Phuket - Web Guide to Travel to Phuket Thailand
Phuket is Thailand's largest island, and is approximately the size of Singapore. The idyllic Andaman Sea waters of Phuket are located 867 km south of Bangkok. Read more now on 77models.com
The island of Phuket, located in the Indian Ocean between 7' 45" and 8' 15", north latitude and 98’ 15" to 98’ 40" west longitude on a map, is connected to the Andaman Sea coast of southern Thailand. The largest island in Thailand, Phuket, is surrounded 32 smaller islands which form part of the same administration. It covers an area of 570 kilometers. Measured at its widest point, Phuket is 21.3 kilometers; at its longest, 48.7 kilometers. Its boundaries are:
About 70 percent of Phuket is mountainous; a western range runs from north to south from which smaller branches derive. The highest peak is Mai Tao Sip Song, or Twelve Canes, at 529 meters, which lies within the boundaries of Tambon Patong, Kathu District (no roads go there yet). Low plains make up the remaining 30% of the island, mostly in the south and center. Streams include the Klong Bang Yai, Klong Ta Jin, Klong Ta Rua, and Klong Bang Rohng, none of which is large.
History of Phuket
The history of Phuket Island is long and documented. Remanins that date back to A.D.1025 show that the island's current name comes 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 Alexadrian geographer in the Third Century A.D. He mentioned that in making a trip from Suwannapum to the Malay Peninsula it was necessary to pass the cape of Jang Si Lang.
The route from India to China used Phuket as a stopover point for seafarers. It appears that the island was once part of the Shivite Empire (also known in Thai as the Tam Porn Ling), which established itself on Malay Peninsula in the first Millenium A.D. Later it became Muang Takua Talang and belonged to the Siri Tahm and Srivichai 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 to Takua Pah in Phang-nga Province. This area also has vast tin reserves. The Dutch established a trading station during the Ayuthaya Period (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.
Ayuthaya, which was taken by the Burmese in 1767, was the beginning of a brief interregnum. King Taksin ended the conflict and drove the Burmese out. The Burmese, however, were anxious to return to the offensive. They arranged a fleet to attack the southern provinces and then sold the people to Burma. This led to Phuket's most memorable historic event. Francis Light, a passing sea captain, reported that the Burmese were on their way to attack. The two heroines Kunying Jan, the wife of Phuket's deceased governor, and Mook, her sister, led forces in Phuket. 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.
Kunying Jan was bestowed the honorific Thao Thep Kasatri by King Rama I in recognition of her efforts. This title is a nobility that is usually reserved for royalty. Thao Sri Suntorn became her sister.
In the Nineteenth Century, so many Chinese immigrants came to the island to work in the tin mines that its ethnicity became overwhelmingly Chinese. However, the coastal settlements were populated mainly by Muslim fishermen.
Rama V made Phuket the administrative center of Monton Phuket, a group of tin-mining provinces. In 1933, with the transition from absolute monarchy into a parliamentary government, the island became a province.