The VANICH Legacy - Work is Life, Life is Work | Phuket Old Town
🥭 Hey Big Mango! In Today’s HBM episode we take you BEHIND THE SCENES of one Phuket’s most prominent families: The Vanich Family
🌴 Many don’t know but Phuket wasn’t always a tourist destination…
In the 20th century, it was a Tin Mining operation.
Tin mining in Phuket Old Town and the surrounding areas dates back as early as the fifteen hundreds, during the Ayuthaya kingdom. But it exploded in the early 20th century and if you had the right skills… And luck on your side, you would find the opportunity to make it big.
Khun Jian Vanich, the 1st generation of the family, was born in 1906 in the Phang-Nga province, just north of Phuket. And his story is that of a classic entrepreneur. Going from one venture to the next.
From selling snacks as a little boy, to helping his mother and family, after his father passed away. To cutting wood. To using the earnings to buy a horse car and transporting people from and to the waterfront. To then having just enough money to buy a boat and become a fisherman. Traveling all around Phang-Nga islands and growing his network.
And then the Tin Mining opportunity came ⛏
When westerners came to Phang-Nga to start a Tin Mining operation, he became their local contractor, growing along with them until he became the main person managing and transporting heavy equipments from the Phang-Nga jetty to the mines for the company.
With the experience and improved income, Khun Jian started expanding his fleet, and visiting more ports, going further and further. All the way to Penang, and what is now Singapore.
As his businesses expanded, he focused on Phuket. He built this office - called Hup Huat Co. Ltd. in 1947, in the heart of Phuket Old Town, just a few meters away from the Clock Tower.
When Bangkok Bank wanted to open a branch in Phuket in 1962, they asked to use Khun Jian’s building and for him to become the manager.
From a woodcutter, fisherman to a bank manager…
When Khun Anchalee Vanich, the granddaughter of Khun Jian was elected as Phuket’s Member of Parliament in 1992, she came to use this building as the office of Democrat Party of Phuket, all the way up to 2014 Military Coup.
And this year, 2021, being Khun Anachalee’s sixties birthday, she and the family decided to convert the building into a museum. To commemorate their ancestors and promote tourism in Phuket Old Town by hosting art exhibits. With their first art event, featured in the video.
📍 Visit The Vanich Legacy Museum
48 Phuket Rd, Tambon Talat Yai, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000, Thailand
/ vanich-legacy-art-gallery-museum-105535008...