Though the majority of Thailand is Buddhist, there are small pockets of other faiths dabbed through the landscape. The fishing village of Ko Panyi, for example, is 100% Muslim. With a mere 200 houses, it's distinguished by being a village built almost entirely on stilts above the ocean, next to a towering limestone formation jutting almost vertically out of the sea. The "hotels" in this wee hamlet are actually extra rooms carved out of fishermen's houses, usually with plywood walls which don't reach the ceiling, and dinner cooked by mom thrown in for the same price. (Be sure to pass on Tuesday's special, "Chicken Joints and Rice") As the only whitey staying on the island for three days, I must have passed the mosque 1400 times. It was always good for kids playing on the bricks or someone studying their Koran.

© Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli