Wat Phra Thong
- Address:Highway 402
- Hours:Open daily
- Admission:Free. Donations expected
12:00 AM Monday, May 28
Partly cloudy. Warm.
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Wat Phra Thong is perhaps not the most impressive of Phuket's temples, but it surely has the best story behind it. And once you know the story, the 'half image' that forms the center of the temple will have way greater resonance.
According to lore, a boy was out watering a buffalo and tied it to some metal protruding out of the ground. In quick order, both boy and buffalo died, but the boy appeared to his father in a dream and told him to investigate the object.
When the father dug around the place, he found the tip of a golden Buddha sitting buried in the ground. All attempts to excavate it over the ensuing centuries failed, and there are stories of attacks by hornets when locals tried to dig it out in the 18th century!
Eventually it was decided to leave the exposed top of the Eventually it was decided to leave the exposed top of the Buddha statue where it was - it so obviously resisted being dug up! - and build a protective layer and a temple over it. That is what you can see today.
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We have been to Thailand 5 times and this was the first time doing this tour.It was really good value we both enjoyed it very much we went to the cashew nut factory and learned how the nut grew which we did,nt know how much work they need to do on them.Now when we look at the prices of them in the supermarkets they are not that pricey at all .A very good tour and excellent value
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Value for money wise this is an excellent trip. You get to see various viewpoints of the islands where you can take photographs or just admire the beauty of the island. The Guide gave us some excellent information at each location and her English was first class.
We also visited a nut factory and a gem factory. We were shown how the nuts are removed from their casings to be flavored and packaged.Obviously they are for sale in the shop at the location and there are loads of different varieties to try in advance to buying and to be honest I tryed most and bought quite a few also.
The visit to the Gem factory was the last stop and you see how the gems are cleaned and made into all types of jewellery which again is finished with a trip around the shop to buy. My wife informed me that the prices were good. Although there were shops in both the factory locations there was no big pressure to buy just the typically friendly Thai way. Excellent trip worth doing to break up just sitting by the beach or pool but you are still back at the Hotel in time to still have a few hours lazing.
Practical Info
Wat Phra Thong is in the center of Phuket - its position away from the beaches is what keeps it so quiet! It's located in Thalang, on the right side of the road as you head to the airport.
