^ Phuket must have been fascinating in the past, long before the days of tourism and the development of the beach resorts. Francis Light who established Penang was previously based in Phuket for a decade, and probably took lots of the Chinese tin miners that were settled in Phuket with him. Back then it would have consisted of the trading town of Phuket with its Sino-Portuguese shophouses, lush villas, and harbour protected from the Andaman waves, tin mines in the hills, and Muslim fisherman in villages dotted around the island's coast.
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Living in Pattaya. The stigma.
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Originally posted by Arthur Daley View Post^ Phuket must have been fascinating in the past, long before the days of tourism and the development of the beach resorts. Francis Light who established Penang was previously based in Phuket for a decade, and probably took lots of the Chinese tin miners that were settled in Phuket with him. Back then it would have consisted of the trading town of Phuket with its Sino-Portuguese shophouses, lush villas, and harbour protected from the Andaman waves, tin mines in the hills, and Muslim fisherman in villages dotted around the island's coast.
I wonder if the municipality is restricting growth to save it from exploding or if it's just close to a natural development rate.
Pattaya exploded because it's so close to BKK. It's harder to know with Phuket.
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Phuket is about the same size as Singapore but has 1/10 of Singapore's population, at around half a million. It's a lot more mountainous than Singapore which limits land usability, but I think the limited population is due to it being superseded by Penang as the main Staits island stopover due to its more convenient geography, which itself was then superseded by Singapore. While both of those places grew as busy colonies, Phuket only grew recently, primarily as a tourist destination, and I'd guess that pre tourism the population was only 10,000 - 20,000.
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Originally posted by Hugh Cow View PostLooks like I should look at the city area next time.
The other 90% of the city is a modern mix of good roads, housing estates, condos, restaurants, other businesses, government offices (many of which are in stunning colonial buildings), schools, two universities, some good mountaintop viewpoints, sports facilities, a marina, a Central Festival and brand new Central Floresta, half a dozen large hotels including a Novotel, several night markets, and dozens of nightlife establishments. All in all, far nicer and more liveable than Pattaya or Patong.
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Originally posted by Arthur Daley View PostPhuket only grew recently, primarily as a tourist destination, and I'd guess that pre tourism the population was only 10,000 - 20,000.
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Originally posted by Arthur Daley View PostA few pics of the old town area, which takes up about 10% of the city and attracts a lot of Thai tourists, and has some very cool bars and coffee shops https://says.com/my/lifestyle/phuket...melaka-or-ipoh
The other 90% of the city is a modern mix of good roads, housing estates, condos, restaurants, other businesses, government offices (many of which are in stunning colonial buildings), schools, two universities, some good mountaintop viewpoints, sports facilities, a marina, a Central Festival and brand new Central Floresta, half a dozen large hotels including a Novotel, several night markets, and dozens of nightlife establishments. All in all, far nicer and more liveable than Pattaya or Patong.
Have you ever heard of James Howard Kunstler ?
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I think the main 'stigma' attached to living in Pattaya comes from the jealous, sniping underclasses. Thus it has always been.
I mean, I would hate to live in a Calcutta slum, I feel sorry for those people actually. But I don't spend my spare time posting about it on the internet.
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I'd probably choose Pattaya over Bangkok or Udon or Chiang Mai purely because it's coastal, but as previously said, if living in Thailand why not choose what's singly the best place? And that's Phuket Town, the largest, most historic, most attractive, and Thai (hence normal prices) conurbation of Thailand's largest and most convenient tourist island.
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^ Pour moi, Traffic. Last time I was in Phuket, staying in Cape Panwa, I tried to go to Phuket Old Town in the trusty hire car- but never made it there. The traffic was a friggin' nightmare, to the point where I gave up in disgust, and took my ex-wife, mother & stepfather for dinner in some soulless shopping centre instead. Sigh.
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