English
Thai
Originally from Spain, 42 year old Esmeralda is the proprietor of The Dream Gallery. The Dream Gallery, which opened in September, already houses a vast collection of Chinese antiques and artefacts. There are pieces of hand embroidered dress material, hand painted porcelain, traditional Chinese tea sets, framed antique advertising posters; hand carved wooden furniture and ornate Chinese wooden lanterns. Most of the artefacts were hand made for wealthy families, with some pieces dating back hundreds of years. However, also on display are items of jewellery which are designed by Esmeralda and hand made by her team based in Beijing China.
Esmeralda’s fascination with Chinese artifacts began about 14 years ago when she moved to Beijing. In 1996 she was in charge of establishing foreign companies within China. She worked for many years as high advisor for the Chinese market and helped foreign companies to enter the market. In 2003 she set up her own company. She then started to be involved in exporting goods from China to various places worldwide.
It was during this time in China she collected her vast range of furniture, paintings, pottery and various ornamental pieces. Nowadays she still works advising foreign companies in China but she is spending more time in the design field.
“He showed me a footprint in a rock”
The story of how Esmeralda came to be in Phuket is a very interesting one. She advises us she was led by Buddha to Phuket. “I saw Buddha in a dream back in January 2007. He was dressed in gold and told me I would soon be moving to a new country” she said. “He showed me a footprint in a rock, this rock was underwater. He also showed me an island.”
“I had visited Thailand for holidays previously but never Phuket. However, in May 2007 I booked to come
here. When I arrived at my hotel, I was unpacking and a map of Phuket fell out. Strangely, Phuket was the shape of the island from my dream. During my holiday here I asked various people if they knew anything about this mysterious underwater footprint, but nobody could help me. Then close to the end of my holiday, when out, I ran into an old lady. I asked her if she knew of the footprint in the rock.”
“I told her about my dream”
“She was shocked and wanted to know how I knew about this because it was located in a small island and only devout Thai Buddhists knew about it. When I told her about my dream, she was happy to show me how to get to this island.”
Esmeralda paid a local fisherman to take her to this island. It is located about 30 minutes away from Cape Promthep. “The island is inhabited by a group of monks and the head monk took me to the sacred rock. He advised me that Buddha had come to the island 2500 years ago and left his footprint there.” It seemed natural that Esmeralda should bring her collection here to Phuket and open her Chinese antique shop. Because all of this came to her in an incredible dream, she decided to name the business The Dream. One aim of Esmeralda’s, and The Dream Galleries, is to help the Temple in Kho Kaew Pisadarn Island (Buddha Island) to finish building their pagoda.
The pagoda was destroyed by a strong storm just before the Tsunami and the monk that takes care of the island is trying to rebuild it. So she hopes, with the gallery’s help, to finish this project.
Since last year, the island has become very popular with tourists and is now becoming known as Buddha Island. It can be seen from Rawai beach and there are many boats that can take you there.
Esmeralda plans to return to China every 6 weeks or so to purchase new stock for her new business. We wish her every success with her new venture.
The Dream Gallery, Viset Road, Rawai (opposite Vijit Resort) is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10a.m to 7.30p.m.
For further information telephone +66 (0) 76 226 556
or email gallery@asiansourcinggallery.com
www.thedreamgallery.asia.
