Phuket, a large island in the Indian Ocean, is 867 kms. from Bangkok. It is the only island having provincial status, and was a regional headquarters as well, with a rich and colorful history.

Known as the Pearl of the Andaman, it derived much of its former glory and its enormous wealth from tin production, which in Phuket dates back over 500 year. Today, Phuket is the major tourist attraction of Thailand. The surrounding waters contain much varied  marine life, and the town is notable for its Sino-Portuguese architecture. It is a very attractive island for sightseeing, with lovely seashores and forested hillsides.

Its population of 1.6 million people ranks sixth among all provinces. Approximately 1.75 million Rai of the area is forest land. The main occupation here is rice farming. The average per capita income is 14,343 baht.

Location and Boundaries

   Phuket is an island connected by bridges to southern Thailand's Andaman Sea coast, in the Indian Ocean, lying between 7'45" and 8'15" north latitude, and from 98'15" to 98'40" west longitude on the map. Phuket, Thailand's largest islands, is surrounded by 32 smaller islands that form part of the same administration, with a total area of 570 square kilometers.  Measured at its widest point, Phuket is 21.3 kilometers; at its longest, 48.7 kilometers. it is bounded thus: 

Geography

    Phuket is the same size as Singapore Island. About 70 percent of Phuket is forested hills. Mai Tha Sip Song is the highest peak on the island, 529 meters above sea level. Low plains form the rest of the area, mainly in the center and south. There are three canals, Khlong Bang Yai, Tha Jin, Khlong Tha Rua, and Khlong Bang Rong, which run through the island.

Phuket is the largest island in the country, but the smallest province in the South. It is located between 7°45' and 8°15' north latitude, and from 98°15' to 98°40' west longitude on the map.

Surrounded by 32 smaller islands, Phuket occupies 543 square kilometers. The overall length from north to south is 47.8 kms and 21.3 kms from west to east. Phuket connects to the mainland by two bridges, the Sarasin Bridge and Thoa Thep Krasatri Bridge (600 meter, across Pak Phra Channel, bridging Chatchai Landing of Phuket and Tha Nun Landing of Phangnga). To the south and west Phuket adjoins the Andaman Sea, and the Krabi Sea to the East.

Phuket's average temperature is around 28.0 to 29.3 degrees Celsius. The lowest average is around 21.8 to 22.7 degrees Celsius and the highest is 35.7 degrees Celsius (in 1998).

Climate

   Phuket's weather conditions are dominated by monsoon winds that blow year round. It is therefore always warm and humid. There are two distinct seasons, rainy and dry. The rainy season begins in May and lasts till October, during which the monsoon blows from the southwest. The dry season is from November through April, when the monsoon comes from the northeast. Highest average temperatures, at 33.4 degree Celsius, prevail during March. Lowest averages occur in January, when nightly lows dip to 22 degree Celsius.

Economy

   Since the early 1980's the tourist business has been Phuket's chief source of income. Hotels, restaurants, tour companies, and souvenir shops are much in evidence on the west coast. However, while once all-importance tin mining has ceased, tourism is by no means the island's only activity. Agriculture remains important to a large number of people, and covers by far the most part of the island. Principal crops are rubber, coconuts, cashews, and pineapples.

   Prawn farming has largly taken over the east and south coasts. Pearl farming is also important. Phuket's fishing port is at all time filled, and processing of marine products, mainly fish, makes a significant contribution to the economy. With so many healthy industries supplying income, construction has become a major factor in employment. This range from massive public works projects, large office buildings and hotels, and housing estates with hundreds of units, down to single family homes, apartments and additions.

Population

The island’s official population as of December 1998 was 231,206. Most live in Muang district.

Thirty percent of the island’s population are Chinese descendants. But they differ from those in Bangkok because they came from the Hokkien region of China, who migrated to Phuket during the boom of the tin mining industry in the 17^th – 18^th century. Today, the Chinese are responsible for much of the trade and commerce in the city. They also represent the strongest culture of Phuket town.

