Friday, 16 October 2015

Portuguese architecture of Phuket Town

The old district of Phuket Town is hectic to say the least. Houses are very basic and the street view is dominated by the electrical wiring. We assume when the electricity fails, they just add a new line until it is complete chaos.

Traffic is busy and comes to a complete standstill in peak hours. Despite the sad look of the city, school kids smile and have fun. Everyone you meet is friendly and tries do to business.

Next to several Chinese and Thai temples, Phuket Town is well known for its Portuguese architecture. On the pictures below you see many of these houses but most of them are in very poor state. Let's hope that the city council can raise enough funds to restore most of these heritage houses.

Het oude stadsgedeelte van Phuket Town kan je op zijn minst hectisch noemen. Huizen zijn opgetrokken in basismaterialen en het straatbeeld wordt gedomineerd door bovengrondse elektriciteitsbedrading. We gaan er van uit als er een stroomstoring is en de oorzaak wordt niet snel gevonden, men gewoon een draadje bijtrekt tot het een volledige chaos is.

Het verkeer is er zeer druk en komt volledig tot stilstand tijdens de piekuren. Ondanks de trieste uitstraling van de stad, lachen de scholieren en hebben veel plezier. Iedereen is vriendelijk en tracht zaken te doen. 

Naast de Chinese en Thaise tempels is Phuket Town voornamelijk gekend voor zijn Portugese architectuur. Op de foto's hieronder zie je vele van deze huizen maar de meeste zijn slecht onderhouden of in verval. Laat ons hopen dat het gemeentebestuur genoeg fondsen kan bij elkaar brengen om deze historische huizen te renoveren en het Portugese erfgoed in stand te houden. 
 
Phuket Town pagode

Phuket Town school boys

Phuket Town street

Phuket Town public transport

Phuket Town pharmacy Fui Choon Tong

Phuket Town Portuguese architecture

Phuket Town mansions

Phuket Town dragon

Phuket Town knitting

Phuket Town colors

Phuket Town corridor

Phuket Town Potuguese architecture

Phuket Town black facades

Phuket Town clock tower ruin

Previous Phuket article: Phuket nightlife on Bangla Road, Patong Beach

Previous General Impressions article: General Impressions of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia

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10 comments:

  1. thank you









    ALOHA
    ComfortSpiral

    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

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  2. Can see what you mean regarding the buildings. Let's hope they can be restored to their former glory.

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  3. het is niet alleen mooi maar ook heel gezellig.

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  4. The architecture is interesting but those awful cables - you get them like that in India too only worse.

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  5. A long-heard town which I have yet to visit.

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  6. The happy children made my morning so much brighter. It does look like a busy place, and lovely statue!

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  7. completely different from European cities. I love the unusual vehicles

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  8. You've captured a wonderful blend of cultures in these photos Filip.

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  9. Old Asian towns always appear chaotic. It sure could do with a spruce up.

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  10. Great series of photos, and the smiles on the boys is my favourite, they brightened up my day! :)

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