Phra That Doi Tung, Mae Fa Luang, Chiang Rai

Year of the Pig: Earlier this year, I visited the beautiful Mae Fa Luang Botanical Gardens on Doi Tung. The late Princess Mother had a palace in the hills here which is now open to the public. About 30 minutes from the gardens we arrived at Phra That Doi Tung. These twin chedis, built in 911 A.D., are apparently the first examples of Lanna-style chedis in Thailand. They contain the collarbone of the Lord Buddha. According to legend, giant flags, called “tung” in northern dialect, were flown on this northernmost mountain over 1000 years ago. The direction they pointed was marked as a sacred site and this is where they built the chedi. The mountain is now named after these prayer flags. There is apparently a fine view from the top but the day that we were there we only saw low cloud. The weather was pretty cool as well despite being the middle of the hot season. Phra That Doi Tung is an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Pig.

For some time now, I had wondered where this painting of mine got to but I was too lazy to go find it until the other day my mother dug it out from its safe place. So, I just wanted to share it on here for observation.

It’s a mosaic of the Buddha gaining Nirvana under the Bodhi Tree. I was about 15 when I painted it for my art exam, which means it’s about 4 years old now. Originally, I tried painting a mosaic with a dark fairy theme but that proved to be too complicated and time-consuming so I began looking for a new subject and found an existing picture as inspiration. Thai Art always fascinates me especially the art one sees in the interior of most temples. I love to draw so I definitely would like to try and do some art history or perhaps even a course the next time I come to tow'. To see the difference, you’d have to squint real hard or see a tinier version for the picture to form.

I guess one could say, it’s an eye-trick. Unfortunately, it wasn't really appreciated my by art class, maybe it'll get some love here on thai-blogs, or at least a glance.

PS: Happy 2 years, thai-blogs!

Elephant Show at Rose Garden, West of Bangkok

This week we are celebrating our two year anniversary! Time has gone very quickly. I am very happy with the quality of Thai Blogs from our regulars and our guest writers over the last two years. There is really a wealth of information here now about Thailand which will be useful for not only tourists but for people with an interest in Thai culture. As some of you may know, we were experiencing problems with our server recently and we had to do a quick move. We are now on the new server. What we didn’t realize is that the email wasn’t working at thai-blogs.com. This means that we weren’t receiving the applications from new people signing up to blog. If you have joined and haven’t received notification about blogging, can you please contact me by email @thai-blogs.com and let me know the username you used to sign up.

Here is to many more years of blogging at thai-blogs.com!

Wat Ketkaram, Chiang Mai

Year of the Dog: For people born in this year, they should pay respect to the chedi at Ket Kaeo Chulamanee. Unfortunately this temple is in Heaven and so is a little difficult to drive there. Fortunately for us, in 1428 A.D., a replica of this temple was built in Chiang Mai. It is actually quite an interesting temple to wander around even though it is not in the Lonely Planet. If you want to go there, you will find it on the east bank of the Ping River. If you look closely at the above photograph, you can see that the top part is slightly askew. This is because the builders didn’t want to show any disrespect to the original version by having this chedi point straight up to Heaven. In the temple grounds there is also an interesting museum of local artifacts which the monks have collected over the years. Another fascinating feature in the temple grounds is this ubosot pictured below. Look at those intricate carvings on the door and the front of the building. Very unusual. If you are ever in Chiang Mai, make an effort to visit this temple. Certainly you should come here if you were born in the Year of the Dog. Thai people believe that your spirit will reside in the chedi representing the year of your birth. So, you should try and visit the temple to pay respects before you die!

Hello !

Just after I came to the L.O.S., my wife, being Thai, often surprised me with the pronunciation of certain place names. This prompted me to enquire as to which one was the longest. She rattled off, what seemed like five minutes of Thai prattle, and then said; "...that's Khrung Thep (กรุงเทพ )!"

"Oh,OK. Great!", I said in sheepish reply. I had NO idea what she was refering to, or if she was pulling my leg! "What the devil is 'Khrung Thep"? I pleaded. Then she explained that it was the Thai name for Bangkok, which she also said was originally, Ban Gkok.

So, being an avid researcher, I went looking. Many travellers won't know this, naturally, and I have discovered also, that MANY Thais don't, either!

As you can see, from the following quote, I am certainly glad that Thais understand the name Bangkok! Fancy getting in a Taxi, or going to a Travel agent in a foreign country, and asking to go to: I quote:

" - กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์ "

In the official English romanisation, this is certified as the longest place name in the world in the Guinness book of records. It's pronounced something like:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit "

... click on above link to Into Asia!

Oh, PER-LEAZE !

Happy pronouncing!

Bob

Perhaps it's because I flied solo a lot more during my latest trip home now that my mom (sick) and my friends (work) are no longer available as my sidekick, and that I am older and can drink more than one beer before passing out drunk, I just suddenly realize a few simple things in life of a Bangkokian I never noticed before.

Here goes my "Ah-ha!" moments and survival tips about taxi cabs, pedestrians, love affair with food, and nightlife in Bangkok.

BANGKOK TAXIS

Available...NOT!

Cabs that have "Available" sign (Wang - or empty) lit up in the window doesn't necessarily means that they are actually available. Many cabs would leave the light on eventhough they have passengers. Laziness or forgetfulness on the cabbies' part? Either way, it'll leave you feel like a jackass hailing a cab that wouldn't stop.

Dude! What are you doing in my cab??

This is not New York or London where you can hail a cab, get in, tell them where you want to go, and they'll take you. In Bangkok, you hail a cab, open the door and ask the cabbie if he would take you to your destination. If he says yes, you get. If not, close the door and hail another cab.

Oh yes, Thai cabbies can say no. Not quite what the government had in mind when they wanted all the cabs "modernized" to meter system. The meters were installed in cabs to regulate the pricing of fares and so that the cabs will take you anywhere you want. Before this, you have to haggle with the cabbie and they can tell you that they don't want to go where you're going. Now, you may have the regulated fare but the cabbies can still refuse to go to your destination. Why that is? Apparently, the longer time spent sitting in traffic--usually related to distance you want to travel--the less money the cabbie would make during that time. So, you'll find yourself in a pickle trying to get a cab to take you to Central Chidlom from the Grand Palace during rush hour.

Cabbies wait for no man...

...just before 9 a.m. and again before 3 p.m. unless you're on their way to turn in their cars or they are independent (which is quite rare). You'll see empty cabs zooming right past you, empty and all. Those times are like the shift change in taxi driving world. The cabbies rush back to their respective cab companies to turn in their cars or they get fined if they're late. Understandable. Only when you're not in a rush to get somewhere yourself.

