One of the most important events in the Thai Buddhist calendar is Makha Bucha Day (sometimes spelled Magha Puja). It takes place on the full moon day of the third lunar month which is usually late February or early March. This year it was today, 28th February 2010. Like many Thai people, I was up early this morning before the sun rose to go and visit my local temple. I took my first picture at Wat Klang in Paknam shortly before 7 a.m. There was already hundreds of local people there making merit.

There were many food stalls outside the temple selling various food such as curries and Thai desserts. However, these weren't for the lay people to buy to take home and eat. These were pre-cooked food to give to the monks in order to make merit. Strictly speaking, to make the most merit you need to prepare the food yourself, but who has time for that these days? After choosing the food that they wanted to offer, the vendor then worked out the cost.

Once they had bought a tray load of food, they then usually squatted down, held the tray up to the level of their forehead and then said a small prayer. There was also a small Buddha shrine there which people paid respect to. Next they then added the rice and bags of curries to a long line of alms bowls. The monks weren't actually sitting there which always seems a bit strange to me. But, I guess the Thai people felt they were still making the merit.

I have been to a number of different temples on days like this one and it is quite often the same set-up. There is often a line of beggars or local poor people who are hoping that the Buddhists will also want to make merit by giving some spare change to them. Not everyone did this but considering there were hundreds of people at this one temple, they should have made some decent money. In addition, many temples often hand out excess food to poor people on days like this when they are overwhelmed.

Once the people had made merit they made their way to an open area in front of a long narrow platform. This is where the monks from the temple were sitting waiting to start the chanting. It was a good turnout this morning. Very impressive. The chanting went on for about an hour. There was also a sermon from the abbot. People also had an opportunity to make a personal offering of essential items or food to their favourite monk. Most people would then go home though others might stay the whole day and practice meditation.

In the late afternoon or evening, people headed back to their local temples for "wien tien" which is a kind of candlelight procession around the ordination hall or chedi. I decided to go to Wat Asokaram in Samut Prakan which is a very famous meditation temple in Thailand. Many people had been staying here over the long weekend. They wore white clothes and practised meditation. The real "wien tien" is with candles in the evening after the chanting which usually starts at about 7.30 p.m. But many people went earlier to walk around the temple three times in a clockwise direction.

I have posted many more pictures over at www.paknamphotos.com. I also posted live pictures today on my twitter account @RichardBarrow from each location.

This morning I drove over to the 100 Year Market at Klong Suan on the border between Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao. They were having their second annual market fair which will take place this long weekend during the Makha Bucha holiday. Mr. Surachai Kanasa, the Governor of Samut Prakan, was there for the grand opening. If you have never been to this riverside market yet then I strongly suggest you head out that way this weekend. The market fair runs from today until 1st March 2010. It is a great place to go to relax and enjoy a meal.

Klong Suan 100 Year Market dates back to the reign of King Rama V. The market was conveniently located on the canal that ran between Chachoengsao and Pratunam in Bangkok. With the coming of land transport and the building of highways, the importance of the market dwindled. However, during recent years, the market has been revitalised and is now firmly on the tourist trail for Bangkokians who are looking for a day out from the capital.

The market in Klong Suan is worth going during any weekend. However, as they have special activities going on at the moment it makes sense to go. It is also a good place for keen photographers as there are a number of old traditional shops with their original facades and shop signs. Of particular interest is the coffee shop and the old barbers shop. There are also some old characters there who have been running their shops for numerous decades. I think it is great that the market is a blend of the old and new. Something for everyone. Not just for tourists as local people come here to shop, much like their grandparents used to do.

Some guidebooks and tourist agencies, like the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), place this tourist attraction in Chachoengsao Province. Though really, the main stretch is in Samut Prakan Province. This is the part that I visited today. I was taking pictures of the Governor of Samut Prakan as he toured the market to meet the shopkeepers and to see the activities being arranged. However, he stopped once we reached the bridge that crossed a small canal to the next stretch of the market. This part is in Chachoengsao and he couldn't cross-over even if he wanted to, due to the fact that he was there on an official visit. He would need to be welcomed by the Governor of Chachoengsao. But, he didn't miss much!

I have been to Klong Suan a few times. I have previously blogged about this place at www.Bangkok-Daytrips.com. I think it would take you only 45 minutes by taxi from On Nut Sky Train station. The market is on Soi On Nut just before it reaches Chachoengsao. You can see more of my pictures from the opening ceremony today at www.paknamphotos.com. You can find more local tourist attractions for Samut Prakan at our www.paknam.com site. You can now follow me live on Twitter @RichardBarrow. I am microblogging there and you will be able find out where I go each day and links to see some live pictures.

Erawan

Erawan National Park
Often more resembling a bank holiday weekend at the public swimming pool than a tranquil beauty spot, Erawan is still one of most stunning places in Thailand. Each of the seven tiers of the waterfall are quite swimmable, complete with carnivorous fish, cooling turquoise colour waters and thronging masses of local sightseers. Avoiding going there on a bank holiday or weekend can be a good strategy.

