Phuket Culture In Search of Baba Yaya

I love the local Phuket food. But I never really thought about where it came from until the other day. The Baba-Nyonya feel so strongly about their cultural foods, they are busy collating recipes and historical information to send to UNESCO. They hope to make Phuket City the fourth UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the world. You see, I read an article by Dr Kosol Tang-Uthai. He’s President of the Thai Peranakan Association, also known as Baba-Nyonya. So, it would be quite a coup if Phuket was added to the list. In case you’re interested, the others are Popayan City in Colombia, Ostersund in Sweden and Chengdu in China.

But who are the Baba-Nyonya?

The Baba-Nyonya are descendants of Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian men who came to Phuket in the 16th century. So in Phuket you have Baba-Yaya. Men are known as Baba and Women as Nyonya. Their mixed race children were called Peranakans, which in Malay means ‘descendants’. They weren’t allowed to bring girls from home, so many married local Thai women. Others were employed on the ships of the British India Company and British Burma Company, transporting tin from Phuket‘s mines to Penang for smelting. Many worked in the tin mines. But because Nyonya is unpronounceable in Thai, here they are called Yaya.

Have I confused you yet?

Apparently about 75% of Phuket‘s population are Baba-Yaya. And quite rightly they are keen to preserve their culture and history. If you’ve been to Phuket Town recently you may have seen the restored houses on Romanee, Krabi, and Thalang Roads. These are traditional Baba-Yaya houses – often referred to as Sino-Portuguese.

Soi Romanee, in the picture above, used to be the ‘red light district’ in tin mining days – now it’s full of trendy cafes and handicraft shops. Today it is run by his 70 year old daughter, Mrs. Sodsri Bumrungwong. The shop supplies top spas and hotels all over Phuket. It was opened in 1905 by a Chinese herbalist who immigrated from Ta Pu province in China. The oldest Baba-Yaya business still thriving in Phuket town is Nguan Choon Tong – a Chinese herbal shop on Thalang Road.

If you want to try the local Baba food, a good place to start is China Inn on Thalang Road. The restaurant is in an authentic Baba-Yaya shop-house which has been carefully restored. It’s one of the first places I went to when I moved to Phuket and is still one of my favourites. There’s an antique and handicraft shop at the front and behind it is a restaurant and garden. You can try all sorts of local dishes; salted boiled Pork (Moo Hong); stir-fried Hokkien noodles (mee hokkien); and stir-fried white noodles served with spare-rib soup (mee hun).

Another place to try is Mee Ton Poh. It may not be fine dining, but the food is top notch. They sell the best Hokkien noodles on the island and delicious satay. So what recipes are the Baba-Yaya sending to UNESCO? It’s a small restaurant on the corner near the clock tower in Phuket Town.