The Island of Phuket has a long recorded history. A chronicle dating back to A.D. 1025 indicates that the island's present day name derives in meaning from the Tamil manikram, (crystal mountain) (which is equivalent to the Thai words phu , meaning mountain, and ket, meaning jewel). Many modern tourist brochures often refer to
Phuket as the Pearl of the South.
However for most of history, and especially on old European maps, it was known as Junk Ceylon (or variations thereof). This is thought to be an english corruption of the cape of Jang Si Lang, which was recorded by a third century A.D. geographer en route to the Malay penninsular. And most geologists believe that the area known as Phuket today was once a cape that extended into the Andaman Sea before becoming detached from the mainland over time. As a complete aside, the new hotel and shopping complex (opening in 2006) in Patong Beach, Phuket bears the
name Jung Ceylon for historical reasons no doubt!
Other early accounts sometimes refer to the island as 'bukit' (the Malay word for mountain). King Ramkhamhaeng named the island "Cha Lang", (then the capital city on the island), which evolved to "Thalang". During the reign of Rama V (1868-1910) the island was officially named as Bhuket, and in 1967 the spelling was changed to
the present day Phuket.
Phuket was first inhabited by Negritos who lived side by side with sea gypsies from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Moken or Chao Lay people of the sea). The Sea Gypsies gathered shellfish as they roamed from cove to cove. Portuguese seafarers arrived in the early 16th century to seek ship masts from the forests, rhinoceros horns for markets in Europe and to buy pitch to caulk their boats. The Portuguese established settlements and their presence is reflected in the Sino-Portuguese architecture in Phuket Town.