View It!

Year of the Rooster: Lamphun is a small town about 28 kms southeast of Chiang Mai. One of the highlights of the town is this stunning chedi at Wat Phra That Haripunchai. Does it look familiar to you? You may recognize some of the features in the above picture if you have ever been to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. That temple was in fact based on this one in Lamphun. The 46 metre high chedi, which contains a hair of the Lord Buddha, dates back to the 9th Century. According to legend, the Buddha once visited the town near here on his alms round. He correctly predicted that a man would in the future build a town on that spot and call it Harinphunchai Nakhon. Of interest in this temple is a large bronze gong which is claimed to be the biggest of its kind in the world. There is also an old wooden library (see below) which is built on a high brick pedestal. Thai people believe that this temple is one of the holiest in the country. It is also an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Rooster.

Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan has always taken the lead in Internet technology among the schools in Thailand. The Nation newspaper called the Internet project a “powerhouse” when it comes to website creation. The Bangkok Post went a step further and commented  that the school has "the largest and most comprehensive web site of all the schools in Thailand."

Now the students at the school have started recording their own video blogs and publishing them on the Internet. For those of you who are at an intermediate level of learning Thai might be interested in tuning your ear to some “real” Thai spoken by today’s Thai youth. About five video blogs are recorded every day.

http://www.schoolvideoblogs.com/.

Phra That Phanom, Ban That Phanom, Nakhon Phanom Province

Year of the Monkey: The north east of Thailand is the only region I have never really explored in great detail. Hopefully I will get a chance to go next year. One of the places which is definitely on my list is this temple in That Phanom which is alongside the Mekhong River. The Lao style chedi is 57 metres high. According to legend, the chedi was built jointly by five kings and the decoration was done by Lord Indra. Housed inside this chedi are the chest bones of the Lord Buddha. This is an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Monkey. This picture was taken by one of my colleagues at school who comes from this region.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai Province

Year of the Goat: If you ever go to Chiang Mai, then you must make sure you visit this temple at the top of the mountain at Doi Suthep. The golden chedi is really beautiful and if you go there on a clear day, you will also see fine views of Chiang Mai city and the surrounding countryside. This temple dates back to 1373 A.D. There is a fascinating legend about how the site for this temple was chosen. The Lanna king at that time invited a monk from Sukhothai to bring him a relic of the Lord Buddha. When he arrived, the relic mysteriously duplicated itself. One piece was enshrined at Wat Suan Dok. The other piece was put in a box on the back of an auspicious white elephant. The elephant was then left to wander on its own accord. It then proceeded up to the top of Suthep Mountain where it walked in a circle three times and then promptly fell down dead. The chedi was then built on this spot to house the relic. This temple is an important place for people born in the Year of the Goat.

Link: http://rjs1951balladry.blogspot.com

It’s raining, it’s pouring, imagination fecund,
we’ve booked and we’ve paid, no chance of refund!
We awaited the Mini-Van, along Khao San road,
- to board the damn thing, I needed a goad!

“The markets are beautiful, you’ll be glad that you went.
You’ll be very pleased, with the money you’ve spent!”
So, I sat with my girlfriend, we sat in the back,
- ‘til we finally arrived, at Damnoen Saduak!

The Floating Markets are incredible to see,
it’s as though they are sitting right there, on a sea.
It’s a big river system, with channels and dykes,
- with long-tailed speed boats, and no motorbikes!

We climbed into one, had to sit at the back,
then powered on down that watery track!
The spray from the speedboat was worse than the swell,
I’m glad that we carried, a ‘brolly, as well!

Of course, they took us, to a central location,
from where we could mingle, amid total commotion.
I saw carved wooden statues, and 3D wall hangings,
the artistry of which, would leave your chin dangling!

There’s fruit of all sorts, all laden in boats,
the weight made me wonder, how they all stayed afloat.
I tasted a few kinds, then I tasted some more,
I couldn’t believe the varieties galore!

I gave lunch a miss, I was too full to move,
I stayed with the shopping – I was well in the groove.
I stood and I watched, as a fellow did carving,
his talent suggested – he would not be starving.

The 3D wall hanging was out of this world,
- a scene from the forest, with trees that were burled!
Elephants and people were carved in relief,
this man had blessing, from the gods - in a brief!

The close of the day came too fast in the end,
I was pleased with the trip, and I will not pretend.
The Markets are great, and although I got wet,
I’ll be back again next year, and that is a bet!

Bob

Wat Phra Borommathat, Ban Tak, Tak Province

Year of the Horse: If you were born during this year, then your pilgrimage site should be the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma. However, for Thai people, there is a replica, though a somewhat smaller version, at Wat Phra Borommathat in Tak. According to legend, the Lord Buddha once visited Tak and gave a strand of his hair to his followers there. The hair is now enshrined at the temple. The Shan style stupa is 23 metres high and was built over a much older shrine. It is surrounded by 16 smaller stupas which are 7.16 metres high.  In addition, there are 12 big and 6 small mondops (the square right building to the right of the picture) which each contain an image of the Buddha. This temple is really beautiful and hopefully one day I can go and see the original Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma.

The temples associated with each animal in the 12 year cycle

I am now half way through listing each of the temples that represent a different animal in the 12 year cycle. In Thai this system is called “naksat pi”. Thai people believe it is important that they should visit the temple associated with their birth sign.  I was born in the Year of the Goat, so I should visit Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai on the anniversary of each 12 year cycle. These pilgrimage sites are considered highly sacred because of their associations with the Lord Buddha. According to legend, seven of these temples were visited by the Buddha, four others contain his relics and the 12th one is in heaven. However, this last temple has a representative here on Earth. To be precise, in Chiang Mai. Two other temples are not in Thailand. These are Bodhgaya in India and Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma. But, they both have sacred representatives here in Thailand.

Earlier this year, armed with a guidebook in Thai, I attempted a pilgrimage to all of these sacred sites in Thailand. Here is the list of the temples I have written about so far:

• Year of the Rat – Phra That Si Chom Thong (Chiang Mai Province)
• Year of the Ox – Phra That Lampang Luang (Lampang Province)
• Year of the Tiger – Phra That Choe Hae (Phrae Province)
• Year of the Rabbit – Phra That Chae Haeng (Nan Province)
• Year of the Dragon – Wat Phra Singh (Chiang Mai Province)
• Year of the Snake – Wat Jet Yot (Chiang Mai Province)

There are six more sacred sites. Did I visit them all? Come back later to find out.

