Sapan Hin (Phuket Town)

Over the next few months I want to explore and blog various areas of Phuket Town (now officially called Phuket City). It's a town full of interest, history and the best place for taking a peek at the "real" Phuket away from the tourist zones. I did blog about Old Phuket Town previously, but that blog entry just covered a few square blocks in the center of town!

Sapan Hin is a large open area in the south of town (see location on Google Earth) - follow Phuket Road from the center and keep going. You'll pass Bang Neow chinese shrine on the way and the Phuket Immigration office. As you reach Sapan Hin, theres an odd shaped monument in the center of a traffic circle - it's apparently meant to represent a drill bit and is dedicated to the tin mining industry that made Phuket rich.



As you continue, you pass sports facilities - there are several sports halls (we have been to watch my father in law play Takraw here) and a Muay Thai stadium (there are weekly fights every Friday), tennis courts, an ICT center plus a small stadium and open playing fields. The Sapan Hin area was built on reclaimed land, designed to provide space for public facilities and a recreation area near the town. Sapan Hin is right by the ocean which is slowly reclaiming the reclaimed land. There is currently work in progress to prevent further erosion...







In the morning you'll find people out jogging or exercising or just sitting enjoying the fresh sea air. There is a mangrove walkway here too, and it looked like the old wooden walkway was being replaced when I was there last week. The shallow seas here, along with mangroves and mudflats make this a good place for birdspotting - have a look at Ike Suriwong's Birds of Phuket for more information.

At the south end of Sapan Hin there's a Chinese shrine, one of many in Phuket Town, which has a large Thai-Chinese population. This shrine is called Kiew Tian Shrine, and plays a major part in the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival - all the street processions end here at Sapan Hin.





Before saying any more, a word of warning. Sapan Hin is a nice area to walk around, and I would say is quite safe in the day time. At night, different story. I have read many times of gangs fighting here, drugged up kids, people being shot, drinking gangs gathering etc... Not a place to be wandering around late at night. Not at all.

Having said that, Sapan Hin's large open areas are used regularly for minicipal festivals and concerts. We were there just a couple of weeks ago for the Food Festival - keep an eye on the Phuket Gazette newspaper for upcoming events.

On the west side of Sapan Hin, the Bang Yai canal flows into the sea. Years ago the canal was probably rather cleaner... Looks very green now and I am sorry to say there is a fair amount of garbage in the water. The canal flows right through Phuket Town. At Sapan Hin, you can find many small fishing boats using the canal as their "port". The boats are mostly small longtail boats rather than larger fishing boats which are found at Rassada port on the east side of Phuket Town, about 4km from Sapan Hin.





Along the canal there is a nice pathway with recently planted trees. I read on Ike's Birder blog that Sapan Hin was dirty and in need of some work - looks like it's being done! Good, as this area is for the people and needs to be looked after. I like the "old world" feel of the boats along the canal.