Budai is a semi-historical Chinese monk who is often identified with and venerated as Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism. With the spread of Chan Buddhism, he also came to be venerated in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. He is said to have lived around the 10th century in the Wuyue kingdom. His name literally means "cloth sack", and refers to the bag that he is conventionally depicted as carrying as he wanders aimlessly. His jolly nature, humorous personality, and eccentric lifestyle distinguish him from most Buddhist masters or figures. He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, hence his nickname in Chinese, the "Laughing Buddha". As he is traditionally depicted as overweight, he is also referred to as the "Fat Buddha", especially in the Western world.
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at 7°1′N100°28′E, it is 946 km (588 mi) south of Bangkok, and has a population of 156,802 (2019) in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in the south, and the third largest metropolitan area of the country. It is often mistaken for being the provincial capital. In fact, Songkhla is the capital and the center of administration and culture while Hat Yai is the business center.
Ko Samui is an island off the east coast of Thailand. Geographically in the Chumphon Archipelago, it is part of Surat Thani Province, though as of 2012, Ko Samui was granted municipal status and thus is now locally self-governing. Ko Samui, with an area of 228.7 square kilometres (88.3 sq mi), is Thailand's second largest island after Phuket. In 2018, it was visited by 2.7 million tourists.
Pattaya is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung District in the province of Chonburi. Pattaya City is a self-governing municipal area which covers Tambon's Nong Prue and Na Klua and parts of Huai Yai and Nong Pla Lai. The city is in the industrial Eastern Seaboard zone, along with Si Racha, Laem Chabang, and Chonburi. Pattaya is at the center of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area—a conurbation in Chonburi Province—with a population of roughly 1,000,000.
Ko Pha-ngan is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in Surat Thani Province of southern Thailand. Ko Pha-ngan is best known for its Full Moon Party at Hat Rin Beach. Ko Pha-ngan has two sister islands: the larger Ko Samui to the south and the smaller Ko Tao to the north.
Ko Tao is an island in Thailand and is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. It covers an area of about 21 km2. Administratively it is a subdistrict (tambon) of Ko Pha-ngan District (amphoe) of Surat Thani Province. As of 2006 its official population was 1,382. The main settlement is Ban Mae Haad.
Samui International Airport, also known as Ko Samui Airport or Koh Samui Airport, is a privately owned airport on the island of Ko Samui in Thailand. The airport is roughly 2 km north of the main city and largest resort centre on the island, Chaweng. It was built by Bangkok Airways. Construction began in 1982 and the airport was officially opened in April 1989.
Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya island. It is one of Ayutthaya's best known temples and a major tourist attraction.
Great Buddha, Big Buddha, or Giant Buddha may refer to:
Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat (Thai: วัดพระศรีรัตนมหาธาตุ; "Temple of the Great Jewelled Reliquary"), colloquially referred to as Wat-Phra-Si or Wat Yai (Thai: วัดใหญ่; "Big Temple"), is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Phitsanulok Province, Thailand, where it is located on east bank of Nan River, near Naresuan Bridge and opposite Phitsanulok Provincial Hall. It is about 337 km from Bangkok.
Wat Saen Suk or Wang Saen Suk Monastery Garden is a buddhist temple located in Bang Saen city, Chonburi province, Thailand. A popular tourist attraction, it is meant to describe and depict Naraka.
Ko Phaluai is the biggest island in the Mu Ko Ang Thong island group. It is inhabited by sea-gypsies who still earn a living from fishing.
Wat Khunaram is a Buddhist temple on the island of Ko Samui in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. It is most notable for being the shrine of "the Mummy Monk", Luang Pho Daeng, who died in 1973 and directed that his body be put on display as a reminder of the transience of human existence. It is located in the area between Na Muang and Hua Thanon on Thai route 4169, the main route around the island. It is 13 km southeast of Nathon, the island's "capital city" and main port, and 6 km west of the resort town of Lamai Beach.
Secret Buddha Garden, also known as Magic Garden and Heaven's Garden and Tarnim Magic Garden is a private sculpture park atop Pom Mountain, one of the highest peaks on the resort island of Ko Samui in Surat Thani Province, Thailand.
Wat Lamai is a Buddhist temple in the old part of Ban Lamai on the resort island of Ko Samui, Thailand. Located adjacent to a main bend in Thai Route 4161, the island's ring road, it has a museum of Buddhist artifacts and the history of Ko Samui and also has a cultural hall for public cultural events and other gatherings such as weddings and funerals.
Wat Plai Laem is a wat on the resort island of Ko Samui, Thailand. Like the nearby Wat Phra Yai or "Big Buddha Temple", it is a modern Buddhist temple. The temple's design incorporates elements of Chinese and Thai traditions and was in part designed by distinguished Thai artist Jarit Phumdonming. Its main statue, which is in Chinese style, is not of Gautama Buddha. It is a form of the bodhisattva of compassion and mercy, Avalokiteśvara, called Cundi. This form of the deity is known in Chinese as "Guanyin with eighteen arms".
Chak Phra is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated annually in Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia. The named could be translated as “Pulling the Buddha”, “pulling of the Buddhist monks”, or “pulling of ceremonial Buddha image carriages”.
Wat Champa is an ancient Thai Buddhist temple in Bang Ramat Sub-District, Taling Chan District, Bangkok's Thonburi side.
Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai is a Thai Buddhist temple in the area of Bang Phli Yai Subdistrict, Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan Province, outskirts Bangkok.
The Koh Tao murders involved the death of two British tourists in Thailand in 2014. On 15 September, the bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on Sairee Beach on the island of Koh Tao, between 4 and 5 am, a few hours after their deaths. Both victims had been hit several times on the head; Witheridge had been raped, and Miller had been drowned.
