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Travelers Guide to Phuket
North
Central Area
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Introduction
 The
North Central area covers
the center part of the island above Phuket Town and running up the
east coast to the top of the island. The central area also
includes the Kathu District. This part of the island is where most
of the tin mining activity was centered. This area has been
extensively altered by large scale open-pit, and strip mining for
tin. The area was once fairly mountainous but is now y a flat
plain dotted by small lakes and ponds. The last tin mine closed in
1992 effectively ending an intense period of mining that lasted at
least 500 years. Today many of the damaged areas have been
reclaimed by the jungle, or covered with rubber plantations, golf
courses, and housing projects. The Central area still impresses
the newcomer with its lush tropical greenery. It is mildly
reassuring to know this area once looked like a moonscape and now
has recovered to the point that most people who visit are unaware
of the wholesale destruction this area once sustained.
In
many respects this is the most interesting part of the island. The
north area includes many of the island's historical sites and
important wats, and is the least developed part of the island. It
has a beautiful national park with virgin rain forest, jungle
trails and waterfalls. The Heroines Monument stands in the traffic
circle on the main highway between the village of Thalong and
Phuket Town This monument commemorates the two sisters who are
credited with winning the Battle at Thalang against the Burmese in
1785.
We will work our way over the
hill to the central area (Kahtu District) and proceed north to the
top of the island.
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Kathu
Waterfall
When you tire of the beach scene
and want to explore the interior of the island the Kathu Waterfall
is a good place to start. A pleasant location for a picnic and an
afternoon swim set among the mountains of the central district of
Kathu. From the parking lot, cross the bridge and climb 250m (840ft)
up the steps to the lower falls. To reach the higher falls, cross
the pond wall and climb 100m (320ft) up the steps cut into the
hillside. At the top are more beautiful pools that offer a cool
relaxing place for a quick swim. The falls are at their best in the
monsoon but dwindle to only a trickle in the dry season of March
through May.
To get there take the main highway
from Patong to Phuket. At the first intersection, turn left onto the
road to Kathu. About 1½ km (1 mile) later, turn left at the sign
and drive 2km (1½ mile) to the falls.
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Khao
Pra Thaeo National Park
Phukets
last natural reserve and a beautiful place where ferns and mosses
grow on rocks and fallen trunks while handsome hardwood tress soar
straight up into the sky. Palm trees and other jungle growth combine
to give that majestic feel of a virgin triple canopy forest. The
park was declared a natural preserve in July 1980 and covers over 22
sq. kilometers of virgin rain forest. The park in known for its many
species of trees especially palms, one of which the White Backed
Palm grows nowhere else on earth. Many kinds of wild animals can
still be found in the park including langurs, monkeys, barking deer,
wild boars, squirrels, and numerous species of birds and reptiles.
The park is an important source of water for the island and streams
in the park feed two waterfalls of interest.
Ton Sai Waterfall is
small but flows freely in the rainy season. The surrounding large
and small trees offer a shady place to rest and enjoy a picnic. Get
a map from the park headquarters and enjoy walking a few of the
nature trails. Bang Pe
Waterfall is small trickle
except during the rainy season when the water cascading down the
hillside can be quite impressive. Trek the upper terrain of Ton Sai
waterfall and enjoy the many nature trails that are maintained by
the park staff.
Part of the park property is used
by the noble Gibbon
Rehabilitation Project to
re-introduce captive gibbons back into the wild. For many years
Gibbons were kept as pets and some were trained to entertain
visitors in bars and other places of entertainment on the island.
This practice is now banned and the Gibbon project was started to
retrain the Gibbons and reintroduce them to live in the wild.
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Wat
Phra Thong
Is
the second most important Buddhist temple on the island. This
is where stands the solid gold statue of Buddha that popped up from
the ground. According to legend, this area was a field used for
raising animals. A boy tethered a water buffalo to a metal shaft
sticking out of the ground. Shortly thereafter, the boy fell ill and
died. His distraught father had a dream that told him his sons
death resulted from having tied up the buffalo to the finial on the
head of a huge gold Buddha image. This persuaded the villagers to
dig around, and they discovered the story to be true. As the soil
was hard, they were able to dig out only the upper half, and decided
to build a bot (ordination hall) around what they had managed
to excavate. When the invading Burmese came, they tried but failed
to unearth the image. A cast of cement and plaster was placed over
the image to prevent further attempts to remove it.
