One of the newest attractions on Phuket for tourists and travelers is the Phuket Big Buddha. It is actually a very suitable name as the Phuket Big Buddha statue is the one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand and I believe it ranks among the top 25 of largest Buddha statues in the world. The Phuket Big Buddha statue is located on top of a big hill so that Phuket Big Buddha statue can actually be seen from many places in the Southern part of Phuket which is where this rather large and impressive Buddha statue is located.

It is actually not only foreign travelers and tourist that visit the Big Buddha in Phuket but also a lot of local residents as well as domestic travelers. The Phuket Bid Buddha project was not really funded by local authorities or the Thai government but by donations from local people, businesses and tourists & travelers. Actually I have been visiting the Phuket Big Buddha since construction just started and most of the visitors which I have met there have actually been Thai people which is not really surprising considering that most of them are Buddhist.

The Phuket Big Buddha project was the idea of a group of local friends who were hiking on the hill on which the statue now stands. The top of the hill offers an amazing view of the Andaman Sea and the surrounding areas and these people thought it would be a wonderful location for a large Buddha statue. This was just over 10 years ago and the group of friends then started to do fundraise and get donations for their Phuket Big Buddha projects. Even now the project is not completely finished but they are near completion.

If you are under the impression that there is only a large statue of Buddha sitting on top of this hill in Phuket then you are mistaken. There are in fact 2 Buddha statues with one of them being the well known Phuket big Buddha statue and the other one being a smaller one located right next to the bigger one. The tall Phuket big Buddha statue is 45 meters in height whilst the smaller statue is only 12 meters in height and the smaller one cost 8 million Thai Baht to build. There is also a new temple located at the entrance to the Phuket Big Buddha complex and monks offer prayer there.

The opening hours of this Big Buddha in Phuket compound is daily from 08:00 until 19:30. Personally I always visit the Phuket Big Buddha around the time of sunset as you can enjoy marvelous sunsets from this location in Phuket. If you do choose to visit this large Buddha statue in Phuket then please do dress accordingly. Please don’t wear beach wear and ladies should not wear miniskirts.

If you want to visit the Phuket Big Buddha then you should drive down to Chalong. Along the Chaofa East road you will see signs leading up to the Phuket Big Buddha area. Not all of the road leading up the hill is in good condition year so please drive slowly and carefully.

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