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• History
  • 20th Century
  • Early European Explorers
  • Sea Gypsies
    • The Mokens
  • Sino Portuguese Buildings

Being an island, Phuket has found itself is the path of human migrations and movements since prehistoric times.

Most of the varied peoples who have passed this way, leaving relics, settlers or influences, have come by sea.


In following pages we offer stories and photographs that have been published in PHUKET MAGAZINE over the years, covering many aspects of the island’s early history.

These pages will come on-line progressively as we build the site. The stories they will contain are among the most authoritative on their subjects, by professional

Below are some of the historic peoples and events that will have separate pages.

The earliest inhabitants of which we have trace are those who drew paintings in the caves – though there is debate about who they might have been.

Sea gypsies are the earliest of the settlers who can still be found here, with about a dozen villages scattered along the Thai Andaman coast between Myanmar and Malaysia. Two of those villages are found here on Phuket.

Malay fishermen migrated north in their fragile craft and built villages in sheltered estuaries, but rarely moved inland.

Thai Buddhists moved down the peninsula seeking flat, fertile lands for their rice culture, establishing the dominant villages and towns.

Burmese invaders repeatedly tried to prise the island away from Thai control, sometimes impressive in their failure.

Early European explorers dropped anchor in Phuket many times, even considering it as a base for British power in the western Indian Ocean, a status finally placed on Penang.

Chinese immigrants landed via Singapore and Penang, seeking work and wealth in the tin mines. Many found it, and established the base for the island’s modern commerce.

Arab and Indian Muslims also found their way here, if in smaller numbers, blending into the local Muslim communities, but also bringing cultural influences.

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