Phuket Heroine Monument Summary

Event Summary

In counter for a Burmese attack to reconquer the south of Thailand, there were two women Thao Thepkasattri (Kunying Jan) and her sister Thao Srisoonthorn (Mook), together they assembled a local force and send the Burmese back after a month’s of siege.

After their victorious win, they received honorary titles from the king Rama I. Later a monument was built in May 1967, now it is known as the Heroines’ Monument.

The timeline

Early 1785: Lady Chan, a widow of Thalang’s governor together with her younger sister led the villagers against a Burmese invasion.

March 1785: With fewer defenders than invaders, they managed to win the war, not by force but by using smarter strategies.

After the war: King Rama I (1736–1809) founder of the Chakri Dynasty showed his appreciation of the two ladies by giving them the honorary titles of Thao Thepkasattri and Thao Sri Sunthorn.

1793: Lady Chan passed away but there is no record of when her sister died.

1909: King Rama VI (1881 - 1925) submitted the idea to build a monument for the sisters.

1967: The monument was built and King Rama IX its grand opening ceremony was held in May.

Francis Light

Francis light

The birth of Francis Light was unrecorded. He was baptised in Dallinghoo, Suffolk, England on 15 December 1740. He was the founder of the British colony of Penang (in modern-day Malaysia) and its capital George Town in 1786. He passed away from malaria on the 25^th October 1794.

As the founder of the British colony of Penang, Captain Francis Light marks the start of an important milestone that transformed this tiny island into a place with growing prosperity. It was the magnificent journey of one man that makes Penang well known not only for its beauty & heritage but also economic powerhouse.

Light served as a Royal Navy midshipman from 1759 to 1763, but went out to seek his fortune in the colonies. From 1765, he worked as a private country trader. For about ten years he had his headquarters in Talang, Thailand, near Phuket, reviving a failed French trading post. While living there he learned to speak and write several languages, including Malay and Siamese. In 1785, he warned the Thais on Phuket Island of an imminent Burmese attack. Light's warning enabled the islanders to prepare for Phuket's defence and repel the Burmese invasion. Without his warning we might not have Phuket as it is today and the control of Phuket might be under the Burmese force.

The Heroines monument

The Heroines monument

The heroine’s monument also known as Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sri Sunthon, is a national monument awarded to the sisters Muk and Chan for their courage and strength to defend Thalang from the Burmese invasion in 1785. The orders to build the monument was by King Rama VI in 1909, 124 years after the invasion, the monument was completed in 1967 and king Rama IX held the grand opening ceremony.

The statues are exact life size statues of the two heroines standing side by side. The statue stands on a marble base. Under the life size statue, there is a smaller statue decorated with gold pieces of paper. When travelling it is a popular belief that you should pray to the sisters before leaving for protection during your journey. The monument lays on a roundabout on the main highway (402) between the airport and Phuket town. It is an important landmark of the island.

The Thao Thepkasattri-Thao Sri Suntorn Festival is held in March to commemorate victory over the Burmese. The event takes place in various locations in Thalang area, north of Phuket including Heroines’ Monument and Wat Pranangsang.  The festival covers many cultural and sporting activities. The festival features bicycle racing, a takraw (volleyball played with the feet) tournament, a tug o’ war, a mini-marathon as well as an ‘uppasombot moo’ (Buddhist ordination) ceremony. The fair is mainly aimed at locals but tourists are welcome as well. The festival’s highlight is the play re-enacting the battle against the Burmese, in which the two sisters bravely led the locals to victory against the Burmese.

the burmese attack

The Burmese attack

The Burmese-Siamese attack was between 1785–1786, it was known as the Nine Armies’ Wars in Siamese history because the Burmese came to Thailand in nine armies. This war was fought between the Konbaung dynasty of Burma and the Chakri dynasty of Siam. It was fought around the Southern and Western Siam.

One of the most important events in the history of Phuket took place in 1785, when the Burmese invaded Siam. King Bodawpaya of Burma was determined on expanding his territory by invading his neighbour to the east. But the outcome was a defensive victory for Siam, and one of the turning points of the war took place on our island. They encountered a strong defense from the two sisters which forced them to retreat.

In the north of Siam, the Burmese attacked overland, but here in the south they arrived by sea. The main Burmese military fleet landed at Nai Yang Beach, close to the present-day International Airport. Other troops paddled their way through the “klongs” to inland Thalang.

Francis Light, a British East India Company captain passing by the island, notified the Phuket local government that he had seen Burmese forces at sea assembling for an attack. This allowed the locals to prepare for the attack beforehand.

Than Phu Ying Chan, the wife of the recently released governor, and her sister Mook, assembled what local forces they could find. And after a ferocious defensive led by the sisters, the Burmese were forced to retreat on March 13, 1785. Naturally the two surprise saviours of Phuket became local heroines, receiving the royal titles Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Si Sunthon from King Rama I.

Had the Burmese invaders avoided the strategically risky move of trying to take Phuket in 1785, the inspirational story of Phuket’s most native-daughters would never have come about. But in their valiant fight against the Burmese, the sisters proved something that we know to be very true – or dispute at our peril – Thai women are not to be messed with. And when their blood is up, they are impossible to defeat.