Sino-Portuguese Architecture

Sino-Portuguese houses are beautiful architectures along the road of Phuket city, around Thalang. These buildings will bring u back to the style of a century ago. These architectures reflect on when the Europeans influence on the island which have been interested in Phuket’s tin wealth since the 16th century.

In the 18^th Century, most of the tin mining was carried out by most of the Chinese and they were also the main builders of the Old Phuket town. They combined the cultures with the Portuguese people to create the mix of Sino-Portuguese architecture which is a mix of Chinese and European style. Lots of shophouses and mansions were built in this style. The shophouses were both a place to do business and live in. The front was used as a shop and the rest of the house was used for living. These houses are usually built back to back in rows, this gave it the Chinese name “Tiam Choo” meaning a “row of shop houses”. The Chinese name for the mansion is “Angmor Lao”, which means “the big house of the red hairs”. Many Chinese immigrant tin miner and merchants have acquired lots of money from their work and used it to build mansions with a capacious portico, a terrace on the upper floor and a courtyard in the middle.

The locals state that the Sino-Portuguese houses in the Old Phuket Town has been a big attraction for tourists, especially Chinese, which has greatly impacted the business around that area.