Thalang Road

Thalang road is the heart of the Phuket Old Town. Here and in the surrounding quarters you will find beautiful architecture of grandiose Sino-colonial mansions, once occupied by Phuket’s tin barons. Phuket has a rich history as tin-mining country peopled by Siamese, Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, and sea gypsies. A unique community in Phuket is called the "Baba people", with their own way of life, language, dress, and food. The core of this community was formed by early unions between Hokkien tin-miners and Siamese women. Since the sixteenth century, Europeans have been involved in the tin trade of Phuket. In the eighteenth century, much of the island’s tin mining was carried out by Hokkien Chinese who were instrumental in building the old part of the city. In the early-twentieth century, under Governor Mahitsaraphakdi, major European mining companies were invited in, and major public infrastructure such as roads and canals was built. Many buildings in Sino-Portuguese style from this period are preserved and restored, particularly the shophouses and the big mansions. No one knows exactly when the first building in this style was constructed, but photographs from the reign of King Rama V in the middle of nineteenth century show that the town was already well established by then.

The name Phuket is derived from the Malay word bukit, meaning hill. The island was previously named Junk Ceylon on European charts, a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang meaning Cape Salang. Later it became known as Thalang, after the name of the main town on the island.