Equal to the Chinese descendants is the Thai Muslim community which also comprises 30 per cent of the island’s population. Muslims living in southern Thailand are of Malaysian extraction and arrived at an early date. There is also a small number of sea gypsies living in a village in Ko Sirey. By far, sea gypsies are the most interesting original inhabitants of Phuket island but the intrusion of tourists is impinging on their lifestyle.

With the tourism boom in Phuket during the last decade, Phuket has attracted people from other regions to work in the tourism industry, which is now the largest source of income. So it’s easy for tourists to spot the local people who can communicate in English.

Government

The administration in Phuket is divided into three districts, Thalang in the north, Kathu in the west, and Muang in the south. The cities of Phuket and Patong have their own city governments, with elected city councils, the leading members of which serve as mayor. There are also elected provincial, district, and sub-district, or Tambon councils. The local constabulary is part of the Interior Ministry.

Phuket is the richest province in the south and ranked number six in Thailand, thanks to the tourism industry. Since the early 1980's, tourism has been Phuket's chief source of income. In 1997, Phuket's income per capita was around 156,675 baht. Hotels, resorts, restaurants, tour agencies, entertainment businesses and souvenir shops have been springing up like mushrooms along the west coast. In the past, Phuket's wealth was mainly built on tin mining but when tin demand in world markets declined, tourism took over as a money machine for the island. Agriculture ranks as the second source of income. Rubber, coconut, cashew, and pineapple plantations are an important part of the economy. Aquatic animal farming such as prawn and pearl farming are occupations that people living in Phuket rely on.

Phuket History

Phuket Island has a long recorderd history, and remains dating back to A.D. 1025 indicate that the island's present day name derives in meaning from the Tamil manikram, or crystal mountain. 

   For most of history, however, it was known as Junk Ceylon, which, with variations, is the name found on old maps. The name is thought to have its roots in Ptolemy's Geographia, written by the Alexandrian geographer in the Third Century A.D. He mentioned that in making a trip from Souwannapum to the Malay Peninsula it was neccesary to pass the cape of Jang Si Lang.

   Phuket was a way station on the route between India and China where seafarers stopped to shelter. The island appears to have been part of the Shivite empire (called in Thai the Tam Porn Ling) that established itself on the Malay Peninsula during the first Millenium A.D. Later, as Muang Takua-Talang, it was part of the Srivichai and Siri Tahm empires. Governed as the eleventh in a constellation of  twelve cities, Phuket's emblem, by which it was known to others in those largely pre-literate times, was the dog.

   During the Sukothai Period Phuket was associated with Takua Pa in what is now Phang-nga Province, another area with vast tin reserves. The Dutch established a trading post during the Ayuthaya Period in the 16th Cent. The island's northern and central regions then  were governed by the Thais, and the southern and western parts were given over to the tin trade, a concession in the hands of foreigners.

   After Ayuthaya was sacked by the Burmese in 1767 there was a short interregnum in Thailand, ended by King Taksin, who drove out the   Burmese and re-unified the country. The Burmese, however, were anxious to return to the offensive. They outfitted a fleet to raid the southern provinces, and carry off the populations to slavery in Burma.

   This led to Phuket's most memorable hitoric event. A passing sea captain, Francis Light, sent word that the Burmese were en route to attack. Forces in Phuket were assembled led by the two heroines, Kunying Jan, wife of Phuket's recently deceased governer, and her sister Mook, After a month's siege the Burmese were forced to depart on 13 March, 1785. Kunying Jan and her sister were credited with the successful defense.

   In recognition King Rama I bestowed upon Kunying Jan the honorific Thao Thep Kasatri, a title of nobility usually reserved for royalty, by which she is known today. Her sister became Thao Sri Sunthon.

   During the Nineteenth Century Chinese immigrants arrived in such numbers to work for the tin mines that the ethnic character of the island's interior became predominantly Chinese, while the coastal settlements remained populated chiefly by Muslim fishermen. 

   In Rama V's reign, Phuket became the administrative center of a group of  tin mining provinces called Monton Phuket, and in 1933, with the change in government from absolute monarchy to a parliamentary system, the island was established as a province by itself.