WE CHUCKLED when we were told there would be 100,000 people at Phuket's Big Buddha today. Now, we are no longer laughing.

The crowd was dense, packed tight, all the way up the long set of steps to the monumental 45-metre statue that smiles benignly over half of south Phuket from the top of Nakkerd Hill.

Then when we headed down the hill's 380 metres, we were caught in the worst traffic jam we've ever encountered on Phuket. It took us more than two hours to negotiate the winding six-kilometre road.

If the Mon construction workers and other Burmese continue to make their way up to pay their respects at the BB today and tomorrow, another public holiday, 100,000 could be no exaggeration.

Some of those people might be repeat visitors. Most came today in the backs of pickups and chose to pray at one or more of the scores of small shrines around the base of the Big Buddha.

The rain held off while we were there and the wind was actually stronger at the base of the hill, and in Phuket City.

On the way up, two Western women runners were jogging down. It would have taken them a lot less than two hours.

There were a few other expats among today's visitors, but the vast majority were the Mon who basically built Phuket and much of the Andaman coast, then rebuilt the coastal region after the 2004 tsunami.

The two-day Buddhist Asarnha Bucha festival is a joyous occasion, and as soon as we reached the top, we were offered water and food.

Although all Buddhists celebrate the occasion each year at temples all over Phuket, in Thailand and around the world, the Mon have made the Big Buddha their place for prayer.

When it comes to giving, those with less than most are always more than generous with what they have. We would not be surprised if there was enough food and water for the other 99,998 as well.

Wet weather this afternoon, though, could make that a mere 49,998.