Wat Jet Yot, Chiang Mai

Year of the Snake: This turned out to be one of the hardest temples for me to find. All I had was the name Wat Maha Potaram (also written Wat Botharam Maha Vihara). It wasn’t in any of my guidebooks. The people at the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) didn’t know too. All I knew was that it was in Chiang Mai and it looked a bit like the famous Bodhgaya in India. I nearly gave up but decided to go back to the TAT office on my last day in the city. I was in luck. A local resident happened to be visiting the office at that time. She told me that it is on the northern highway loop and that it is better known by its nickname, Wat Jet Yot, or temple with the seven spires.

Wat Jet Yot was built in the mid 15th Century. The seven spires represent the seven weeks that the Buddha spent in Bodhgaya before he went out to spread his teachings. The outside wall is decorated with a stucco relief of an assembly of angels. In the grounds there is a bodhi tree much like the one that the Buddha set under during his enlightenment. As well as being an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Snake, the temple is also the historical location for the eighth world seminar on the revision of the Tripitaka in 1477 A.D. If you cannot make it to Bodhgaya in India, then this temple is a good alternative.

The following are some of the highlights from www.thai-blogs.com this time last year.

• Why can't we go see the elephants?
• Making Pad Baigapoa ..a love affair!
• A Trip to Chachoengsao
• Of dogs and men
• The doctor prince of Thailand
• Visiting Bala-hala Forest Field Camp
• Satellite Photos of Bangkok
• Thai Body Talk
• Helicopter Tour of Bala-hala Forest
• Believe it or not! Some Thai Beliefs
• Language of the Heart
• More heart talk - lessons in Jai
• The first Thailand-Malaysia Games
• Andaman Club & Kawthaung (Myanmar)
• Memories of Thailand
• Head Case
• Review of Tom Yum Goong
• A Jagged Pearl In Northern Thailand
• So, You Want To Teach In Thailand?
• Prison of water, revisited
• Thailand and me... for an introduction
• More...Short Stories From Thailand
• Being a good role model
• New To The Kingdom
• Confession of a Spoiled Thai Brat
• Thai Dance
• Thai Ghosts
• Hello from Betong!
• Dad's Thailand, my Thailand
• Ranong & Victoria Point
• "The Story of Jan Darra"
• Tweety Birds on a Chiang Rai Hillside
• Stories....From Thailand
• To Wai or Not to Wai ...
• Fire Walk With Me
• My half-Thai sibling - opposite faces
• Temple of Love
• Long Live Her Majesty The Queen
• Temple Gables on Stamps
• Thai (language) Animal Farm
• Thai Drama Stamps
• The People in Power
• Learning Thai language at a language school
• Klong Toey stories

As usual, the Thai Food blogs can be found at www.enjoythaifood.com. Also, this time last year Superman started his series of blogs about Phuket in the late 1970's. You can find these at www.thaitravelblogs.com.

At school the other day, I had the pleasure of meeting Sally Campbell and her adopted daughter Buakhao. Sally is a principal from a small school in Tasmania, Australia. As with every visitor we have to the school, I took them up to my classroom in order to allow the students to interact with them. The students were interested to hear that not only were there only 15 people in an average class, but also that there were only 70 students in the entire school. Our school has an average of 45 students to a class and 1,800 students in the school.

However, what caught the students attention the most was Sally’s adopted daughter Buakhao. Sally first met Buakhao at Pakkred Babies’ Home in Nonthaburi when she was only five years old. Sally had gone there with her husband to adopt a Thai child. Something that many foreign couples do in Thailand. When Sally took Buakhao back to Australia, she couldn’t speak a word of English. All she knew was her alphabet. But, due to a full immersion into a normal class and the fact that Buakhao was very talkative, meant that within a few months she started to become fluent. When she talked with my students, she spoke with an Australian accent. They were of course intrigued that she had picked up English so quickly and so well. However, what startled them the most was that within the period of four years, she had forgotten all of her Thai.

This was the first time nine year old Buakhao had been back to Thailand since being adopted. Her Australian mother had brought her back to visit her roots and also to meet the people at the orphanage where she had grown up. What I particularly liked was that Sally was trying to encourage Buakhao to become interested in her cultural heritage. She had bought her some bilingual children's book and we gave her some Thai handwriting exercise books and Thai stickers. Buakhao’s story is not uncommon. We often receive emails from people who have adopted Thai children asking for advice on how to educate their children about Thailand. Of course, we are only too happy to help out in any way we can.

This afternoon I finally decided I should drive over to the new airport at Suvarnabhumi before it became too late. For the past month, they had been running daily tours of the new airport in preparation for its grand opening at the end of next month. I think the idea was to familiarize people with the new location which covers a much bigger area than the present international airport at Don Muang. Yesterday, I read in the newspaper that today would be the last day for the tours because of security concerns following the failed airplane attacks in the UK. So, I packed my camera and headed out towards Suvarnabhumi Airport.

One of the most exciting prospects for us about the new international airport is that it is located in our backyard in Samut Prakan. The old international airport (funny how I am saying that even though it hasn’t closed down yet) is located north of Bangkok which is the opposite end to us. Now, we didn’t have to pass through the traffic in Bangkok. However, we would have to contend with local traffic. I was curious to see which airport we could reach quicker. The first part of my journey was from Paknam to the Bang-Na Trad Highway. The traffic was slow moving and it took us about 30 minutes to reach Central City Bang Na. However, the highway was much faster going. There has been signs on this road for a year or so now. This was the first time I would follow them. It was quite easy, though at one point an airport sign said turn left and another said go straight on!

It only took about 15 minutes to reach the turning for the airport. This was a relatively new road now and the signs suddenly stopped. At one point there was some road construction and we soon found ourselves on a gravel road. It didn’t look like we were going the correct way any more but we kept going. About five minutes later the road was getting very rough and we decided finally that we were indeed going the wrong way. I slowed down to do a u-turn at an open gate. It was the entrance to the runway. I contemplated whether to drive up the runway and park under the control tower but decided against it. I had heard that cracks had been found on the edge of the runway and I didn’t want to damage my car. So, I did the u-turn and drove back to look for the correct road.

I found it at last. It wasn’t really that difficult as the 132 metre high control tower did stand out quite a bit. We ended up driving up the east side of the runway. This side had a proper wired security fence separating the road from the runway. However, I hope that they will do a better job with security before the airport opens in 30 days. What is stopping someone parking a utility van here and getting out a bazooka? A 747–400 airplane is quite a big target at this distance. The same goes for the control tower and terminal. About an hour after leaving home, we finally reached the bus terminal where the tours were scheduled to begin. Not bad going considering we got lost at one point and that we had to enter the airport at the southern end and the terminal is about 5 kms to the north!

