South Thailand / Phuket / Wat Phra Thong

Inland from Nai Yang Beach is Wat Phra Thong where a famous half-buried Buddha is enshrined. According to local legend, a boy tethered his water buffalo to a post protruding from the ground. Subsequently, both boy and animal fell mysteriously sick. Suspicious villagers uncovered the post and discovered it was the decorative topknot of a buried golden Buddha. They were able to unearth only the upper half of the image, over which they built the present chapel. Burmese invaders attempted to remove the image in 1785 but failed when they were attacked by vicious hornets.