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Phuket Island has a long recorded history dating back to A.D. 1025. Records indicate that the island’s present-day name derives in meaning from the Tamil “manikram,” or Crystal Mountain.
For most recent history Phuket Island was known as “Junk Ceylon,” which, with variations, is the name found on many old maps. Phuket was a way station on the route between India and China where seafarers stopped to shelter. Later, as Muang Takua-Talang, it was part of the Srivichai and Siri Tahm empires. During the Sukothai Period Phuket was associated with Takua Pah in what is now Phang-nga Province, another area with vast tin reserves.
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. This led to Phuket’s most memorable historic battle led by the two heroines, Kunying Jan, wife of Phuket’s recently deceased governor, and her sister Mook. Kunying Jan and her sister were credited with the successful defense.
Here 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 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. Location and Boundaries Phuket is an island in the Andaman Sea along Thailand’s Southern and Western coast and is connected by bridges to southern Thailand’s mainland.
As Thailand’s largest island, Phuket is surrounded by 32 smaller islands which part of the same administration. Phuket Island has a total land area of 570 square kilometers, about the same as the island of Singapore. Measured at its widest point, Phuket is 21.3 kilometers; at its longest, 48.5 kilometers. Geography About 70% 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 DistrictThe remaining 30% of the island, mainly in the center and south, consists of low plains. There are numerous streams including the Klong Bang Yai, Klong Ta Jin, Klong Ta Rua, and Klong Bang Rohng, none of which are large.
Climate Phuket’s weather conditions are dominated by monsoon winds that blow year round There are two distinct seasons, rainy and dry. Highest average temperatures, at 33.4 degrees Celsius, prevail during March.Lowest averages occur in January, when nightly lows dip to 22 degrees Celsius. Economy Since the early 1980’s the tourist business has been Phuket’s chief source of income.
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, Pineapples, Prawn farming has largely taken over the east and south coasts. Phuket’s fishing port is at all times filled, and processing of marine products, mainly fish, makes a significant contribution to the economy.
This ranges 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 Official population as of December 31, 1998, was 231, 206. This figure numbers those who are registered as living in Phuket. Phuket’s attraction as a center of economic activity has resulted in many living on the island whose registration is elsewhere.
Government The island is divided into three districts, Talang 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.
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