Takua Pa Old Town

Takua Pa was a tin town. The coast here has been mined since antiquity - the area appears in early records as a port linking the Indian Ocean trade across the peninsula - and the modern town was built on tin money in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Chinese, particularly Hokkien, families who came to work and run the mines. The old street they built is Sino-Portuguese: two-storey shophouses with arcaded fronts, louvred shutters, stucco detail and interior courtyards, the same idiom as Phuket and Penang. When the tin went the town went quiet, which is why the buildings survived unmodernised - and also why a good number are derelict, with restoration patchy. A Sunday walking market fills the street with food and stalls and is when the town is at its liveliest; on other days it is very quiet, with a handful of cafes open and much shuttered.

What you actually see

• The Sino-Portuguese street - arcaded shophouses from the tin era.
• The Sunday market - food and stalls filling the street weekly.
• The derelict buildings - unrestored shophouses alongside the repaired ones.
• The tin history - the industry that built the town and then left.

When to go

November to April; Sunday afternoon and evening for the walking market, which is when the street is alive. Other days are very quiet with much closed.

Honest expectations

Outside the Sunday market it is nearly empty and many buildings are shut or derelict. Restoration is partial and some structures are unsafe. Little English. Two hours covers it.

Nearby

Khao Lak is south; Little Amazon and the Sang Nae canal are close.