Phuket Province
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| Capital: | Phuket city |
| Area: | 543.0 km² Ranked 75th |
| Inhabitants: | 315,498 (2007) Ranked 68th |
| Pop. density: | 581.03 inh./km² Ranked 6th |
| ISO 3166-2: | TH-83 |
| Governor: | Niran Kanlayanamit (since November 2006) |
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Phuket (Thai: ภูเก็ต, IPA: [pʰu:kɛt]; formerly known as Tha-Laang or Talang, or Junk Ceylon in Western sources, a distortion of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. "Cape Salang")[1] is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries. The island is served by Phuket International Airport, located in the north of the island.
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[edit] Etymology
The name Phuket (of which the ph sound is an aspirated p) is apparently derived from the word bukit in Malay which means mountain or hill, as this is what the island appears like from a distance.
Before that its old name was Thalang, derived from the old Malay "Telong" which means "Cape". The northern district of the province, which was the location of the old capital, still uses this name.
[edit] History
In the 17th century, the Dutch, the English, and from the 1680s the French, competed with each other for trade with the island of Phuket (the island was named Junk Ceylon at that time), which was valued as a very rich source of tin. In September 1680, a ship from the French East India Company visited Phuket and left with a full cargo of tin. In 1681 or 1682, the Siamese king Narai, who was seeking to reduce Dutch and English influence, named Governor of Phuket the French medical missionary Brother René Charbonneau, a member of the Siam mission of the Société des Missions Etrangères. Charbonneau held the position of Governor until 1685.[2]
In 1685, king Narai confimed the French tin monopoly in Phuket to a French ambassador, the Chevalier de Chaumont.[3] Chaumont's former maître d'hôtel Sieur de Billy was named governor of the island.[4] The French were expelled from Siam in 1688 however, following the 1688 Siamese revolution. On April 10, 1689, the French general Desfarges led an expedition to re-capture the island of Phuket in an attempt to restore some sort of French control in Siam.[5] The occupation of the island led nowhere, and Desfarges returned to Pondicherry in January 1690.[6]
The Burmese attacked Phuket in 1785. Captain Francis Light, a British East India Company captain passing by the island, sent word to the local administration that he had observed Burmese forces preparing to attack. Khunying Jan, the wife of the recently deceased governor, and her sister Mook then assembled what forces they could. After a month-long siege, the Burmese were forced to retreat March 13, 1785. The two women became local heroines, receiving the honorary titles Thao Thep Kasatri and Thao Sri Sunthon from King Rama I. During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), Phuket became the administrative center of the tin-producing southern provinces. In 1933 Monthon Phuket was dissolved and Phuket became a province by itself. Old names of the island include Ko Thalang.[clarify]
[edit] Geography
Phuket is the biggest island in Thailand, located in the Andaman Sea off southern Thailand. 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 the Phuket mountain range, which ranges for 440 km from the Kra Isthmus. The highest elevation of the island is Mai Thao Sip Song (Twelve Canes), at 529 m above sea level.
Forest, rubber and palm oil plantations cover 60% of the island. The western coast has several sandy beaches, while on the east coast beaches are more often muddy. Near the southernmost point is Laem Promthep (Brahma's Cape), which is a popular sunset viewing point.
In the mountainous north of the island is the Khao Phra Thaeo Non-hunting Area, protecting more than 20 km² of rainforest. The three highest peaks of this reserve are the Khao Prathiu (384 m), Khao Bang Pae (388 m) and Khao Phara (422 m). The Sirinat National Park on the northwestern coast was established in 1981 and protects an area of 90 km² (68 km² marine area), including the Nai Yang beach where sea turtles lay their eggs.
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One of the most popular tourist areas on Phuket is Patong Beach on the central western coast, perhaps owing to the easy access to its wide and long beach. Most of Phuket's nightlife and its cheap shopping is located in Patong, and the area has become increasingly developed. Patong means "the forest filled with banana leaves" in Thai.[citation needed]
Other popular beaches are located south of Patong. In a counterclockwise direction these include Karon Beach, Kata Beach, Kata Noi Beach, and around the southern tip of the island, Nai Harn Beach and Rawai. To the north of Patong are Kamala Beach, Surin Beach and Bang Tao Beach. These areas are generally much less developed than Patong, and sought out by individuals, families and other groups with a preference for more relaxed and less crowded environs than Patong.
