Loms Galactic Tours
Star wars in Thailand
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Phuket in Thailand was used as background shots for the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk. These background plates were combined with ILM digital images and live action Wookiee's including Chewbacca to create the battle in the star wars film Revenge of the Sith.
Phuket.
Phuket – The Wookiee homeworld, part 2.
Phuket is the biggest island in Thailand, located in the Andaman Sea, southern part of Thailand.
The island is mostly mountainous with a mountain range in the west of the island from the north to the south. The mountains of Phuket form the southern end of a mountain chain, which ranges for 440 km from the Kra Isthmus. The highest elevation of the whole Phuket chain is the Khao Phra Mi with an elevation of 1138 m, however the highest elevation on the island itself is Mai Tha Sip Song (Twelve Canes), at 529 m above sea level.
70% of the island is covered by forest. The western coast has several sandy beaches, while on the east coast are more muddy beaches.
As with most of Thailand, the majority of the population is Buddhist, but there are a significant number of Muslims (5%) in Phuket, mostly descendants of the island's original sea-dwelling people.
On December 26 2004, Phuket and other areas on Thailand's west coast suffered extensive damage when struck by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Waves destroyed several highly populated areas in the region, killing as many as 5,300 people nationwide, and tens of thousands more throughout the wider region. As many as 250 people were reported dead in Phuket, including some foreign tourists. Almost all the major beaches on the west coast, especially Patong, Karon and Kata, sustained major damage, with some damage also being caused to resorts and villages on southern beaches.
However, by February 2005 most undamaged resorts were back in business, and throughout 2005, life slowly returned to normal for the people of Phuket. As of November 2005, following stenuous recovery programs, there is very little obvious tsunami damage remaining other than at more remote beaches, and the tourist business which drives the Phuket economy appears to have almost fully recovered.
PLEASE SEE CHINA / Gulin for further details.