The newspaper had said there were 400 visitors per day. I think they miscalculated. There were thousands. We had to queue up for over an hour just to register. Then another 30 minutes waiting for the shuttle bus. So far we were quite impressed. Partly by the big open spaces, but also by all the new bus routes that had already started running from Bangkok to the airport. We even have our own bus route that passes by my house. Which is obviously great. As we left the bus terminal, our tour guide pointed out the car park for the limousines and taxis. I am not sure what the story is here. At the old terminal you could walk out of departures to the taxi rank or to the private hire cars. If you didn’t want to pay the 50 baht surcharge for taxis, you could even walk down to the main road. But, not here. The arrival lounge is just over 10 minutes away by shuttle bus. And you would have to walk much further to reach the main road. As long as the shuttle bus is free then it shouldn’t be a problem. A bonus is the well organized bus terminal. (The train link probably won’t be finished for another year or so.)

Before we entered the departure lounge, we had to go through security. This involved sniffer dogs, x-rays and body searches. Nothing too serious as I think it was mainly for show. As soon as we entered the building, I told myself that no way would this place be finished in time for an early opening on September 15th. That is the latest date announced for selected domestic flights. There were workmen every where. The sounds of drills and industrial machinery was really loud and it was hard at times to hear our tour guide. The paint and the dust was at times also very overpowering. But, having said all of that, the huge departure lounge with the high ceilings was pretty impressive. The tour guide told us that this main building covered an area of 563,000 square metres. As we walked around we passed some mythical demon giants similar to the ones at the Grand Palace. Also a 48 million baht sculpture depicting demons tugging on the tail of a naga snake (top picture). Now that is a lot of money. I think it could have been put to better use with more subtle displays of Thai arts and crafts around the airport. But, maybe more will come later.

Suvarnabhumi Airport is being rushed to open for 28th September 2006. It has been a long time coming (more than 40 years from conception) and many people cannot understand what all the rush is. Surely a few more months wouldn’t hurt anyone as Don Muang airport is still functioning perfectly. Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the paint to dry or at least wait for the public transport links to the capital to be finished? But no. The common belief  is that Thaksin is rushing to have the airport opened before the national elections due in October. Let’s hope that nothing serious will go wrong that will lead to a tragic accident.

On Sunday I went into Bangkok for the Wat Arun Temple Festival. It is held at this time every year in order to promote Thai culture and Thai arts. Wat Arun, commonly called “Temple of Dawn” in English, is on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. It is easy to go there from the pier near Wat Pho (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha). It only costs 3 baht to cross the river. The temple fair started in the late afternoon at 4 p.m. Before the entertinment started, I wandered around looking at the stalls making traditional Thai desserts and other snacks. There was also a lot of demonstrations of different craft work. In the late afternoon we were entertained with a khon drama, traditional Thai music, a historical drama and shadow puppet plays.

I’ve always been a poor correspondent and an even lousier diary or note taker. Due to that I quite often find that the best memory prompts are photographs. In the new era of digital photography, photo storage is simple and my computer hard drive is now cluttered with thousands of images.

Somehow though, opening and closing images on a PC doesn’t have the memory pull of actually turning the pages of an old-fashioned Photo Album. The other day I was having a tidy up and I picked up an old album full of photos that I had taken in Thailand back in 1996. Scrolling through the album I came across a handful of photos that I took in a Village temple situated in the foothills of Khao Yai National Park.

Mali and I had in a moment of insanity bought some farming land here as an investment in 1990. Every couple of years we would return to check the land, which we had rented at give away rates to a local farmer. On previous visits I had found the village to be typical Isaan – quiet, sleepy and traditional. When we arrived on this particular visit in November 1996 in a Ute (Pickup Truck) full of family and friends from the village of Ban Phutsa we came across a place in transition.

The village and for that matter the rest of the district was enjoying the economic boom times that were to come to an abrupt halt a mere six months away in the 1997 meltdown that occurred from Seoul right down to Djakarta. There were new houses in the village and cars on the road but the biggest change was at the village Wat. Previously, the village temple had been just a number of small modest buildings.

When we arrived this time we were soon in the midst of a large construction zone with a new ordination hall near completion and a fully renovated Sala up and running. We entered the Sala to pay our respects to the new Achaan of the Wat. Village temples tend to have a lot of human movement, which reflects Buddhist culture in Thailand, but this temple seemed to be busier than most with a constant stream of villagers passing through the Sala.

I soon put this down to the new Achaan who would have only been in his early forties and had an aura about him that could only reflect charisma. In between chewing the fat with some local villagers, and offering lucky lottery numbers to a caller on the newly installed telephone, he even offered us coffee. After about fifteen minutes, a male villager who turned out to be an important layman entered the Sala.

The Achaan then asked whether we would like to take place in a body/soul cleansing ceremony. We said yes and the layman walked over to the corner of the room and picked up two large sacks. Onto a small tarpaulin that he laid on the floor he emptied the two sacks, which contained rice into two separate piles. Quickly he then spread the rice out and then hand carved the piles into two human shaped bodies or rather I should say – silhouettes. Absent-mindedly, they initially reminded me of the chalked outlines of homicide victims.

The “ Bodies” were then lined with yellow candles, which were then lit, by all of us. Mali, myself and all the family and friends who had come with us that day, donned the white robes of the novice and then sat and prayed in front of the rice piles as the Achaan and a senior Monk chanted. When the ceremony was finished, I reflected once again on the seamless nature of Buddhist practice in Thailand.

That’s me in the photograph above looking totally embarrassed or confused (possibly both).

On occasion, over the years through shyness or feeling a bit gormless (similar to that clumsy twit in Britain a few months back who wiped out two priceless Ming vases after he tripped over his shoelace) I have pulled back from being a part of ceremonies like the one described above and became an onlooker instead. Always a bad mistake because participation is so important if you want to be able to fully understand and enjoy Thai culture.

Final Sermon for today – “when in Thailand never forget the “P” word”.

Bill

First I would like to wish Her Majesty the Queen a happy birthday! As she is regarded as a mother to all Thais, we also celebrate 12th August as National Mother’s Day. At school yesterday, the students took part in a special ceremony to honour Her Majesty. But, also to pay homage to their own mothers. representative mothers for each class were presented with jasmine garlands by their children. Then the special Mother’s Day songs were sung. It was all very emotional and there was hardly a dry eye amongst the people present.

