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Monday | October 7, 2013
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Music on a Sunday Afternoon:
Somewhere in time along Thalang Road in Old Phuket Town
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Story and Photos by Mike BaÑos
ne of my fondest memories during our recent Media Education Trip to Phuket, Thailand organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand was a Sunday stroll down Thalang Road of Old Phuket Town. Old Phuket Town is the old part of the city around Thalang, Dibuk and Krabi roads which showcases its Peranakan heritage from a century ago with beautiful architecture from its Portuguese and British forebears at the height of the island’s tin industry. Peranakan is the common term for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore and Thailand. They were usually traders, the middleman of the British and the Chinese, or the Chinese and Malays, or vice versa because many were English educated and usually spoke two or more languages. As they intermarried with the locals, many lost the ability to speak Chinese started to speak the local dialect. Most are Buddhists free thinkers. It was a treat for an amateur history and heritage buff like me to revel in the shophouses, cafés and print shops from another time. I read from various online sources how the Old Town was built by riches from its tin industry when the metal still played a key role in world trade. Although it was Sunday afternoon and most of the shops were closed, it somehow added to the charm of the place as one felt transported in time to how it actually was here during the tin boom. Due to time and weather constraints (there was a slight drizzle so it was cool though humid), we mostly strolled along Thalang Road, the old commercial center and it was a blast taking in the shophouses looking just like they were from way back with their traditional Chinese medicine, textiles and tailors, beauty parlors, little restaurants and hostels Fortunately for us, the owners of one of the residences which has now been converted into a hostel,
The oldest house in Thalang Road is the Sino-Portuguese Building, a showcase of Chinese and Portuguese architecture. It was built when the Portuguese still controlled the Straits of Malacca from Singapore to Burma and the Andaman Sea.
graciously allowed us a closer peek inside. Now known as 99 Oldtown Boutique Guesthouse it was once the residence of a wealthy Hookien merchant and had all of 14 rooms have been converted into rooms to let. Their ancestors were originally from Penang, Malaysia belonging to the Khoo clan. The hotel opened for business only two years ago with room rates ranges from BHT 999 to 2,000 with breakfast. From the traditional wooden furniture in what passes for its lobby in the first floor to the center court where the cool breeze drops in to cool its interior, the guest feels right at home and how it was to live
in this part of town a century ago. There are two small round wooden tables with wooden chairs where the guests can enjoy their breakfast next to the kitchen and the cool center court which also has a small pond that further helped cool down the interior. A quick look inside one of the rooms showed a spare but comfortable abode with modern amenities like wi-fi and a modern hot and cold shower and bath. A small billboard sporting a traditional red mailbox also shows a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor.