Phuket Town

Introducing Phuket Town

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

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