Pearls Of The Orient

It is as primitive as fishing hamlets perched atop stilts and as contemporary as skyscrapers. It has 1,700 miles of coastline and is roughly the size of France. It has three neighbors whose names recall troubled times—Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam—yet Thailand has largely escaped the devastation of modern warfare. It is the only country in Southeast Asia never to have been colonized, a miracle of both perseverance and diplomacy. Another miracle is the land itself, from lush forests to the ivory white beaches of Phuket, which dangles like an exotic earring into the Andaman Sea. The Thais are fond of saying "mai penrai" It means "no problem." Thailand has its share, of course, but the kingdom endures.

Sun, sand and lace: Stephanie Seymour adorns Phuket's Nai Yang beach in a confection by Keiko ($44). On the preceding page, cover girl Elle Macpherson plays harem girl in pants by Diva ($76).

It's so easy to go overboard for Estelle LeFebure as she ships out for a scuba jaunt in a nautical number from Gottex ($88). In Phuket she tests the waters, and she won't blow the whistle if you eye her zebra-striped garb from H[2]O ($88).

Karen Alexander in a thong suit from H[2]O ($68) brings a touch of high modernity to a weathered wooden Bangkok house.

Sitting pretty at Nai Yang, Stephanie, in a Monika Tilley Swim suit ($56), reflects on the good life. At right, Estelle does a high-amp '40s vamp in cool shades from Revo and a satiny suit from Half Moon ($51).

Wanna go beach-combing with me? Kathy Ireland looks wistful in a wisp from H[2]O ($78) on Mai Phai Island.

In a teeny bikini from Darling Rio ($35), Elle (opposite) steals the scene on James Bond Island in the Bay of Phang Nga. Stephanie knows less is more when there are rays to catch; Keiko asks $42 for the Kermit threads. When the sun sizzles, a parasol is handy.

Estelle is swept away by the beauty of the Phi Phi Islands, in Phang Nga Bay, in a Giorgio di Sant' Angelo creation ($400).

Elle takes the shade in a bamboo thicket by the Ping River in her two-piece suit from H[2]O ($54). At right she is camouflaged, so to speak, in an Ipanema Wear bikini ($46) for a raft ride on the Ping.

Caressed by the dappled waters of the Pearl Village Hotel pool, Stephanie unwinds in a Gottex suit of vivid hues ($46).