The waterfall itself is well worth dedicating a whole day to, each tier of the waterfall is impressive in its own right and completely different giving the experience of seeing 7 waterfalls in a day. Roughly its a couple of hours walk to the top and back down plus stopping time.

Erawan

Plan to spend a day here as you have a dip in each of the tiers, Som Tum shops are thoughtfully placed at convenient pits stops to fulfil all your culinary needs or bring a picnic.

Getting here is easy as a bus goes every hour from Kanchanaburi bus station and takes 40 mins. If you leave around 5-6pm just hitch a ride back to town on top of one of the numerous pickups you see leaving as the park exodus occurs. Entrance to the Park is B200 for adults and B100 for children.

Erawan

NamTok
If you got drunk enough on your way to Kanchanaburi and missed your train stop, you would have had the serendipity to end up here. Located in just about the most convenient place of any waterfall in the whole history of the world, a 2 min walk from the train station slap bang in the middle of a tiny custom built park, Sai Yok Noi can be an impressive waterfall. Impressive is always a relative word when visiting Thai waterfalls as seasons come into play. In the hot season Thai waterfalls tend to dry up to a trickle but in the wet season become mini Niagaras.

The ‘Noi’ in Sai Yok means ‘little’. A few kilometres away and much harder to get to is Sai Yok Yai, ‘Yai’ meaning ‘large’. Don’t let this fool you as ‘Noi is the more impressive of the two and strangely much larger. Never really got that, then again the big guy in Robin Hood is called Little John, so perhaps it all makes sense somewhere.

Sai Yok Noi is located at Nam Tok, which means waterfall, and is the next station along from Kanchanaburi. It is best visited on the way back to Bangkok, picking up the train there instead of from Kanchanaburi. Nam Tok can be reached by local bus from the Kanchanaburi bus station. Get there an hour or so before the train departs and have the most scenic wait for a train of your life.

Sai Yok Noi

Bridge on the River Kwai

Travellers always seem to score points off one another by comparing how remote the places they have been are, the further away from the crowd the more you can lord it over other travellers you meet in the bar. In any travellers bar when you hear someone mention they went to Ankor Wat sure enough a pretentious voice will put them down for going to a tourist mecca and proudly proclaiming they gave Ankor a miss and went to Two Bricks in a pile of Buffalo Dung Temple instead located in the middle of nowhere and without another tourist in sight.

Occasionally being guilty of this myself one thing I’ve noticed is there’s a reason tourists go to the popular sites, because the remote ones you visit as an alternative are often pretty crap compared to them. So over the last few years I’ve increasingly become a blip amongst the crowd of package tourists on the beaten track once again.

Bridge on the River Kwai

Kanchanaburi is the beaten track, well the bulldozed, tarred, luxury hotels built and a Bazillion package tourists already visited track to be more precise. It was also the first place in Thailand outside Bangkok I ever visited so holds fond memories. Back then they were still bussing in Japanese tourists in on day trips by the sushi cart load, so there’s never exactly been an unspoilt image for me to get spoilt, hence the fact on all my subsequent visits I’ve never done anything else but continued to like the place.

Think of Kanchanaburi and what most people think of first is The Bridge on the River Kwai made famous by the film. What tourists don’t realise is just about everything they know of the place is not true.

For starters the name of the river is River Kwai, Erm no......... River Kwai, meaning Water Buffalo River is a fine name for any river in Thailand, and there are many throughout the country, unfortunately it isn’t the name of the one that flows through Kanchanaburi. The Kanchanburi river is called the River Khwae, and pronounced like the English word “Square” but with the “S” taken off “quare”.

So the bridge that crosses over the River Khwae not Kwai, Um no............. In fact no WWII bridge crosses the River Khwae at all. The bridge actually crosses a different river, the River Maeklong which is the main river and the River Khwae is just a tributary of it and doesn’t even do that for a few kilometres upstream.

So the river the bridge goes over is the famous River Mekong! Uh no!............. The Kanchanaburi River Maeklong shouldn’t be confused with the famous River Mekong that flows between Lao and Thailand and in fact isn’t called Mekong at all but the Namkong.

So when lots of tourists started turning up in the sixties looking to see the Bridge on the River Kwai, the Thai authorities quickly realised the movie’s blunder and publicised the real name was Bridge on the River Maeklong! Oh No.......... The authorities instead decided to change the name of the stretch of the Maeklong near the bridge.

So they changed the name of the stretch of the Maeklong to the mistaken name of River Kwai all tourists thought it was called to avoid confusion! Duh no!.......... They changed it to Khwae Yai.

So the bridge the prisoners built crosses the River Maeklong which isn’t the famous river Mekong and which actually isn’t called the Mekong at all but the Namkong but instead another river Maeklong which actually is called the Maeklong, which had a small section of its name changed near the bridge to Khwae Yai because tourists mistakenly thought it to be the river Kwai which actually isn’t called the River Kwai but River Khwae and is several kilometres away and doesn’t have a WWII bridge over it! Erm kind of.......... There were actually two bridges built, a wooden one that doesn’t exist now and the current one. The current one already spanned a river in Java and was shipped to Thailand. Only the curved spans of the bridge are WWII originals the rest are repairs made to the bridge after the war.

