june-2011

Despite its small size, this picturesque
one-way lane is home to a remarkable
assortment of pastel-coloured, Sino-
Colonial buildings, a fact that has been
recognised by the provincial authorities,
which recently undertook to bury the
unsightly wires that are a blight on most
Thai streets. Other landmarks include
the Old Phuket Post Offi ce and now
Philatelic Museum on Thalang Road
(built in 1932, it’s the only remaining
original government building left on the
island); the historic Thavorn Hotel, which
houses a fi ne collection of antiques and
old vintage photographs; and the Shrine
of the Serene Light, which is best accessed
via a small lane off Phang Nga Road. It is
undergoing constant restoration works;
leave a donation towards these eff orts and
then take the small passageway to the left
of the temple. You’ll emerge in the back
of Wilai Restaurant, which serves classic
local dishes such as panang moo, a mild
coconut milk pork curry, as well as one of
the cheapest Western breakfasts this side of
the island.
If some of the buildings seem familiar as
CLOCKWISE TOP:
Have a glass
of wine at Dibuk
Place; a Sino-
Colonial mansion
you’re walking around town, it’s because
several have starred on the silver screen.
The Phuket Government Buildings
complex, for example, substituted for
the French Embassy of Cambodia in the
Khmer-set 1984 fi lm The Killing Fields,
while the nearby Luang Anuphart-Phuket-
Karn mansion substituted for the Phnom
Penh American Embassy in the same
movie. The On On Hotel, meanwhile,
featured in the opening scenes of Danny
Boyle’s 2000 Thailand-set backpacker
classic The Beach.
Building on their town’s growing
fame, an increasing number of new bars,
restaurants, shops and art galleries are
opening up in these heritage buildings.
Prominent among these is Phuket 346, a
unique combination of guesthouse, gallery
and café on Soi Romanee owned by Jorge
Carlos Smith, a Thai-based hotelier and
sometime artist. Smith has converted a
shophouse and former opium den into
a multi-purpose, three-guestroom space
CONSERVATION //
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