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History
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 Phuket
island has been well known for a long time, first by miners
and later by travelers. The beauty of the beaches, the fascinating
landscape and the elegance of the coral reefs under the sea,
resulted in it being dubbed the Pearl of the South.
The name of the island means
Crystal Mountain. It is 862 km from Bangkok. Phuket first
introduced itself to the world as Junk Ceylon, the name that
appears on the old maps written by Ptolemy (1186 – 1256 AD),
a Greek geographer. It was mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geographic
that voyages from Suwannapoom to the Malay Peninsula passed
the cape of Junk Ceylon. Trade contracts between Siam and
Holland written in the Ayutthaya period (1664 AD), also mentioned
the town named Ujung Sylan, believed to be Phuket.
 In
former times Phuket was known for its rich tin reserves. From
the mid-Ayutthaya period to early Rattanakosin ( 17th
– 18th Century) the
tin mining industry in Phuket was under the concession of
many western countries who came to exploit the reserves. More
recently the industry was in the hands of Chinese families
who first came here to sell their sweat as mining labor, but
then forged their destiny as mine owners. Examples of old
Sino-Portuguese architecture can be found in many parts of
the island. However, when tin demand in the world market declined,
Phuket knew how to transform itself from an obsolete industry
to the new era, the tourism, since tin is not the only resource
of Phuket, its rich natural beauty could be found both offshore
and on shore.
Phuket was mentioned from
time to time in history, but the most memorable incident happened
in the early Rattanakosin period related to the Siam-Burmese
war which created two heroines, Khunying Jan, wife of Phuket’s
recently deceased governor, and  her
young sister Khunying Mook. The sisters assembled the troops
to defend Talang, the old major city in Phuket, from Burmese
army invasion. After a month of siege, the Burmese retreated.
Then, King Rama I bestowed on them the honorable titles Thao
Thep Kasatri and Thao Sri Suthorn.
During the reigns of King
Rama II and King Rama III Burma sent armies to invade Phuket
many times. These battles continued until Burma became a colony
of the United Kingdom.
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