From my recent visit of the smaller and sometimes overlooked places of Interest in Old Town Phuket
As an ex Royal Mail postwoman from around 2011, I a always interested now in not only the architecture, but the history of any given countries
postal system. After all it was one of the first methods of communication between different communities.

Phuket Town has one that might interest you. The Phuket Philatelic Museum is located in an old district of Phuket Town in a building from the year 1920.

Once inside the so-called Post Museum, you can see the same machines and layout of the office as it was nearly a century ago. There are old stamp and packing machines, and even telephones displayed as they were a century ago. There are post boxes for in-house mail and mailboxes for homes, mail scales, and some of the stamp metering equipment is still there. You can see some of the old stamps they used in the early part of the twentieth century. If inclined, there are stamps available for purchase as souvenirs of the old Phuket Post Museum (or Philatelic Museum).

The Phuket Post Museum is located an 80-year-old building on Montri Road (the original signage still adorns the old Sino-Portuguese style building which was built in 1930, saved from demolition in the 1990’s and then opened as a museum in late 2004) close to the main Phuket Post Office in Phuket Town, on the east side of Phuket Island, and is open during regular weekday business hours starting at 9 am.

Another one of my “Abandoned buildings” collection. I actually visited this quite well known location when I visited the Phuravarna.

The Abandoned Retreat. Originally this complex was the brainchild by Gary Ebsen, a long time Phuket resident and director of Eco–Cool Thai Homes, a company that has won several awards for building energy–efficient homes, set about creating affordable freehold condominiums in a modern resort atmosphere with stunning panoramic views of historic Chalong Bay and the offshore islands.

Using his experience and contacts he focused on the long over–looked but currently booming Chalong Circle area and located a choice 2.5 Rai (1 acre) plot of land within easy walking distance to the shops and restaurants of the Chalong Pier. This is where Chalong Bay Condominiums had to be!

Sadly the same story is so common here, the non transfer of ownership deeds, because of “problems with repaying bank loans” left many investors out of pocket and only getting a 60% refund on their money. The project was abandoned and recent reports from the Thai journals suggest that the land and property is going up for auction.

One can’t help thinking… “Buyer beware!”

This incomplete government offices stand on ground located on Thakreng Rd, near Rama IX Park, in Chalong Phuket.

Interestingly the Car park is completely finished and beautiful, but sadly inaccessible by vehicles as the road to it has not been finished either. There is also an event hall next door, also complete and used by government officers.

After the new Provincial Hall is complete it will become home to over a dozen of official agencies, including the Provincial Labour Office and the Provincial Governor’s Office. The current Phuket Provincial Hall on Narisorn Rd will be converted into a museum.

The new Phuket Provincial Hall will be big enough to provide seats to some 1000 clerks. The administrative complex will have 295 indoor and 25 outdoor parking spaces for cars, 2 parking spaces for buses and 200 slots for motorbikes.

Walking round it I could see how lovely it will be when it is finally completed. Hopefully the new contracts will be awarded and this building will be finished before it becomes too derelict. So for the meantime all we have is this!

Wat Chalong

My first Wat visit here since i moved from the mainland to Phuket.
Fighting with glare, and blazing sun, and shadows, and loads of tourists(whoops, I am a tourist) and outdoor and indoor natural light. Quite a challenge.

My first visit to Wat Chalong as a visitor, also known as Wat Chaiyathararam. Of the many temples found on Phuket island, the Wat Chalong temple is the largest and most revered. The temple complex was built in its current location in 1837. Some remains of older structures have been found, however it is unknown exactly how old they are. The large grounds of Wat Chalong that is officially named Wat Chaitararam contains a viharn, a mondop, a ubosot, a chedi containing a secret relic, a sala and a crematorium. The most recent building on the grounds of Wat Chalong is a 60 meters tall ‘Chedi’ sheltering a splinter of bone from Buddha. Walls and ceilings are decorated with beautiful painting illustrating the life of Buddha, as well as many donated golden statues. Wat Chalong Chedi is built on three floors so feel free to climb all the way to the top floor terrace to get a nice bird view on the entire temple grounds.

One of the best attractions on Phuket Island is our Giant Buddha on Nakkerd Hill in the town of Chalong(where I live).

Looking down on the town, i get a feeling of safety and calm when driving my partner to work, like he’s watching over us all. When up there the came and quiet, and of course on sunny days the amazing views across to Chalong Bay and the Islands are in my opinion, un equaled.

Phuket’s Big Buddha is one of the most important and revered landmarks on the island. The huge image sits on top of the Nakkerd Hills between Chalong and Kata and, at 45 metres tall, can be seen from as far away as Phuket Town and Karon Beach.

The lofty site offers the best 360-degree views of the island, with sweeping vistas of Phuket Town, Kata, Karon, Chalong Bay and more.

