The Thao Thep Krasattri and Thao Si Sunthon Monument at the Tha Ruea intersection, Phuket

What happened here

February 1786Stop 4 of 5

The Burmese landed on the island at Tha Ruea Taphao and built camps to besiege Thalang at Pak Chong, Na Khok and Na Klang.

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Who were Khun Ying Chan and Khun Muk?

Khun Ying Chan, born around 1735, was the wife of the governor of Thalang, and Khun Muk was her younger sister. Shortly before the Burmese arrived the governor fell ill and died, so the town had no new governor. It was Khun Ying Chan, Khun Muk and the deputy governor, Thongphun, who gathered the townspeople, men and women, to fight.

After the war King Rama I made Khun Ying Chan Thao Thep Krasattri and Khun Muk Thao Si Sunthon. The two names remain the names of subdistricts, roads and bridges in Phuket to this day.

Contemporary evidence

The key contemporary evidence for the defence of Thalang is the Thalang Letters, written by Khun Ying Chan and the town officials to Francis Light, an English trader doing business in the region. They describe the town's distress after the war and ask to buy rice and weapons. The letters are kept in London.

The place today

The monument is a cast statue of the two women standing with swords on a tall plinth in the middle of the roundabout on Thep Krasattri Road (Highway 402), the main road from the airport into Phuket town. It was completed in 1967, and Phuket people and visitors alike stop to pay their respects. About 300 metres away along Pa Khlok Road is Thalang National Museum, which tells the story of the defence of Thalang and the history of Phuket island.