Monday, October 21, 2013

Ghost Town - Papan, Perak

A few weeks ago, after our white water rafting trip, we decided to spend another day in Ipoh and Farah suggested that we should stop by Papan on our way back, a dead town near Pusing. Apparently it has an interesting story and is also known as a ghost town, obviously I said ok after googling its background.

I have difficulties in getting infos on Papan as it is such a small town and barely have much to shout about. I couldn't even get the coordinate on my GPS (scary heh), after few rounds (and hours) of asking Mr. Google I reasoned with myself to pin point the coordinate to Papan Chinese Primary School. And it worked!

The data from 2009 indicates that Papan Chinese Primary School have 72 pupils and 11 teachers. Pretty small school heh!

So, how small IS Papan town and why is it known as ghost town (or dead town)?


Back in the olden days, most town in Perak are associated with tin mining activities, same goes for Papan. So the question is, why is it called Papan which literally means wood or plank?

The history says that in 1840, chengal wood; a tropical hardwood were sawn in this small town called Papan. Hence, that's how Papan got its name. However, Papan later became well know for tin mine in the early 20th century, it was described as "the most productive in the State" as well as "probably the richest tin mines in the Malay Peninsula."

Raja Bilah was Papan's village head and he prospered as a revenue-collector, but not as a miner hence he sold his mining operations in 1890. Within 2 years, Kinta became the largest tin producer in Malaya thus Papan loses its fame as the principal mining centre in Kinta.


The Papan Riot and Japanese Occupation contributed to the down fall of this small town, Papan. Now, this town is pretty much dead, with one school, few houses, ruins and an Istana Billah.

Istana Billah is famous for its supernatural activities according the locals here (NO, I didn't check this place out), it is also use for few paranormal documentary and movies. Feel free to google to find out more as I dare not even read..... Hehhehehhe....

How's that to kick start Haloween :)



15 comments:

Biqque said...

byk movie melayu zaman jepun buat kat sini...cantikkkk yet spooky :D

Ren said...

Haah movie zaman jepun banyak shoot kat sini.

Lily Riani said...

Biq,

Few days lepas balik rasa pelik, mimpi bukan2.

Janggel,

Itulah ramai blog cakap, uncle seekers type of series pun cover area ni konon nye.

azuan said...

Oooooo seram.

Boleh jadi new kind of tourism attraction ni. For "thrill" seekers.

Jeff Chuah said...

it's quite scary, looking at these abandoned shophouses...make me feel like going there to see it for myself...

Mulan said...

i tak nak pi lah tempat camni... ngeri...

Jard The Great said...

sia[a berbaju merah tu? hantu ke? ehh.. kbye!

Khai said...

1. Wow! Dalam seteruk2 kondisi bangunan tu, ada lagi yang duduk kat situ eh?

2. Kalau I la jadi authority, dan ada duit, elok gak kalau rumah2 kedai ni dibaik pulih, lepas tu jadikan backpackers hostel untuk org explore negeri Yob ni. haha.

3. Teringin nak tengok sendiri keadaan serba keseraman kat sini.

Nanatron said...

tak interview orang kampung ke cik lily? how they live there and such

i wonder how is it at night.. :/


Lily Riani said...

azuan,

seeker tourism kan kan kan ehheheh....

jeff,

its really eerie... i wont repeat the trip :P

mulan,

naik kete pasang surah yassin ok.... seram.

Lily Riani said...

jard,

you lah kan, hantu travel. hahahhahhah

khai,

1. ada... locals dia which mainly are chinese.

2. seram kot, but ada potential for tourism sbb the old buildings are really nice

3. gi lah.... sila baca yassin masa pegi and balik. ehhehehhe.....

nanatron,

i tanya but diarang kata diarang bukan artist (pulak), org tua2 je situ, survive ngan duit anak2 kot.

Jim said...

Is it possible to get there by public bus from Ipoh?

Lily Riani said...

Jim,

Not possible, the town consist of 2-3 lanes only. Also replied some details on Taiping, Ipoh and Penang in Thorn Tree as well as an email to your gmail account :)

Nurul Says said...

masa baca tajuk entri ni i wish you ada buat entri pasal this small museum, "house of sybil kathigasu"-- http://www.asiaexplorers.com/malaysia/house-of-sybil-kathigasu.htm
.. but nampaknya you pun tak singgah sana..hu hu hu..teringin nak melawat tempat tu

Azizan Zolkipli said...

Will explore this place on coming December insyaAllah ...







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