Known among Thais as the Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri Buddha, the main statue was built in 2004 and is 25 meters across at the base. The whole body is constructed with reinforced concrete, layered with beautiful Burmese white jade marble that shines in the sun. The views, and the actual image itself are breathtaking.

The road to Nakkerd Hills is in good condition, most parts are newly built but it has many curves and some steep climbs, which less-powerful scooters can struggle with. Some young tourists enjoy hiking up, even though it usually takes them over an hour to reach the top. Nakkerd eh?

Visiting Phukets Old Town is a camera-persons delight at the best of times. During my recent visit on one of my “Walkabouts” along with some architectural photography of Phukets Sino-Portuguese buildings, I took the time to capture some of the street art that now has become no longer the preserve of the “spray can tag crowd” , but serious artists too.

The street art in Phuket Town has not appeared randomly, it’s part of an organised attempt to brighten up the town’s street administered by by a group known as the 4studio with the blessing and assistance of the Phuket Office of the Tourist Authority of Thailand.

The street art in Phuket very much fits in with the themes of the broader South East Asian street movement. Like the street art in Penang and Ipoh, the street art in Phuket Town focuses on themes which are important to local people and relate to local life on the island, even if in an obscure way. Not all street art in Thailand is following this path.

Music is ; Fix One Thing At A Time- Max McFerren
Free under creative commons licence from You Tube music library

This 111 meter long tall ship from Indonesia docked at the deep port in Phuket. An invitation via the local press was given to members of the public to come and visit it, and so I did.

It was in Phuket as part of the 2019 Nation Ambassador Sail (NAS), an annual program of the Indonesian Navy to strengthen Indonesia’s commitment to regional security, peace and stability. The theme for this year’s program is “Maritime Fulcrum Brotherhood”.

It was a real treat fro anyone not having got close to one of these magnificent Ships.

The KRI Bima Suci is one of the tallest ships owned by the Indonesian Navy, besides KRI Dewa Ruci. The vessel is 111.2 metres long, and 13.65m wide draws a depth of 5.95m. Its tallest mast stretches 49m from the deck surface.

This ship – which can accommodate up to 209 personnel consisting of 35 officers, 73 sailors and 101 cadets who are 83 Indonesian Navy Cadets n opportunity to practice their capabilities in basic navigation and astronomical navigation.

The program also aims to provide the 83 Indonesian Navy Cadets n opportunity to practice their capabilities in basic navigation and astronomical navigation.

Music courtesy of Vibe Mountain-Clover 3
Free under creative commons licence from You tube music library

Chinese style temples in Thailand are and can be called ; Sanjao, San Chao, or ( ศาลเจ้า). They may belong to the community, perhaps donated by wealthy benefactors, or to private foundations of a pious and charitable character.

Even when private property, they are normally open to the public on daytime. Their name is normally preceded by the title Sanjao ( ศาลเจ้า ), meaning shrine or spirit house. It is the same name given to miniature spirit houses Thai people love to keep in their gardens or homes.

They consist of at least one small building hosting the main shrine. Often they include also one external shrine in the form of a concrete table, and an external incinerator in the shape of a small tower. More rarely, one or more additional buildings with accessory shrines and votive objects, including holy rolls, and a votive pole. When located inside internal courts, they are marked by one or more decorated portals on the main street. All those additional parts are normally decorated following the same pattern for each temple.

For this particular shrine the History is as below, I would like to add that they have actually built an extension , a massive meeting and event hall, which appear in the last frames of this slide show.

Info;

Around 1890 in the area that the shrine stands today was a inlet from the nearby sea. One day a Chinese man came ashore in a Junk bringing with him an image of the Emperor Guan Yu. The man built a small house and was seen to pay respects to the image of Emperor Guan Yu. After some time the Chinese man disappeared and the local villagers saw that he had left behind the image of Emperor Guan Yu. The villagers continued to worship the image and eventually gathered together enough money to build a better shrine. Guan Yu or Kuan Yuis also known as Kuan Ti and is often referred to as the God of War due to his military successes however he is revered for his loyality and justice and is worshipped as a guardian deity.

It is known that tin was discovered a couple of millennia ago in the Kathu district of Phuket and was mined until 1992 when the last mine on Phuket closed. Cassiterite (the principal ore of tin) was found in abundance in Phuket and the neighbouring Andaman coast (noteably from KhaoLak to TakuaPa).

In the Ministry of Primary Industries(which mining was) and Mines the campus which houses the current offices, has in it’s grounds these old machines which were used during the mining in the 20th Century.

Fascinatingly even steam engines sit aside the giant wheels and cogs of these machines, their belts and pulleys long gone!

But it has been tastefully done and was a joy to see on my photographic journey around Phuket.