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 www.77models.com
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. 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. At its widest point, Phuket measures 21.3 kilometers. At its longest, it measures 48.7 km. Its boundaries are:
About 70 percent of Phuket is mountainous; a western range runs from north to south from which smaller branches derive. Mai Tao Sip song, also known as Twelve Canes at 529m, is the highest peak. It lies within Tambon Patong's Kathu District boundaries (no roads have yet been built there). 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
Phuket Island has a long recorded history, and remanins dating back to A.D.1025 indicate that the island's present day name derives in meaning from the Tamil manikram, or crystal mountain. It was called Junk Ceylon for most of its history. This name, along with variations, can be 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 said that the Malay Peninsula was not possible without passing the Jang Si Lang cape.
Phuket was a way station on the route between India and China where seafarers stopped to shelter. 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. The emblem of Phuket, which was governed as the eleventh city in a constellation that included twelve other cities, 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 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.
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 outfitted a fleet to raid the southern provinces, and carry off the populations to slavery in Burma. This led to Phuket's most memorable historic 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 governor, 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.
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. Her sister became Thao Sri Suntorn.
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.
In Rama V's reign, Phuket became the administration 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.