Recognized by UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy, Phuket is well-known for its vast variety of enticing and delicious cuisine. With the southern Thai tourism hub now vying to be chosen to host the 2028 Specialized Expo, it’s important to understand that its rich culinary tapestry is a reflection of an even richer history of multicultural melding and the coming together of different communities both within and beyond Thailand.

City of gastronomy

Encouraged, at the time, by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Phuket in 2012 applied to be a UNESCO Creative City and was named a Creative City of Gastronomy.

Phuket’s selection underlined that through its varied mix of cultures, the city was naturally endowed with a wide breadth of dishes drawing on influences spanning Thailand, China, Malaysia, the Muslim world, and even Europe and India.

Moreover, the title highlights how modern-day Phuket is a wellspring of new culinary creations borne from its tapestry of cultures and an embracing of change. The City of Gastronomy offers not only dishes with origins from across the world, but unique dining experiences, rare gastronomic sensations, and the never-ending possibilities for new creations.

The cultures that comprise Phuket

Originally inhabited by seafaring ethnic groups of the Andaman, Phuket’s viability as a port town and rich natural resources have made it the adoptive home of various cultures and races for centuries.

Starting in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Srivijaya-Tamil Jolha peoples began occupying the area, bringing with them a range of spices from what would today be Indonesia and South Asia.

With the coming of the Siritham Nakorn Kingdom in the 17^th century, Phuket was given dishes and recipes that still pervade the Thai south to this day. Siamese, or Thai, cuisine would soon follow, with the influence of both the Sukhothai Kingdom and the subsequent Ayutthaya Kingdom, when trade with the Western world also introduced food cultures from further reaches.

By the time of the current Rattanakosin period, in which Phuket would come into its own as a province, the island would receive gastronomic traditions from places such as Britain, Portugal, China, and Malaysia.

The two latter groups have become particularly indicative of Phuket’s ability to not only embrace different ethnicities but to support their evolution and the birthing of completely new cultures.

Chinese immigrants arriving during Phuket’s most recent mining boom assimilated into the city and the region down to Malaysia by marrying ethnically Malay and Thai residents, eventually bringing about the Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya culture responsible for much of the town’s most distinct traditions and gastronomic offerings.

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