Page 37 - พะงน Eng hi _Neat
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developing the area as a religious center, which
                                                         today has become Wat Pa Saengdham, which is a

                                                         Dhammayut temple focusing on strict Dharma practices.
                                                         This forest temple is, therefore, suitable for those
                                                         seeking tourism for peace or for Dharma study.
                                                              Leaving Wat Pa Saengtham temple, we journey

                                                         into the village of Ban Maduea Wan, one of the three
                                                         indigenous communities in Ko Pha-ngan. The other
                                                         two are Ban Tai and Ban Luk Ban Kao villages, situated
                                                         deep into the land near Samai Khongkha Temple,
                                                         locally known as Wat Bon. It is interesting that these
                                                         communities are in a distance from the strand.
                                                         Assumably, it is because people in the past led a

                                                         reclusive life, eking out a living on crop-farming and
                                                         growing coconuts. Indeed, there are a number of
                                                         coconut plantations existing in the area, and related                       Over and above that, in Ban Maduea Wan village
                                                         domestic industrial products, such as dried coconuts,                  lives an attractive ninety-three year old house. House
                                                         have been supplied to factories to make coconut oil.                   number 45, 3, Ban Maduea Wan village, Ko Pha-ngan
                                                         The manufacturing process uses traditional wisdom.                     sub-district, belongs to Mr. Prapas Maduea-wan, a local
                                                         Visitors can stop by neighborhood that runs dried                      savant in Pha-ngan traditional knowledge.
                                                         coconut production behind Maduea Wan school.                                Mathura Wararam Temple, widely known as
                                                                                                                                Wat Maduea Wan, a respectable monastery, has
                                                                                                                                enshrined a stunning white jade Buddha image, called

                                                                                                                                in Thai language “Phra Sila Yuang” sheltered in a mondop
                                                                                                                                at the hilltop. The image was made in Mandalay,
                                                                                                                                Myanmar, of crystalline white jade. It portrays a sitting
                                                                                                                                position of the Lord Buddha with left hand turned up,









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