After witnessing this public display of emotion, I was surprised to see the following poll published in The Nation newspaper this morning. It seemed to suggest that relationships with mothers had fallen in the last few years. I am not sure how true that is from what I have seen with my own eyes.

Quality of mother-child relations has dropped: poll

Bangkok women have become laxer in their attitudes to discipline over the past three generations, and their children admit feeling uneasy about having to say "Thank you" and "Sorry" to their mothers and grandmothers, a poll revealed yesterday.

The poll, conducted last Monday to Wednesday, also detected fissures in the mother-child relationship, with children seeing less and less of their mothers on a daily basis. Many of 1,245 respondents, grandmothers, mothers and children aged 12 to 24, said they wanted to say sorry to their mothers, mostly for making rude and abusive remarks to them, Abac Poll's Noppadol Kannika told a press conference yesterday.

One-third of the children aged between 12 and 15 said they felt uneasy about having to say "Thank you" and "Sorry" to their mothers in front of others, as did 20.6 per cent of those aged between 16 and 19 and 27.3 per cent of those aged between 20 and 24 years, Noppadol said.

Those who had met and spoken to their mothers on a daily basis in the past three months went down from last year's survey's 63.6 per cent to 46.4 per cent, while those who had not went up from last year's 8.1 per cent to 23.7 per cent, Noppadol said.

Over half of those polled said they had never exercised with their mothers, 46.1 per cent had never taken their mothers to movies, and 31.2 per cent had never travelled with their mothers.

Hi. Yesterday I needed to cross the border and have my visa renewed. I decided to drive myself this time as it is not far from Bangkok to the Cambodian border at Arunyaprathet. I live in an area where it is easy to get out of Bangkok in that direction and so I left at 0730 and arrived at the border after a relaxed drive at 1030.

Anyway I wanted to mention about the drive. The roads were great. Remember that this is a poor country and people here pay about 3% income tax. The roads were fantastic. Actually added to that petrol here is subsidised by the government as well. In Australia a huge part of the petrol price goes to the government supposedly for roads. So the roads were extraordinary.

I saw no accidents or signs of accidents anywhere along the way. There were plenty of service stations and places to stop and rest along the way. And most amazingly everything was signposted extremely well. Not just in Thai but in English too. This is the case all over Thailand. The roads are very easy to use and generally so well sign posted.

The trip cost me 1100 Baht in petrol and 1000 Baht for crossing the border and I was back in the late afternoon.

I also recently drive around the North of Thailand and also had a similar experience there. So I wanted to highly recommend driving yourself around to look at this amazing country.

(Photo: Courtesy of The Daily News)

Stories From The Thai Press: From The Thai Language ‘Daily News’ 10-8-06

'Nong Deow', just 5 years of age, has won the jackpot of 4,000,000 Baht on the popular TV game show ‘Game Thotsakan Dek’.

This quiz show, in which contenders have to name the famous person in each photograph, has seen a 5 year-old genius be able to knock-off an incredible 200 pics in a row! Lifting a cheque for a huge US$100,000+ isn’t a bad payback for mum especially when Mother’s Day is this Saturday.

The atmosphere at Work Point Studio on Aug 9 was tense as 'Deow' had to name just 3 more pics before he could collect his winnings. Surrounded by relatives, reporters and hundreds of onlookers – the little genius quite simply – named 3 more without even a drop of sweat! The TV studio exploded into celebration as the kindergarten boy collected the highest ever jackpot for the Thai TV Quiz Show.

On collecting the cheque, 'Deow' handed it over to his mother and said ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Mum – this is my gift for you!’

Mum and Dad have promised to take 'Deow' and his sister on a dream vacation to Europe to celebrate his winnings. Mum said a big thanks to uncle, family and Work Point Studio. The company has asked for everyone to tune in to witness for themselves the final triumph – to be aired on Channel 9 this weekend 12-13 August.

Recently I saw the photographs of Bangkok in the Thailand forum of Scyscrapercity. It seems, very highly qualified engineers, architects and photographers are running the site. There are outstanding drawings and photographs at different stages of construction. I could see the drawing of the Future Park coming up in Chaengwattana Road.

Lets take the interesting case of Central World Tower. The building itself has undergone design changes. The name also has changed from time to time. After the building has been complete, it has been a proud addition to the canvas of Bangkok. Standing tall, one could see it from as far as Wat Saket in direct line with Siam Discovery Centre. I saw the photographs of Central World entitled "Dancing in the Moonlight" where in the illuminated building glows at night.

Unlike Tokyo or Hongkong, Bangkok seems to have greater beauty in its architecture. We can remember the individual personalities of the buildings and recall them. Off hand, with out pressing my mind, I could recall Baiyoke Tower, Amari Watergate, Grand Diamond, Intercontinental, Vanit Tower II, Landmark Plaza, Amari Boulevard, Sheraton, Marriott, Westin and Windsor Manor in one stretch of Askhoke, Ploenchit and Sukhumvit Road.

The future seems to be brighter.

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai

Year of the Dragon: Probably the most visited temple in Chiang Mai is Wat Phra Singh. When I was there earlier in the year it was under renovation. The outside of the beautiful Lanna style Wihan Lai Kham had already been completed as you can see in this photograph. But, there was scaffolding blocking the entrance so I couldn’t enter. I believe all renovations are now over. This 14th Century temple is famous for the Buddha image Phra Singh which is revered by all people from Chiang Mai. Wat Phra Singh is an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Dragon. I urge everyone to visit this temple if you find yourself in Chiang Mai.

(Pic from the Thai Press, the Chiang Mai wolf....after a month on the run)

Classic story from last week just had to be horrifying news of the Canadian Chiang Mai imported wolf loose on the prowl after legging it from its home – the Night Safari. To the fear of every local chicken, the wolf was left to its own devices to wander the streets of this northern town for an entire month before the Night Safari authorities admitted the blunder to the media. Just last week, to the cries of relief from the complete chicken population of Chiang Mai, the authorities issued an award of 10,000 baht to anyone who could capture the wolf – alive!

Finally, just a couple of days back, our wolf-friend was finally apprehended by some smiling swift-handed happy locals. On being shown off to the press, the poor wolf looked so darned hungry and weary – it must have been glad to be back behind bars. Shivering, shaking and starving the wolf was ordered into quarantine for a Rabies examination after it had been spotted getting up to some hanky-panky with some stray street-mutt!

