Phuket Island

Phuket Island

Phuket is one of Thailand's southern provinces, consisting of the country's largest island, Phuket Island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It is located off the west coast of mainland Thailand in the Andaman Sea. The island was on one of the main trade routes between India and China, and is often mentioned in the foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English merchants, but it was never colonized by any European power. Its wealth came from tin and rubber in the past and from tourism today. Phuket is mostly mountainous, with a mountain range running north to south in the western part of the island. About 60 percent of the island is covered by forests, rubber and palm oil plantations, but the west coast has many sandy beaches. The Sirinat National Park, located on the northwest coast of the island, was established in 1981 to preserve an area of 90 km2, of which 68 km2 is marine area, including Nai Yang Beach, a nesting site for sea turtles. The park's coastal forests of about 2 square kilometers are made up of a variety of tree species that provide wind protection during tropical storms and stabilize the beach sand. The beach forests are home to many species of birds, including the Magpie-Robin, Common Myna, Spotted Dove, Asian Fairy-Bluebird, oriole, Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo and some species of bulbul. The park is also home to a small area of mangrove forest. Birds of the mangrove forest include the Collared Kingfisher, Terek Sandpiper, Bar-Tailed Godwit, White-Breasted Waterhen, Slaty-Breasted Rail, White-Bellied Sea Eagle, Brahminy Kite and Large-Billed Crow.