Phuket (Thailand)

Phuket is a port city and Thailand's only island province, with total population around 420,000. Phuket City is on the island's southeastern coast and has population around 80,000 (metro over 250,000). The city is one of Thailand's oldest (16th-century-founded as part of the Ayutthaya Kingdom) and developed by Chinese immigrants as a major seaport in the 18th-century.

By land area (approx 543 km2 / 210 mi2), Phuket Island is Thailand's largest, similarly sized as Singapore (approx 710 km2 / 270 mi2). The island is in the Andaman Sea and is connected to mainland-Thailand via Sarasin and Thepkasatri Causeway. Phuket Island has numerous traditional villages, lush vegetation, pristine white-sand beaches, scenic seascapes (with huge limestone pillars towering over Phang-Nga Bay's turquoise waters).

Apart from tourism, much of the wealth of the province derives from tin production, which started in the 16th century. Phuket Town was presumably the first city in Thailand to feature paved roads and cars. Even today, the city of Phuket remains Thailand's center of tin production, with coconut, seafood and rubber also adding to the prosperity of the island. Much of its revenue is reinvested to further develop Phuket. The island's capital is Phuket Town. It was built in the middle of the last century in order to replace Thalang, which was destroyed in 1800 by the Burmese. The architecture features attractive Sino-Portuguese style, reflected in the spacious residences created by wealthy Chinese tin barons as testimony to their success.

Phuket cruise terminal