Continuing with the Chiang Mai theme, a few animals that probably won't be bothered with any of that 'escaping lark' just have to be the city’s Panda Bears ‘Chuang-Chuang and Lin-Hui’. Unlike the lack-lustre attendance of the Night Safari, the Pandas have been one huge success scoring higher attendance rates than even a PM Thaksin political rally! And definitely unlike the wolf, the pandas – basking in their glorious success, have refrained from conducting any extra-curricular duties which animals of the opposite sex ought to perform. Even the help of some imported Chinese Panda Porn movies failed to ignite Chuan-Chuang’s innate instincts - anyway who could blame the fluffy thing, what with hundreds of school kids peeving through the glass 18 hours a day. Can you not blame the pandas for showing a bitta modesty!?

(Enjoying the good life......in Chiang Mai)

The pandas at Chiang Mai really do look like a couple of happy big balls of cotton wool, especially when they are afforded better treatment than most people. While the pandas are given permanent residence visas and all the luxuries under the sun – thousands of Chiang Mai Hill Tribes, though born in the country, are still denied a Thai ID Card thus disallowing them from basic human rights. After visiting the pandas, the foreign tourist can next turn left up to Mae Hong Sorn province to witness for himself another caged-in attraction, though perhaps living in worse conditions than the Chinese pandas – the Village of The Long-necked Karen Hill Tribe.

Once upon a time while living in Nakhorn Rathchasima up there in the country’s north-east, I was lucky enough to secure myself the privilige of teaching at the HQ of The Second Army Area. Now, this camp is home to only one of Thailand’s two official horse racing tracks and gambling is….. legal there. Since all me students were high-ranking Army officers they also made up most of the committee members. Invited along for the first time I was soon sat in the VIP judges’ rooms looking directly over the finishing line. Not a bad perk of the job I thought and was even more delighted to be on the receiving end of an impressively large bottle of complimentary Johnie Walker Black Label. The officers soon explained that due to having extra-knowledge about the in-form horses, I was in for making a sure winner.

Sipping away on me freebie whisky with one hand, and a couple of hundred baht notes in the other, I was soon distraught at the outcome of the first race. There was me darned horse, a fine muscular brute whipping the field at the first three laps, a hundred yards in front – when suddenly for no apparent reason in the final lap, it decides to take it easy and gallop at snail’s pace as if it were out on an afternoon’s stroll. Trailing in almost last, there were cried of ‘Fixed fixed’ from the staff. Undeterred from what looked like an obvious set-up, I continued putting on a few more wagers before returning home broke. Anyway, I really enjoyed my outings to the Horse Racing Tracks and thank me students for the VIP teacher service. So, if you’re ever up there in Nakhorn Ratchasima and fancy a flutter then pop on over for the show. I think the normal attendance fee was like a hundred baht. By the way, none of the horses looked like they had been loaned from China for 10 million baht.

(Where the thing ought to be........not in the bathroom)

When I first arrived in the Land of Smiles, one of the first animals which caught my attention, just had to be the bathroom-ceiling dwelling Thai gecko. Now, I have never been that disturbed by the sight of the four-legged things but for most of the Thai population they are the ugliest things to walk the earth. The gecko also gets common parts in Thai horror movies with the 6 foot-high screaming ghost gecko sure to scare the living daylights out of the average Thai kid. I just realized a year or so back that geckos are rather subtle animals. Seeing one lying half-dead on me toilet floor, I thought it would be appropriate to chuck the thing outside into the plants. To my horror its leg fell of when I tried to pick it up, then even worse was when I plucked at its tail! The three-legged tailless torso, soon got the end of my broom instead. After that episode, I have certainly distanced myself from aiding a sick gecko again.

I don’t mind geckos, but I do mind cockroaches! Once, while in a Thai friend’s room in an apartment up there in Huay Kwang in Bangkok, I was bewildered to see this big fat cockroach running around the room as if it owned the place. On asking me friend (a ladyboy in fact) to why she didn’t spray the thing, explained “That cockroach is my friend I just let be”. Next, a few days later, on returning to my room I spotted a cockroach dashing back and forth at the sight of the light going on. Remembering what my friend had said, I decided to do the humane thing at just let the thing live at its own free-will. When a Farang friend living upstairs popped up to my room, I proudly pointed out my eight-legged crusty friend and told him that it was my new pet. Thinking I had gone mad at such behavior he scoffed at the idea of not killing the thing.

Anyway, after a couple of days at the beach down in Pattaya or somewhere like that I came back to a whole darned room-full of cockroaches. Opening up the door, I must have spotted about ten of them running for dear life! Displeased at taking advantage of my welcoming courtesy I bought one of those Japanese imported Zuper-Zap Cockroach electronic devices down at Fuji supermarket. Returning an hour after I had turned the thing on, I was flabbergasted to see the remains of 50 cockroaches lying flat on their backs on me carpet. Oops.....

Sorry it has been so long since I have written an installment about my Peace Corps service back in the seventies. When I was in training in Thailand, we were told that we should each get and carry a pakhoma whenever we were out in the rural areas. For those who don't know, a pakhoma is a piece of plaid cotton cloth about 75cm x 175 cm (30 in. x 70 in.), and during my Peace Corps time, they were widely used in Isaan, and for all I know, the rest of Thailand as well. It was used for many things, including a hat, a towel, a windbreak, etc., and more than once I saw one tied off at each end and used as a hammock for a baby. It worked very well, given that babies in the villages did not wear diapers, so when the inevitable happened, the pee just ran right through the cloth and onto the ground.
I usually wore mine as a hat, and would sometimes wear it around my waist when going to the communal bathroom down the hall to bathe, but on one occasion my pakhoma brought me to a real adventure. At the time I was living in a village while helping work on a spillway that I had designed, and after work the first day, the local construction supervisor suggested that we walk into the village and "take a shower."
I was sufficiently hot and sweaty that this sounded like a great idea, so I wasn't particularly on guard when he told me to make sure I brought my towel and my pakhoma. When we got to the village, it turned out that the "shower" was a bucket of water dipped from the pond and carried up to a grassy spot a few yards away. There the men would remove their shirt, and then wrap the pakhoma around their waist, strategically maintaining their modesty as they removed the remainder of their clothes. Men, women, and children were all using the area to bathe, but as I recall, the women would use an extra skirt and wrap it above their breasts but under their armpits, so that modesty was maintained by all.
As soon as the pakhoma was secured and all other garments removed, they would dip up water in a bowl, wet themselves down, use soap as necessary, and then dip more water to rinse off. Then they would use their towel to dry off, slide underwear and pants back on under the pakhoma, then remove it and finish dressing. Damp spots remained from the wet pakhoma, but that was not considered a problem.
However, I found myself to be the center of attention for a piece of performing art for which I was unprepared and unpracticed. I had learned how to tie a pakhoma to keep it around my waist, but to tie it around my waist and then remove my pants and underwear with 50+ people watching closely probably rates as one of the tensest moments of my life. However, to back out at that point would have lost me a lot of face, so I tried to maintain an outward air of confidence as I removed my shirt and tied my pakhoma around my waist. As I then removed my pants, I felt the knot starting to give, so I paused to retie it, allowing my pants to drop, but maintaining my modesty. There was a gasp and a few titters, so I knew that I still had my audience.
Anyhow, I managed to remove my remaining clothing, bathe, dry off, and get dressed again without embarrassing myself any further, and became good friends with many of the people in the village over the next three weeks. Every evening we would go to the pond and bathe, and I always had an audience, although it tapered off with time, as the people concluded that I probably wasn't going to expose myself for their entertainment after all. I became quite proficient at undressing, bathing, and dressing again protected only by my pakhoma.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of bathing a la pakhoma, but I had other priorities at the time, and I'm not sure how the people would have responded if I had shown up at "shower time" with my camera. However, I do have the two following pictures of people there wearing pakhomas as hats or sunbonnets.
On my two trips to Thailand and Isaan in recent years, pakhomas don't seem to be nearly as widely used. Does anyone have any insight as to why? Or maybe I just wasn't far enough out in the rural areas?

