Nang Pun Tho Rat, a beacon in the sea at Cha Am
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It is a curious sight: 50 meters from the coast stands in the sea Father Am a fat, ugly and dark woman in the water, right arm outstretched. The statue is about eight meters high and a few figures keep her company on islands of stone in the sea.
We are located on Puek Tian Beach, about 20 kilometers north of the seaside resort of Cha Am. The area has many features of an area after the fall of an atomic bomb. Almost everything looks dilapidated, paintless and abandoned. Terraced houses are mostly uninhabited.
The beach also has a large number of restaurants where you can eat excellently and for a reasonable price. At the weekend you can say that you can walk over the heads of the Thai people, but on a Thursday there is no chicken to be seen.
Puek Tian Beach can be found north from Cha Am by following the 4033. It is a varied landscape with sometimes fertile rice fields, but often also barren lunar landscapes.
In the sea stands a lonely woman, the creation of the Thai poet and writer Soontorn Poo. He lived at the beginning of the 19th century and Thailand the same status as Joost van den Vondel with us. The story about Nang Pun is not entirely clear to me and has been gathered together. If I'm not mistaken, Nang was one of the wives of one Pra a Pai ma no, who plays a flute on a neighboring island.
It is not clear to me what exactly happened, but according to some, Pra no longer liked the decidedly not beautiful Nang. etc. etc. You know how it is in Thai literature. If anyone knows more about this literary love story, please let me know. As a result, Nang has been longing in the sea for decades now. Well, real love can hurt, that's how the novel character Nang makes it clear to us.
@Hans, it's probably a figure from Phra Aphai Mani's story, which you can read here:
http://www.thailandlife.com/thai-culture/the-story-of-phra-aphai-mani.html
Although the name Nang Pung Tha Rat does not appear in it, there is talk of a maid, who it could have been.
The island you mentioned is possibly Koh Samet, where several figures like this can be seen. The closer came Soontorn Poo was from Rayong, so not too far from the island.
The story has also been filmed, on Utube you can see some trailers with very realistic lovemaking scenes.
As Gringo suspected, this statue, and others on the beach and smaller islands, is a figure from Sunthormphoo's story Phra Abhai Mani. This large statue represents Phi Seua Samut, the Monkfish, or Sea Spirit, who can change shape and, as a beautiful woman, seduces one of the princes.
http://sakchaip.tripod.com/bookworm/sunthorn/abhai_a.html
This statue is also in Bangkok, opposite the entrance of the Bangkok Museum, near MBK, at the bottom of the stairs of the skywalks (January 2013) My girlfriend told the story about this statue, and now it's even clearer to me 😉
According to my Thai information here next to me, Pra and Nang were deeply in love, because she was very attractive. So she could change shape and was actually a giantess. One day, Pra discovered that Nang was a giantess (and not a giant woman) and found remains of bones in her secret room. As a result, the love affair between the two comes to an end and he flees to an island, where he plays the flute out of heartbreak in memory of her.
She, too, is left in grief along the water's edge and begs him to return. Despite the fact that they are separated from each other, they continue to remember each other.
This story is about right, it is indeed the giantess from the legend Phra Aphai Mani.
It's a bit more complicated though, so read the whole story at this link:
http://www.thailandlife.com/thai-culture/the-story-of-phra-aphai-mani.html
As for that statue at Cha-Am, I would advise anyone not to get too close to it. Every year someone drowns near that statue, in revenge for lost love.
See more details at this link:
http://www.chaam.com/cha-am-puek-tian.php