Take Baan Tha Ruea, for example, a village in Thalang district, just north of Phuket Town.
Tha ruea means “port”, but today there is clearly no port in the landlocked area of Baan Tha Ruea, or even a trace of the very wide canal where merchant ships used to anchor.
All that remains is a narrow stream, but surely that can’t be the port of the past?
Back in 1776, nine years before the battle of Thalang, Baan Tha Ruea was in its prime.
It was an international port on Phuket’s east coast, and a temporary settlement for sailors from all over the world to trade their commodities.
Fabric, pearls, guns and even elephants were loaded onto ships that arrived from far away shores.
Many sailors from European countries such as Portugal, Holland and the United Kingdom – the British introduced opium to the Thalang people during this period – stayed in Baan Tha Ruea to rest and wait until the monsoon season passed.
Some say that Baan Tha Ruea used to be like Patong is today – packed with foreigners. International trade had a high and low season, much like tourism does now.
Grandpa said many years ago the island had a different shape, and was a lot smaller. The land was largely penetrated by river tributaries.
A British navy member, Captain James Low, who visited Baan Tha Ruea in 1824, recorded in his journal there were many river branches flowing through the land from the sea.
One of them was even wide enough for a large merchant ship to get through to deliver commodities to the inner-island port.
However, as Phuket’s population grew, the wide river has eventually been filled until it has become narrow and shallow. These days, it looks just like a very small stream.
If we visit Baan Tha Ruea today and contemplate its name, we will find it makes no sense. A port? There is no port here.
But if we research, we will find the reason why that name must remain – the name is a message from the past.