Phra That Chae Haeng, Phu Phiang, Nan Province

Year of the Rabbit: The province of Nan is just one of those places that don’t and won’t get many visitors. Mainly because it is tucked away along the border with Laos but also because it isn’t on the route to anywhere. We had driven down from Chiang Rai to Phayao on highway 1 which is a good road. We then had to cut across country to Nan which seemingly took forever as there were many hills and sharp corners. We were actually in two minds to go because a week earlier a hundred or so people had become very ill from food poisoning and some of them had to be flown to Bangkok. But, we were determined to visit Phra That Chae Haeng, which is an important pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Rabbit. So we just made a point of not stopping to eat anywhere.

Living in Central Thailand I had become so used to the temples there that it was easy to believe that they represented the whole of Thailand. But, as you can see from my photographs, this isn’t the case. Both the three-tiered bot and the square based golden chedi, are very different from what we have locally. And as I travelled from province to province in Northern Thailand I could see subtle differences in both architecture and materials used. Like other sacred temples, this chedi also contains relics of the Lord Buddha. But, it also has 40 gold and silver voltive tablets. The weather wasn’t really good the day we were there. There had been some rain. The golden chedi would have looked better with some direct sunlight and a dark blue sky as a backdrop. There are a few other temples in this city worth visiting as well and I will share the pictures another day.

This week has been the "Thai Whores" week for me.

First, I was watching "The Matador", a movie about a hitman (Pierce Brosnan) who has a meltdown. And then there were these:

"I look like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning, after the navy's left town."

Haha. Somehow I knew that was going to come up, judging by the hitman's character, the globetrotting, sexual deviant sociopath. I knew the subject of Thai prostitutes was going to come up somehow.

"I wouldn't do that for all the teenage twat in Thailand."

Aww. Come on, man! Two lines in the same movie? Now, that's not fair. I'd give you credit for one.

In a way, I'm laughing at how ridiculous this gets. I can't really get offended though because there is truth in the stereotype.

It's not a surprise that the world still sees Thailand as the prostitution captial of Asia. You can't really deny it.

It's not a surprise to me also that some people had asked my husband if I was "rescued" while he perhaps was in Thailand with the Marine Corp. It surprises me that someone would dare to ask that question to the husband of a Thai woman! (And for the records, for those who didn't know, I met him while I was working at a dot com in the U.S. during my graduate study. Thank you very much.)

As much as the country tries to cover it up, as much as I try to defend my country's dignity--and obviously my own, at a certain point, you can't really argue with it any more.

I used to get angry when people start joking about Thailand and prostitutions. But now I just joke along with them, and sometimes I even throw it back in their faces. It's interesting to see people's reaction when a Thai woman joke about Thai prostitution right back at them. Oh, the beauty of the stunned expression and awkward silence is just priceless!

You can fight all you want when the truth is that prostitution still exists in Thailand. Actually, it is more like underground fuel for Thai economy as much as we don't want to admit it. It is true that there are child prostitution and forced prostitution and the "teenage twat" free agents. Go on, deny it. When you can see it on the streets and all over the internet (oh yes, there are video romps of tourists with Thai girls all over the internet...don't ask me how I know), and folks still fly out of the country talking about those lost souls, you can't really go on refusing that it exists.

We either embrace it, or do something about it. Sititng around complaining about how the world sees us as prostitutes is not going to do any good if nothing is being done to change that image. Good publicity and PR is useless if the truth lurks just behind that front we put on.

All I can do now is laugh along with the joke.

Then, of course, I was watching some other television show and something about Thai whores came up.

*sigh* Okay. I give up.

Phra That Choe Hae, Phrae

Year of the Tiger: If you are exploring Northern Thailand then the city of Phrae is worth a visit. The old city, surrounded by a wall and moat, still retains many of its original buildings and temples. However, the highlight of any trip to Phrae is Phra That Choe Hae. This temple is about 9 kms southeast of the town. This Lanna style temple was built during the Sukhothai period. The relics in this chedi are believed to be the left elbow and strands of hair of the Lord Buddha. The octagonal shaped chedi is 33 metres high with 12 indented corners. It is made of brick and stucco and glazed with gilded gold. The name “choe hae” comes from the fine cloth which is wrapped around the chedi. In a nearby building is a beautiful Buddha image similar in style to the one I photographed in Phitsanulok. Phra That Choe Hae is an important pilgrimage site for all Thai people and in particular for people born in the Year of the Tiger.

Last December out and about doing my Christmas shopping I purchased a copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Turkey for my daughter Natalie as she was planning a trip there in 2006. Together with the Turkey Guide, as part of a promotion for Lonely Planet publications, I was also given a free copy of the original Lonely Planet – “Across ASIA On The Cheap”. Lonely Planet’s founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler of course wrote this and as described in many of its publications was “designed, laid out, hand-collated, stapled and trimmed in a basement flat in Sydney.”.

