Phuket Town

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Vegetarian Festival, Phuket Town

Introducing Phuket Town

Travel Alert: Phuket's beaches can be very dangerous for swimming. Check the Health & Safety page for advice.

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Centuries before Phuket began attracting sand-and-sea hedonists, it was an important centre for Arab, Indian, Malay, Chinese and Portuguese traders who came to exchange goods for tin and rubber with the rest of the world. Francis Light, the British colonialist who made Penang the first of the British Straits Settlements, married a native of Phuket and tried unsuccessfully to pull this island into the colonial fold. Although this polyglot, multicultural heritage has all but disappeared from most of the island, a few vestiges can be seen and experienced in the province’s amphoe meuang (provincial capital), Phuket.

As in many growing Thai towns, homogeneity is now the buzzword and you’d have to drink long and hard from the nostalgia potion to get a sense of the city’s multicultural heyday. That doesn’t mean Phuket Town isn’t worth a visit. Evocative traces of Sino-Portuguese architecture remain and the city streets, which move to the rhythm of everyday Thai life, feel a long way from the prefabricated hubbub of Patong. If you fancy a glimpse of the Phuket behind the tourist traps, go-go bars and beaches, this isn’t a bad place to start.

Last updated: Dec 7, 2009

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Thorn Tree forum discussion

Recent posts

  1. westwood avatar
    RE: phuket to east coast

    by westwood 13 September 2011

    At the Phuket Town bus station, you should be able to buy a ticket to Koh Samui. Thats what we did but be warned-- it takes all day.…
  2. thaibeachlovers avatar
    RE: From phuket to koh samui, in the middle of the night, help needed..

    by thaibeachlovers 04 September 2011

    What's the big deal about Samui anyway? A beach is a beach is a beach. Plenty beaches on the west side. *we going to land in phuket at…
  3. tomeryona avatar
    From phuket to koh samui, in the middle of the night, help needed..

    by tomeryona 03 September 2011

    hello, we are 3 people, and we will be arriving to phuket airport from chiang mai with air asia flight. we going to land in phuket at…

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