The image is still left there half
buried in the middle of the bot. Standing 2m (7ft) tall, it is
exposed from the middle of the chest up. It appears to be in a
seated position suggesting the full height would about 4m (13ft).
The Buddha figure you will see on your visit may be solid gold
hidden under the layer of stucco and flecks gold leaf but you will
never know for sure.
Other Buddha images line the walls
of the bot. The most interesting is a skeletal Buddha statue
on the right. According to lore, Buddha fasted many days and failed
to attain nirvana. When he was dangerously weak, a monkey offered
honey while an elephant presented him with a section of bamboo
filled with water to enable him to quit his fast gently.
From the Heroines Monument go north
through the main intersection of Thalang to a sign and the temple
entrance on the right hand side of the road.
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Thalang
National Museum
Open daily from 9AM to 4PM except
holidays. Admission 30 Baht. An interesting collection of local
artifacts, and a pleasant way to spend an hour or so learning about
the history and culture of southern Thailand. The museum exhibits a
striking collection of ancient remains and artifacts relating to the
history of Phuket and the surrounding provinces of Phang nga and
Krabi. The ethnic diversity of Phuket as a maritime crossroads is
apparent in the exhibits on the sea gypsies and many others
who have played a part in the history of Phuket. Stone implements
and bones of prehistoric cave-dwellers have been carefully
reassembled. Displays reconstruct the 11 month Burmese invasion of
the area in 1785 when the invaders were repelled in a bloody war by
the people of Phuket, led by the sisters Mook and Chan. Other
displays relate to life in old Phuket during the glory days of tin
mining boom. Perhaps the most remarkable item is the 4 meter (13 ft)
stone statue of the Hindu God Vishnu recovered from Takua Pa
in the district in Phang-nga. An inscription in the Dravidian
language suggests it was carved by Indian migrants who are known to
have inhabited the coastal areas.
From the Heroines Monument go east
for about 100 meters and turn right and follow the sign to the
Museum parking area.
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Wat
Phra Nang Sang
The
200 year old wat is the oldest on the island, and was built when
Thalang was still Phukets capital. The temple is of historic
interest because it sits on the camp and battle site of the fighting
with Burma in 1785.
The wats two principle buildings
provide an interesting contrast between old and new architectural
styles. The bot (ordination) hall on the right was built in honor of
a woman who, according to folklore, bled white blood when cut. While
the central stucco Buddha image and the two attendant images are nor
particularly attractive, the metal heads in front of them are
thought to be the oldest metal images of the Buddha in the world.
Look for the unusual image of the Buddha, in the reclining position
behind the central image.
The bot does not have doors in its
back wall and this gives the temple its very special reputation.
Without back doors, the temple reputedly, will not admit malevolent
spirits and hence the bot serves as a site for white magic rites.
One can have weapons blessed here and receive the incantations and
symbols which will make one invulnerable to penetration by knives or
bullets.
The wat claims to have the longest
Lai Tong (a religious manuscript folded like an accordion) in
Thailand. Legend says the Lai Tong contains maps of buried treasure
and that it is these that the Burmese sought when the invaded the
island in 1785. The Burmese failed, the monks say, because the holy
manuscripts are protected by a demon that continues to protect them
to this day.
From the Heroines Monument go north
to the main intersection of Thalang and the temple is located on the
west side of the street.
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Thalang
Village
Nothing remains of the ancient
capital city of Thalang. The building materials used at that time,
and the Chinese penchant for tearing down old buildings and
rebuilding them rather than restoring them have erased all traces of
the old city except for Wat Phra Nang Sang. The current village of
Thalang is a rather old and run down version of Chinese shophouses
in the Sino-Portuguese style that are found throughout the tin
mining communities of the Malay Peninsula. It was used a few years
ago as a setting for the film "Good Morning Viet Nam",
where it depicted a neighborhood in the city of Saigon.
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Atlantis
- liveaboard diving in Thailand
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