southern region. The minimum wage in the province is 221 baht per day (around € 5).

Data

The table below shows the share of the economic sectors in the gross provincial product in percent:

Industry	2006	2007	2008
Agriculture	4.2	3.9	3.7
Industry	4.2	4.5	5.0
Other	91.6	91.6	91.3

The industry that contributed the most to the province's economic output in 2011 was the hotel and restaurant industry with 34,638 billion baht, followed by the transport, storage and communications industry with 23,844 billion baht, and wholesale and retail with 7,322 billion baht and financial services with 5.593 billion baht.

Land use

The following land use is documented for the province:

Forest area: 96,065 Rai (60.0 km²), 28.3% of the total area
Agricultural area: 21,732 rai (13.6 km²), 6.4% of the total area
Unclassified area: 221,598 rai (138.5 km²), 65.3% of the total area

population

According to the 2000 census data, 98.5% of the population were Thai citizens. 81.6% were Buddhists, 17.1% Muslim. 0.7% said Malay was their first language. 38.8% were not born in Phuket but moved from another province.

history

The origin of the island's name is not entirely clear. It could be derived from the many hills and small mountains on the island ("mountain" means Phukau in Thai and "hill" in Malay means Bukit ).

Symbols

The seal shows the two heroines of the province: Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sri Sunthon .

The provincial tree is the Narrabaum ( Pterocarpus indicus ) , and the Pepper Flower ( Bougainvillea sp.) .

The motto of Phuket Province is:

"Phuket is known as the 'Pearl of the Andaman Sea ',
a paradise among the cities of the south,
the land of golden beaches and the monument to two heroines,
Luang Pho Chaem is highly venerated as a saint."

Administrative units

Provincial Administration

Administrative division of the province

The province is divided into three districts ( Amphoe ) . These are further subdivided into 17 parishes ( tambon ) and 103 villages ( muban ) .

No.	Amphoe (counties)	Thai
1.	Amphoe Mueang Phuket	อำเภอ เมือง ภูเก็ต
2.	Amphoe Kathu	อำเภอ กะทู้
3.	Thalang district	อำเภอ ถลาง

Local administration

A provincial administrative organization ( บริหาร ส่วน จังหวัด , อบ จ for short , Ongkan Borihan suan Changwat ; English Provincial Administrative Organization , PAO) exists for the entire area of the province .

There are a total of nine boroughs in Phuket Province:

The city of Phuket ( เทศบาล นคร ภูเก็ต ) itself has had a big city status ( Thesaban Nakhon ) since February 13, 2004 .
The tourist places Patong ( เทศบาล เมือง ป่า ตอง ) and Katu ( เทศบาล เมือง กะทู้ ) have a city status ( Thesaban Mueang ) .
There are also six small towns ( Thesaban Tambon ) in the province - Karon, Thep Krasattri, Choeng Thale, Ratsada, Rawai and Wichit.
The non-urban areas are administered by eight administrative organizations ( Tambon Administrative Organizations - TAO, Thai: องค์การ บริหาร ส่วน ตำบล ).