How to Pronounce ‘Phuket’

Phuket, Thailand, March 29 — It’s not what I thought. It’s pronounced ‘poo-kette,’ and is often called the ‘Pearl of the Andaman Sea.’ The Andaman Sea, home to the world’s largest turtle, the critically endangered leatherback, is yet another place I’ve now been to that I’d never heard of. I guess I slept through Mrs. Atchley’s fifth grade geography lessons. There are more unknown bodies of water yet to come. The Portuguese were in the vicinity in the mid-16th century and first called this island Junk Ceylon, a name that didn't stick more than a few decades. Once tin was discovered, the French, Dutch and English all competed for the natural resource. We’re now up to three East India Companies: The British, 1600-1858; the Dutch, 1602-1799; and the French, 1664-1769. The French won the tin battle and stuck around until they were booted out in 1688. Today Phuket’s economy depends on rubber, coconut and pineapple plantations and, of course, tourism, which includes popular elephant trekking. Migrant workers come in from Myanmar and Laos.

‘The Beach’ was filmed here, starring that box office favorite called, by our guide, Leonardo deCrappio. She also mentioned ‘gypsies’ several times, referring to people who have come to the island from Malaysia.

Wat Chalong is Phuket’s largest and most sacred temple, a complex of several buildings. While one of the Buddha’s teeth is in a temple in Singapore, or so we were told, a splinter of one of his bones is, they say, at Chalong.

Worshippers take tiny scraps of paper-backed gold leaf out of the large urn on the left, peel off the backing, and apply the gold to the statues. The floor is littered with tiny shreds of gold leaf that have blown or fallen off. I don’t know if the bottle of water is an offering (complete with straw) or litter. I prefer the glitter litter to blue plastic.

White (actually pickish) elephants are sacred in Thailand.

Evidently fireworks are set off inside here.

The main temple building is three stories high, with golden Buddhas on every floor. Note that these are the curly-haired Buddhas I mentioned in Bangkok, the style based on Indian nobility.

Outdoors, the sacred competed with the profane.

From the top floor of the main temple we could see the unfinished Buddha on the far hill. Made of marble, it will be completed (I think they mean adding the gold) as funds become available — donations from the faithful.

Back to the bus for a jaunt to the famous promontory — and shrine. We were welcomed by Thailand’s King Rama X.

The view from Promthep Cape...

Asian women always look smashing, even when they’re sightseeing on a beachcombing island.

Within the area of the scenic lookout is a shrine of Brahma depicted as a ‘Four Face Buddha’ (so he can keep watch in all four directions) surrounded by around 50 elephant statues festooned with flower garlands.

‘Living above the Store,’ Phuket style...

This photo proves how devout many Thais are: even a gas station has a shrine out front.

This is a ‘long tail boat,’ with a long propeller shaft that lets the boat navigate shallow water and scoot up on the beach. Some of the long tail boats at this pier were powered by re-purposed auto engines.