de-Intimidator

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Asia Mega Tour 2026 - Day Sixteen (3) - Old Town Phuket Photos

"Phuket Old Town's history is rooted in a 19th-century tin-mining boom that transformed it into a prosperous trading hub. Developed by Hokkien Chinese immigrants, Malays, Indians, and Europeans, it features a unique Sino-Portuguese architecture style—pastel shophouses and mansions—created by this multicultural "Baba" or Peranakan community." (Wikipedia)

Today, it is a popular tourist area on the island with many shops and eating places. But the well preserved architecture along with the variety of visitors makes for a good photo shooting environment. Unfortunately, I was pretty tired, hot, sore, and dehydrated by this time and was not able to throw myself into things with as much gusto as I might have. Wife and I have decided we will go back at a time when we are both more rested and have had a chance to do more research on what we might find. Nonetheless, photos were taken.

Peranakan/Baba Style Architecture

People

Girl with Goat. Not something you see every day in town. (They were promoting ice cream made from goat's milk)

The Photo Shoot

Street Art

Other

Signs of the World

When we were Thailand in 2024, there was talk of stopping the recent legalization of marijuana. Evidently that did not come to pass.

No amount of perfume can take away the stench of paying taxes.

Asia Mega Tour 2026 - Day Sixteen (2) - Buddhism Photos

The de-I audience speaks. de-I Listens. You want MORE temples! You are going to get MORE temples.

HOWEVER, I am going to show my un-freaking-believable compassion for you, my faithful readers by restraining myself and NOT showering your with WAT (the Thai word for temple) 'play on words' jokes.

The second part of our photo shoot marathon was dedicated to things Buddhist. There was a massive 'BIG BUDDHA' statue (I kid you not, that is the official name). Then two temples Wat Chalong and Wat MongKholNimitPhra.

Big Buddha

The Big Buddha is a relatively new monument. It was first proposed by a major monastery abbot in 2004. It was finally deemed completed in 2010 though it is worked on constantly to this day. the statue is made of reinforced concrete but is covered by small plaques of white marble. People make donations by purchasing these plaques to this day and they are added.The influence of Buddhist faith is ubiquitous in Thailand. The entire complex was funded by donations.

Unfortunately, the light was about as bad as it could be for us to get reasonable pictures. There was full sun and the sun was right behind the statue. It required some creative camera settings to get anything other than a silhouette.

Many large Buddha statues we've seen have names like 'Laughing Buddha' or 'Reclining Buddha'. I think I would name this 'Enigmatic Smile Buddha'.

The Serpents/Dragons were much easier to get a shot of

"Yo! Down There! It's a Freaking Giant Serpent (or Dragon)!

"We need to do SOMETHING!"

"Sure Babe. Let's get an Instagram-able picture"

Not Buddha (but not sure who)

It was an incredibly steep drive to get to Big Buddha and there were some great Phuket views

And we could see our next stop - Wat Chalong

Wat Chalong

Wat Chalong was built in the early 19th century and came to prominence when two of its noteworthy monks provided healing and protection during a Chinese coolie rebellion in 1876.

Exteriors

Architectural Detail

Misc.

I really have no idea who this is

On the Benefits of Obtaining Great Merit

If you are true and dedicated to your practices, you will attain merit. In de-I's case I was blessed with a rare sighting of Espouses Fotograficus Asia Meridiorientalis, the Southeast Asian variety of Fotograficus. She can only be found at very rare intervals.