PHUKET: Phuket may have problems but in the troubled Deep South, where destruction and deaths pile up every day, Phuket is a role model for peaceful co-existence.

Muslims and Buddhists have lived alongside each other on Phuket for centuries without any of the rancor and resentments that have fuelled the fighting in Thailand's southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.

While the root causes appear to be historical misunderstandings of tragic proportions, the cure is more difficult to find.

In an effort to find a good example, the mayor of one local council in Yala has turned to Phuket, where Muslims and Buddhists thrive in harmony, and enjoy life.

Mayor Somsak Srisonbat, of Tambon Pate, Amphur Yahar, is visiting Phuket with 400 Yala people, searching for the kind of peace that has been out of their reach in recent years.

Mayor Aroon Soroj, of Phuket's own ''Deep South'' Rawai community, was only too happy to help.

''Phuket is blessed with peace,'' said Mayor Aroon. ''Sometimes we don't know how lucky we are.

''When you add the presence of sea gypsies and thousands of tourists from all over the world, Phuket is a true paradise.''

In Rawai and across Phuket, Buddhist temples and mosques can be seen in great numbers, often virtually alongside each other.

In Rawai Moo 7, which Mayor Aroon used as a prime example to show to his southern visitors, the population is 55 percent Buddhist and 45 percent Muslim.

Many of the thousands of tourists who visit Phuket do not even realise that about one third of its citizens are Muslim, with more than 50 mosques dotted across the island. And when you consider Patong and its reputation, the levels of tolerance are exceptional.

Phuketwan has often asked Phuket's Muslim leaders for their view, and the answer has always been that Phuket's Muslim community loves their island-home and would never be involved in any way in harming it.

For all its critics, for all its problems, Phuket has plenty of peace to share and celebrate.