Phuket History PDF Print E-mail
Written by Richard Russell MD   
Monday, 10 November 2008 00:06
Phuket Island has a long recorded 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 Suwannapum to the Malay Peninsula it was necessary to pass the cape of Jang Si Lang.

Phuket Island was assumed by geologists to be once part of the mainland in the form of a cape sticking out into the Andaman Sea but millions of years later the cape was gradually eroded by natural forces and finally detached from the main land. The cape was mentioned in a book written around the year 157 by Claudius Ptolemy, a famous Greek philosopher, that to travel to Malay Peninsula by ship, the travelers had to pass a cape known among them as Junk Ceylon. It was located between latitudes 6 N and 8 N which is the present site of Phuket Island. Junk Ceylon was at that time visited by merchants of several nations including India, Persia, and Arabia because the island offered a bay that protected its harbour from the wind and monsoon, making it a good stopover. Moreover, it had plenty of tin ore deposits that fetched high prices at that time because the mineral was much wanted by some foreign countries.

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



Junk Ceylon was later known among the locals as Thalang, which was also the name of the main town in the north of the island. In 1785, Thalang town was besieged by the Burmese troops invading the coastal area but Chan, the widow of the governor who had just died, and her sister Muk rose to the occasion by jointly shouldering the successful task of defending the land for over 30 days until starvation forced the enemy to retreat. Due to their heroic deeds, noble titles were bestowed on Chan and Muk as Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon respectively. In 1966 a monument was erected at Tha Ruea Intersection, 12 km to the north of Phuket Town in memory of the sisters, who are still highly respected by Phuket people nowadays.

However, 24 years later, the Burmese succeeded in taking Thalang and many Thalang people fled to Phang-nga and Krabi. In 1825, some of them returned and re-establish a town on a new location but soon they moved back to their original site because of its better location for rice farming. This return of Thalang people did not make their town as important as in the past. Instead, the area in the south of the island (Phuket town today) grew quickly and became the centre of tin trade at that time. Known as Phuket, it was elevated to be a town in 1850. More people immigrated from Thalang and the nearby communities to Phuket. In 1894, Phuket was promoted to be a monthon (an administrative unit of that time). An important person who constructed Phuket as a modern city was Phraya Ratsada, who was appointed to govern Phuket monthon in 1902. His contributions also included improving the welfare of the locals, and setting up a network of markets in the countryside. In 1916, Phuket became a province. It was not until 1967 that Sarasin Bridge was built to connect the main land with Phuket.

During the Nineteenth Century Chinese immigrants arrived in such numbers to work 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 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.

Though the tin mining industry has played a specially important role in the economic development of the island province, it has declined especially after 1985 when the price of tin fell by half. The decline has also been due to the gradual decrease in the deposits after centuries of exploitation. So, Phuket had to look for a new industry on which to base its future economic development. Fortunately, its natural beauty was soon discovered and there was a boom of tourism in 1980's, which has lasted up to the 21st century.