Unique, bizarre, yet strangely compelling, the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival is almost upon us.
Read the rest of this entry »Posts Tagged ‘history’
Discovering a hidden part of Phuket’s history
Very few guides to Phuket mention the old government quarter in the provincial capital, with its graceful 100-year-old architecture.
Read the rest of this entry »Phuket tin mining museum worth a visit
The lttle-known Phuket Mining Museum was supposed to open two years ago, but that hasn’t happened yet. But you can still go there for a fascinating view of Phuket’s pre-tourism history.
Read the rest of this entry »Blue Elephant restaurant coming to Phuket town
A classic mansion in Phuket, left to rot for years, is to be reborn as a sophisticated Thai restaurant.
Read the rest of this entry »The Secret Behind the Shophouse Door
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.
Read the rest of this entry »The Heroines – Live!
Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes on Phuket will have seen the Heroines monument in the middle of the circle halfway between Phuket Town and Thalang. The statue of two women holding swords commemorates the defeat 224 years ago of a Burmese army by the people of Thalang (then the capital of the island).
The victory is celebrated every year on Phuket with a week of activities, culminating in a free open-air theatrical performance on the supposed site of the final battle in the five-week defence of Phuket. This year, the performance, featuring hundreds of people, takes place on the nights of March 13, 14 and 15.
