Phuket Town
Phuket Town lying on the south-east coast of the island on a picturesque bay, was built in the mid-19th c. to replace the old town of Phalang, destroyed by the Burmese around 1800. The influence of Chinese immigrants is evident in the two-story, brick-faced houses decorated with wood carvings. Also typical are the arcaded passages,
which allow walks to be taken protected from the rigors of the weather, and the ceiling-high displays in the shops to be admired. Around the town center stand a number of houses with very beautiful gardens, built by rich Chinese and Malaysians, who made their fortunes from raw rubber and tin.
In little more than ten years - in 1980 Patong Beach was opened up to development - Phuket has changed from a lonely island with dreamy beaches to a playground of mass tourism with all the problems which come with it. The main resorts present the usual picture with hotel blocks, exotically furnished restaurants, pleasure parlors, and "chicken bars"; the airport is the "turnstile" of the south and, with 2.2 million passengers a year, Thailand's second largest. For the native population price increases have been high, with only investors from Bangkok and abroad profiting from the boom. It is recognized that the influx of tourism must be checked and channeled: whether those responsible for ecology at TAT, in the province's government and in local trade will gain the upper hand against short-term economic interests remains to be seen.
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