There are many islands to the southeast, including Bon Island, just a short boat trip away. Suitable for snorkelling.
There are several coral islands to the south of Phuket, the Similan Islands lie to the north west, and Phi Phi Islands to the south east. All the islands are suitable for diving.
[edit] Economy
Tin mining has been a major source of income for the island since the 16th century. Chinese businessmen and Chinese workers were employed in the mines. Most were Hakka Chinese, and their influence on Phuket culture and cuisine can still be felt today. With falling tin prices, the mining has now all but ceased. Nowadays, Phuket's economy rests on two pillars: rubber tree plantations (making Thailand the biggest producer of rubber in the world) and tourism, with a thriving dive industry attracting thousands of divers each year. Various nightlife activities such as prostitution attract thousands of men and women each year as well. Even though it is illegal the police will look the other way for a fee, which is paid by the clubs and bars.
Since the 1980s the sandy beaches on the western coast of the island have been heavily developed into tourist centers, with Patong, Karon and Kata being the most popular ones. Since the 2004 Tsunami, all damaged buildings and attractions have been restored.
The island is currently going through an intensive period of leisure urbanisation with many new hotels, apartments and houses under construction.
[edit] Demographics
As with most of Thailand, the majority of the population is Buddhist, but there is a significant number of Muslims (30%) in Phuket, mainly descendants of the island's original sea-dwelling people. Among the Muslims, many are of Malay descent.[7][8] People of Chinese ancestry make up an even larger populace, many of whom having descended from tin miners who migrated to Phuket during the 19th century.[9]
[edit] Tsunami
On December 26, 2004, Phuket and other nearby areas on Thailand's western coast suffered extensive damage when they were struck by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The waves destroyed several highly populated areas in the region, killing as many as 5,300 people nationwide, and tens of thousands more throughout the wider Asian region. As many as 250 people were reported dead in Phuket, including foreign tourists. Almost all the major beaches on the west coast, especially Kamala, Patong, Karon and Kata, sustained major damage, with some damage also being caused to resorts and villages on the island's southern beaches.
By February 2005 many damaged and most undamaged resorts were back in business, and throughout 2005 life slowly returned to normal for the people of Phuket. As of November 2005, following strenuous recovery programmes, there is little obvious remaining tsunami damage other than at the most remote beaches, and the tourist industry, which drives the Phuket economy, has now almost fully recovered.
In the beginning of December 2006, Thailand launched the first of 22 U.S.-made tsunami-detection buoys to be positioned around the Indian Ocean as part of a regional warning system against giant waves caused by earthquakes under the sea. The satellite-linked deep-sea buoy will float 1,000 km (620 miles) offshore, roughly midway between Thailand and Sri Lanka.
[edit] Administrative divisions
Phuket is divided into 3 districts (Amphoe), which are further subdivided into 17 subdistricts (tambon) and 103 villages (muban).
There are 9 municipal (thesaban) areas within the province. The capital Phuket has city (thesaban nakhon) status, and the main touristical town Patong as well as Kathu has town (thesaban mueang) status. There are further 6 subdistrict municipalities (thesaban tambon) - Karon, Thep Krasattri, Choeng Thale, Ratsada, Rawai and Wichit. The non-municipal areas are administrated by 9 tambon administrative organizations (TAO).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Smithies 2002, p.179
- ^ New Terrains in Southeast Asian History, p.294, Abu Talib [1]
- ^ Smithies 2002, p.179
- ^ Smithies 2002, p.50
- ^ A History of South-east Asia p. 350, by Daniel George Edward Hall (1964) St. Martin's Press
- ^ Smithies 2002, p.185
- ^ Tristan Jones [1999]. To Venture Further. Sheridan House Inc., 53. ISBN 157409064X.
- ^ Walter Armstrong Graham [1913]. Siam: A Handbook of Practical, Commercial, and Political Information. F. G. Browne, 115, 124.
- ^ Annabelle Gambe [2000]. Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurship and Capitalist Development in Southeast Asia. LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 108. ISBN 3825843866.
[edit] References
- Smithies, Michael (2002), Three military acounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam, Itineria Asiatica, Orchid Press, Bangkok, ISBN 9745240052
[edit] External links
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