Amphoe Mueang Phuket

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Mueang Phuket
เมืองภูเก็ต
Statistics
Province:	Phuket
District office:	Talat Yai 7°53′24″N, 98°23′6″E
Area:	224.0 km²
Inhabitants:	196,733 (2007)
Pop. density:	878.3 inh./km²
Geocode:	8301
Postal code:	83000 and 83100
Map

Amphoe Mueang Phuket (Thai: เมืองภูเก็ต) is the capital district (Amphoe Mueang) of Phuket Province. The town Phuket itself is in the northwest of the district.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Temples
4 Administration
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Promthep Cape

The district covers the southern part of the island Phuket. The western and southern coast consists of several more or less touristical beaches, from the northwest: Karon, Kata, Kata Noi, Nai Harn, Rawai and the Friendship Beach along the Chalong Bay. The beaches are separated from each other by rocky capes, most notably the Promthep Cape with the southernmost tip of the island. The cape is popular for Thai people to see the sunset there.

[edit] History

Originally named Thung Kha (ทุ่งคา), it was renamed to Mueang Phuket according to the province name on November 14 1938.^[1]

[edit] Temples

Pagoda of Wat Chalong

The most important of the 29 buddhist temples of Phuket is Wat Chalong (วัดฉลอง, วัดไชยธาราราม). It is dedicated to two highly venerable monks, Luang Pho Chaem (หลวงพ่อแช่ม) and Luang Pho Chuang (หลวงพ่อช่วง), who with their knowledge of herbal medicine helped the injured of a tin miners rebellion in 1876.

[edit] Administration

The district is subdivided into 8 subdistricts (tambon), which are further subdivided into 44 villages (muban). The town of Phuket has city status (thesaban nakhon) and covers the tambon Talad Yai and Talad Nuea, Karon has township status (thesaban tambon) and covers the tambon Karon. There are also 6 tambon administrative organizations (TAO) for each tambon except those two belonging to Phuket town.

Nr.	Name	Thai name	Villages	Inh.
1.	Talat Yai	ตลาดใหญ่	-	52,192
2.	Talat Nuea	ตลาดเหนือ	-	23,381
3.	Ko Kaeo	เกาะแก้ว	7	10,136
4.	Ratsada	รัษฎา	7	33,534
5.	Wichit	วิชิต	9	38,701
6.	Chalong	ฉลอง	10	18,072
7.	Rawai	ราไวย์	7	13,623
8.	Karon	กะรน	4	7,094