The Thai Islands: history and heritage

About The Thai Islands: history and heritage

By the ULTIMATE the Thai Islands Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Thailand’s islands were not always holiday islands. On the Andaman coast the Moken and Urak Lawoi lived by the sea; Phuket was a tin-mining frontier that drew miners and merchants from southern China; and in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui lived on coconuts shipped to Bangkok. Their old towns, temples and festivals tell that story beneath the resorts.

At a glance

Population: Phuket, Thailand’s largest island, has more than 400,000 registered residents (Department of Provincial Administration, Thailand), and many more who live and work there unregistered.

Peoples: Thai, Thai-Chinese of Hokkien descent (the Baba Peranakan of Phuket), Thai Muslims, and the Moken, Moklen and Urak Lawoi sea peoples (Chao Le).

A tin-mining frontier and coconut islands, long before they were holiday islands.

Two seas: the Andaman Sea (Phuket, Krabi, Phi Phi, Phang Nga) and the Gulf of Thailand (Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan, Koh Tao).

The sea peoples

The Moken, Moklen and Urak Lawoi, known together as the Chao Le, the people of the sea, have lived along the Andaman coast for centuries, fishing, diving and moving between the islands. Their villages on Phuket, Koh Lanta and the Surin Islands keep their traditions, including the boat-floating ceremony held twice a year.

Thalang, 1785

In 1785 a Burmese army besieged Thalang, the old capital of Phuket. Two sisters, Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Si Sunthon, rallied the defence, and the siege was lifted. Their statue at the Heroines’ Monument greets everyone driving in from the airport.

The tin boom

Tin made Phuket rich in the nineteenth century. Miners and merchants came from southern China, especially Hokkien speakers, many by way of Penang, and Phuket Town grew into a trading town.

Peranakan Phuket

The Baba Peranakan community, descended from Chinese settlers who married local women, built the Sino-Portuguese shophouses and mansions of Thalang, Dibuk and Krabi roads in Phuket Old Town, and gave Phuket its own cuisine, its Chinese shrines and the Vegetarian Festival each autumn. In 2015 UNESCO named Phuket a Creative City of Gastronomy.

Coconut islands

In the Gulf, Koh Samui was settled by fishermen and Hainanese Chinese traders, and for generations shipped coconuts to Bangkok. Visitors arrived only from the 1970s, and the airport opened in 1989.

The islands today

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 struck the Andaman coast hard, and the islands mourn those lost while having rebuilt. Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh closed from 2018 to 2022 to let its coral and beach recover, a sign of the islands’ new care for their seas.

Our advice: spend an evening in Phuket Old Town for its shophouses and Peranakan food, visit the Heroines’ Monument and Thalang National Museum, and respect the visiting rules at Maya Bay and the national marine parks.

Sources

Population: Department of Provincial Administration, Ministry of Interior, Thailand (registered population). History: Thalang National Museum (Fine Arts Department); Tourism Authority of Thailand; UNESCO Creative Cities Network (Phuket, City of Gastronomy); Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Thailand.

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