Phuket Town

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เทศบาล นคร ภูเก็ต
Phuket
Phuket Town (Thailand)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 7 ° 53 '  N , 98 ° 24'  E Coordinates: 7 ° 53 '  N , 98 ° 24'  E
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Thailand

province

Phuket
Residents 75,536 (2007)
Website www.phuketcity.go.th
Clock tower at the old police station
Clock tower at the old police station

Phuket is the capital of the province of the same name in Thailand and at the same time the largest city on the island of Phuket . The city is located in the southeast of the island, the distance to the Thai capital Bangkok is about 700 kilometers. Since February 13, 2004 it has the administrative status of a large city ( Thesaban Nakhon ) , which is why it is called Phuket City in English . According to the 2012 population statistics, the city of Phuket has 75,536 inhabitants.

History and cityscape

The city of Phuket has a characteristic cityscape. Many historical buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are in the so-called "Sino-Portuguese style", a mixture of Portuguese colonial architecture with Chinese elements, as you can also find them in other traditional trading cities on the coasts of southern China and especially the Malay Peninsula finds.

Although there was a Portuguese trading post on Phuket (historically Junkceylon ) in the 16th century , the builders of these residential and commercial buildings were not Portuguese, but Baba (also called Peranakan), who make up the majority of the city's native population. These are descendants of couples made up of Chinese immigrants in the early 19th century and native Thai or Malay women. They identified themselves neither as Chinese nor as Thai, but developed their own ethnic identity and cultural tradition.

The original island capital was Thalang in the north of Phuket. However, this was destroyed in the Burmese-Siamese War of 1809 and most of the residents moved away. From the 1820s onwards, numerous Chinese came to Phuket from the British Straits Settlements along the Malay Peninsula, particularly from Penang , to make money in the island's rich tin mines. Today's Phuket Town was founded around 1850 under the name Tongkah and served primarily as a trading post. The miners came here to market their tin ore, replenish their supplies, and send money to their families; but also to chat with alcohol, opium, prostitutes and gambling. During this time, the Thanon Thalang developed into the main street along which the most important trade shops were located, and Soi Rommani became the brothel district.

The expansion and "civilization" of the former miners' outpost took place during the tenure of the royal high commissioner for Phuket, Phraya Ratsadanupradit (Khaw Sim Bee na Ranong) 1900-13. This granted an Australian-European mining company, the Tongkah Harbor Dredging , extensive mining rights, and in return made this money available for an expansion of the infrastructure. Roads were expanded, sewers cleared and public buildings erected. After life in the city had become safer and more comfortable, merchant families (mostly Baba / Peranakan) also moved from Penang to Phuket. In the construction of their spacious residential and commercial buildings, which are characterized by thick walls (to keep the interior cool) and high ceilings, they adopted the Sino-Portuguese architecture inspired by the Portuguese colonial style, such as those from Penang and the other Straits Settlements knew. The wealthy merchants donated schools and temples.

Up until the Second World War, there were closer trade (and also family) ties between Phuket and Penang, which was the closest overseas port, than with Bangkok. Only with the expansion of the transport routes within Thailand did the connection to the center of the country increase, while that to Malaysia lost importance. Tin mining and trading was the main source of Phuket's prosperity well into the 1970s. Then it was overshadowed by tourism, mainly from Europe, before it collapsed completely around 1980 with the general replacement of tinplate by plastic packaging. Some former tin mines in the area around Phuket have now been converted into holiday resorts.

In the old town of Phuket itself, however, there was hardly any tourist interest until around 2000. On the beaches along the west coast of the island, newer centers have developed with infrastructure tailored to the needs of tourists, which has pushed the importance of the island's capital into the background. It is only since the turn of the millennium that travelers and locals alike have shown an increasing interest in the cultural heritage of old Phuket. Some historical buildings have since been renovated and some have been converted into museums or accommodation.

The Chinese heritage can also be clearly seen as you stroll through the city. There are numerous Chinese shrines and temples, and every year in September or October the festival of the nine emperor gods known as the “Vegetarian Festival” is celebrated here, a religious festival of Chinese origin.

From Rang Hill ( Khao Rang ) you have a wonderful view over the city and part of the island.

traffic

Airport

The nearest airport is Phuket International Airport . It is located about 30 km from the city in the north of the island.

Attractions

  • Put Yaw - 200 year old temple of Chinese immigrants in the west of the city, dedicated to the goddess Kuan Yin , center of the annual "vegetarian festival"
  • Cityscape - with mainly Chinese influences (brick-roofed houses, arcades), street worth seeing: Thalang Road (see web links)

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Phuket  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Phuket Town  - Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d Khoo Salma Nasution: Phuket's Old Town Movement. ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lestariheritage.net archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Lestari Heritage Foundation, 2005.
  2. Phuket Encounter. Lonely Planet, Melbourne 2010, pp. 14, 155.