In 1975, the Wheelers wrote “South East Asia On A Shoestring” and with its emphasis on budget and independent travel, soon gained or possibly was self-endowed with the nickname “The Yellow Bible” due to its yolk coloured cover. From there of course the rest is history, or “from a small acorn a mighty oak is grown”

Reading “Across Asia On The Cheap” your first impression is size– only 94 pages. As such much of the information on the various countries are fairly scanty but considering that it was produced from hand written notes and diary entries, it wasn’t a bad effort. It covers countries in Asia such as Turkey, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and in South East Asia – Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It even offered advice to travelers about journeying to the then war torn Vietnam and Laos.

Thailand is covered in a mere four pages with the opening paragraph stating:

“ A calm and friendly country with friendly people – we certainly found them so. Due to its fertility and relative freedom from population pressures Thailand is also a well fed country. Very much one big city and a lot of primitive country- Chiang Mai the second city is a village in comparison to Bangkok”

From today’s perspective, reading this book gives you a feel of what it must have been like to travel the “Hippy Trail” of the sixties/seventies fame – when in those pre-Taliban days, countries like Afghanistan were wild, primitive and eye opening but totally accessible. There are constant references throughout the book to availability of weed, Ganga, and mushrooms in places such as Afghanistan, Nepal and Bali which I suppose today sets the feeling of the time when the book was written.

Winding the clock forward to today and Lonely Planet is amongst its travel peers a publishing behemoth. The public view of Lonely Planet tends to range from reverence at one extreme to scorn at the other. Most people, I find see the books as well laid out, informative and providing essential support for independent travel. Critics tend to see a travel world of “ independent travelers” flocking together all clutching a Lonely Planet guide book. In the end I suppose people will make up their own minds (I’m actually a strong fan of the publication).

Lonely Planet’s success reflects the enormous Brand that international travel has become. Technology and affluence today delivers travel and foreign events to the consumer in an ever increasing torrent. The other night I pondered over what I had watched on TV that night. In just a few hours I had watched an electic number of programs such as Sky News showing Lebanon being castrated by the Israeli Airforce, a nature program on Discovery set in Africa and a Cooking Journey to Thailand on the travel and living channel – I basically took it all in unthinkingly.

This information overload reflects the some what bland and alternatively aggressive way that Travel is promoted and sold in the modern marketplace. Many of the travel programs that you see today on TV tend in my view to be travel brochures with moving pictures. Many of the presenters also tend to be marketers rather than travelers or Journalists. Of course there are exceptions, such as the marvelous productions from presenters such as Michael Palin and Ian Wright and Megan Mc Cormick from the Globetekker series ( A lonely Planet Production)

What keeps everything in balance of course is the basic desire of so many people around the world to travel. Although modern times and the almighty pursuit of the dollar has turned travel into a commodity, the innate desire of so many people is simply to go past their countries borders and experience the joy of travel.

The intrinsic value of “Across Asia on the cheap” unlike the modern over-hyped travel industry is that it promoted foreign travel as a right of passage. Its an attitude that will keep this first publication ever young.

Bill

A Directory of the Best Blogs from Thailand

The website thai-blogs.com has been online now for two years. We will be celebrating our second birthday later this month. In that time we have established ourselves as the leading blog in Thailand. According to the statistics, we are syndicated to an average of 3,500 readers with another 5,400 people visiting the actual website on an average day. Our bloggers come from all walks of life. They are both Thai and farang and expats and tourists. Some live here in Thailand while others blog from abroad. So far, there have been 1,276 blogs posted here. That is quite an achievement.

As we have now become well established in the blogging community in Thailand, the natural next step was for us to set up a Thailand Blogroll in order to promote the work of other bloggers in the Kingdom. Over the years we have discovered many good blogs and we now want to share our blog list with you. So far, we have selected about 200 quality blogs about Thailand. This makes it the largest directory of Thailand blogs on the Internet. We know there are more good blogs out there, so with your help, we would like that number to increase over the coming weeks and months.

Towards the end of the year, it is our intention to hold the “Best Thailand Blog” awards. Nominations for this award will be taken from the blogs listed in our directory. So, if you own a blog about Thailand, or you know a good one that is missing, then please submit the blog as soon as possible. The more exposure the blog gets, the better it will do in the nominations.

Thailand Blogroll – http://www.thailandvoice.com

Phra That Lampang Luang, Ko Kha, Lampang Province

Year of the Ox: One of my favourite temples in Northern Thailand is Phra That Lampang Luang. If you are driving to Chiang Mai from Bangkok then this is an easy temple to visit. The temple is about 20 kms southwest of Lampang and off Highway 1. The main feature is, of course, the chedi which contains relics of the Lord Buddha. This is a major pilgrimage site for people born in the Year of the Ox. However, the exquisite three-tiered wooden temple buildings are just as stunning. Many of these date back to the 16th Century. The pillars supporting the roof are teak wood. If you look closely on the walls you will see some of the original mural paintings though they have faded with time. Look out for bullet holes in one of the railings around the chedi. Also of passing interest is the camera obscura – the first one I have seen in Thailand. This is housed in a small white building at the back. Close the door after you go in and in the darkness you will see an image of the chedi on a white sheet. Women are barred from this building which is also a shrine. However, one of the other temple buildings has another camera obscura which anyone can see. If you are coming here by public transport then more effort is needed. However, I think the Lanna-style architecture certainly makes this temple worth visiting.

At the weekend I finally managed to find time to visit the Or Tor Kor Market which is opposite the southern entrance to Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok. I had heard some good things about this market  and wanted to go and see for myself. I also wanted to get some more pictures for the photo album at enjoythaifood.com. The market is run by the Agricultural Market Organization (that is what the Thai initials Or Tor Kor stand for) and has recently had a makeover. The area is spacious and clean, and more importantly for photographers, it is bright. If you are looking for an easily accessible market in Bangkok then this one would be a great introduction. It has all the usual stalls of vegetables, seafood, meat, fruit and other products such as dried shrimp which probably came from the market I visited in Samut Songkhram. At one end of the market you will find a food court where you can buy ready made food such as the curries shown in the picture below.  The are also a number of stalls selling Thai desserts which I just couldn’t resist. In fact we bought a lot of food.

We went to the market by car. It is very easy to find. We followed the sky train route up Phahon Yothin Road towards Chatuchak Market. We then turned left onto Kamphaenphet Road shortly after Saphan Kwai BTS station. The entrance to the market is just on the left. The easiest way for tourists to arrive is by the underground train. The Kamphaenphet MRTA exit (number 3) is literally by the front gate. If you are coming by Sky Train, then get off at Saphan Kwai BTS station and then you have a further ten minutes walk up the road and then turn left at the intersection. If you are here at the weekend then you can cross the road to the Weekend Market for a bit of shopping. Plenty of things to photograph here.