A History of Phuket
and the Surrounding Region
This is the first book to comprehensively examine the little-known history of Phuket and its surrounding region. This well-researched book incorporates over 1,000 original quotes and writings from commentators and visitors over the last 2,000 years. It is broken down into 38 separate chapter/stories and is illustrated with over 100 maps, pictures and photographs, many of which have never been published before.
![History of Phuket Book cover](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/26de75816f432b9e6f8e1b93fb71f9aecbb6e233/48991/assets/static/history_of_phuket_coverse.800ca94.9d71c5ddd6077019a94c1b78d6da69cd.jpg)
This epic story begins with the arrival of the first humans and goes on to cover: the influence of early Negro, Malay, Indian, Chinese, Arab, Greek settlers and visitors; Phuket’s important position on the ancient east west maritime trade route; the rise and fall of mysterious early kingdoms and empires; the coming of Islam and Thai regional dominance; the social history and the scourge of piracy; swashbuckling attempts by Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, French, and British adventurers to control Phuket in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries; the destruction of the 18th and 19th century Burmese wars; the tin mining boom; mass Chinese immigration and their rise to regional power; European colonial pressure and why Phuket was never colonized; the birth of Thailand; Japan’s WWII invasion, local resistance battles and the eventual Allied conquest of Phuket; and Phuket’s post-war transformation into a booming jet-set destination.
![Thai flourish](https://d33wubrfki0l68.cloudfront.net/fce130aef989aeb4ae3e39f40458ead745d7fb80/a7a40/assets/static/flourish.0d639c8.e6ed98f410882f7bbfeb73cf1e7b586d.png)