The Secret Behind the Shophouse Door
The modest frontage of the China Inn Café. But first impressions can be misleading.
In the old heart of Phuket Town in and around Thalang Rd, you’ll notice that the streets are lined with small shops. The buildings are usually two-storey with an arcade in front. The shop owners do business at street level and live upstairs, hence the name for this type of building – shophouses.
Some are monstrosities of 1960s concrete, but most date back 100 years or more and are built in an architectural style that combines Chinese and Portuguese elements, hence the term Sino-Portuguese.
What is not apparent from the street is just how spacious these buildings are. Almost all follow the same layout, the result of a combination of necessity and Chinese feng-shui principles. In fact, you’ll find the same design, more or less, in all the Straits Settlements – Singapore, Penang, Melaka, Medan and Phuket – all of which have large Chinese communities.
The necessity was created in the early days of Singapore, when the city’s founder, Sir Stamford Raffles decreed that no Chinese shop frontage could be more than two broomsticks wide. He did not put any limit, however, on how far back the building might stretch. As a result, some of the bigger shophouses in Phuket are 70 or 80 metres deep. In the centre there is traditionally a yard open to the sky, with a well. This accords with Chinese feng-shui theory.
If you’d come to Phuket 10 years ago, you’d have found many of these buildings in a dreadful state. These days, however, although there are still some supremely scruffy examples, many have been restored.
One very good example is the China Inn Café on Thalang Rd. At the front is an antique shop. Walk through it, past the cash desk and toilet and into the courtyard restaurant behind.
Epicentre of gentrification: Soi Romanee is a very attractive street these days.
Although the quarters at the back are now one-storey and are used as the kitchen, you can get a very good idea of what life in a shophouse would have been like 100 years ago – the rooflines are still visible on the surrounding walls.
The food’s very good, too, and sitting in the shade around the courtyard with a frosty drink is a great way to escape from the hustle and bustle and heat of the street.
Other good conversions that are accessible include Salvatore’s Italian restaurant on Rassada Road, Anna’s next door to Salvatore’s, and Siam Indigo restaurant on Phang Nga Rd.
The current epicentre of gentrification is off Thalang Rd, on Soi Romanee, which is now a delightful place for a stroll, browsing hand-made crafts or sitting for a while with an iced coffee or a cold beer. These shophouses, however, are not as deep as the classic design – when they were built, there just wasn’t enough space left.
[...] As in past years, streets in the old part of Phuket Town will be pedestrians-only, with street entertainers, food stalls and the chance to take a look inside some of the old town’s fascinating shop-houses. [...]