Phuket Thaihua Museum

The Thai Hua School at Krabi Road, Phuket, is the oldest Chinese school in Thailand, founded in 1911. Built in 1934, it is a splendid example of European-Sino-Thai architecture of the 1930s, when Phuket architecture began to depart from the Straits Settlements style.

Reinforced concrete is used for canopies, brackets and a hanging staircase, while the decorative forms of the earlier period are also incorporated. The front gate is made of cast iron imported from Yates, Haywood & Co, Upper Thames, London.

The old Thai Hua school was used as a venue for community consultations in the planning process. It was used as an exhibition space during the annual Old Phuket Festival. In 2002, the Alumni Association resolved to turn the Thai Hua School building into a community museum. In mid-2005, The Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, of Thailand’s Cultural Ministry, decided to refurbish the Thai Hua School into an art gallery and musuem.