The Wooden and Steel Bridges during WWII

At the bridge these days it is a tourist plaza, restaurants, ice cream shops, tacky souvenir market, boat hire and everything you’ve seen in all the other tourist places. But the bridge still does offer some stunning views of the river and a lengthy stroll on the other bank amongst the locals who will try and frighten you with tales of crocodiles in the water is still possible. Actually there are plenty of 4 foot long Water Monitor Lizards if you keep your eyes peeled.

The town of Kanchanaburi has some excellent value floating guest houses, remarkably few good eats for any Thai town I’ve been to and plenty of attractions from elephant rides and rafting, to Death Railway history and waterfalls all in a pleasant laid back provincial town where the policemen don’t often kill the tourists.

Getting There

The bridges were part of the Death Railway which was built to supply the war in Burma by the Japanese and is still in use today. 90,000 civilian forced labourers and 16,000 POWs died building the railway. The trains still runs today from Thonburi train station in Bangkok and actually goes across the bridge. Trains run twice a day 7:15 and 13:45 taking around two and half hours offering a stunning view for the last 30min as the train hugs cliffs while winding through the jungle. A pricy steam train makes the journey on weekends for the full on authentic experience.

The curved spans are the originals

I’ve been a way for a while, but here I am with a new travel report. I planned for several months to visit Taksin Maharat National Park (named after a former king of Thailand) in Tak province where the Giant Krabak Tree is growing. Some previous research told me that the Giant Krabak tree (anisoptera costata) is a species of plant of the  dipterocarpacease family. It’ s the largest  tree  growing in South East Asia - Costata in Latin (costatus) means  ribbed and describes the venation of the leaf blades. Krabak trees grow in lowland evergreen and semi evergreen forests.

Enough talking for now…. let’s hit the road to one of northern Thailand’s lesser known national parks.

Taksin Maharat National Park is located in the Mae Sot district of Tak province, about 3 kilometers off the main road. It’s a well paved winding mountain road. I was surprised to the park’s access road which was in real good condition, and so I was cherishing the hope that all the park would be just as clean. And yes, after entering the park’s main entrance, I was taken-aback by a well maintained park where there was no litter to be found, amazing. This is very rare in Thailand. The Head Office is about 500m from the  main  entrance and I was welcomed by the ever-friendly ranger. The ranger told me that the krabak tree was  approximately  2,5 kms  away  from the office - the first 1,700 meters could be done by vehicle and  the rest  on foot. The ranger told me that the krabak tree in this  park, towering 58 meters high  above the ground with a circumference of  approx. 16 meters, is the  largest of its kind  in Thailand. I couldn’t figure out  the age of the tree but it is probably more than 100 years old.

Stage 2  of my visit  was a quick visit to the  longest natural rock bridge  (saphan hin) in Thailand. I wasn’t aware that there were natural stone bridges of this size in Thailand. The  bridge is about 10 km away from the  headquarters, but again a couple of hundred meters have to be done on foot. The natural rock bridge is a massive rock bar  spanning  a gap  between two cliffs . The huge  rock bridge  measures about  30 meters in length and about 25 m wide. A stream flows  around 25 meters  beneath the huge rock structure. Heading towards the hot season, the riverbed was nearly dried out. The beautiful surroundings are ideal for picnicking and enjoying your day out.

There are several waterfalls  to explore too,  The Pang-an – Noi Waterfall is only 1 km away from the Giant Krabak Tree and certainly worth a visit. Several species of bird can be seen in the park. There is also an interpretive trail for hikers available with the  path starting at the Visitor Center. It descends gradually into a savanna forest and then eventually into a Dry Evergreen Forest  until it reaches the krabak tree 2,5 kilometers later. The trail then climbs up  the road  and follows the back to the head quarters .

The  park  has  9 lodges  available for rent and also  a canteen campground. As the campground is at the top of a mountain you can enjoy the view of amazing surroundings. I would really recommend a visit to this park.

The park  is about  480  km away from Bangkok  towards the  north. Take  the high road to  Nakhon Sawan then  turn left in the direction of  Tak. Upon arrival in Tak, follow the road signs to Mea Sot.  At  about  45 km from Mae Sot  you’ll see several signs pointing to the park .

If, after this park, you are interested in seeing more of the north, you can carry  on to Chiang Mai following high Road 105  to Mae Sariang in Chiang Mai province. This is a breathtaking  mountain ride and a perfect alternative route to going to Chiang Mai. A truly relaxing  outing for tourists who want to go off the beaten track. See  you again in a next episode of  UNSEEN THAILAND  

The tension is rising in Thailand as we have now started the countdown to Judgement Day on Friday 26th February 2010. The red shirts have already started their protests though so far the yellow shirts have decided to stay at home. If that is true then any riots on the streets of Bangkok next week should be limited with, hopefully, minimal casualties. Personally, I don't think there will be any dangers for foreign tourists. However, the embassies of the United States, Great Britain and Australia have all released travel advisories to their citizens to avoid Bangkok.

The so-called Judgement Day is when the Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on whether to seize the 76 billion baht of frozen assets of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The controversy surrounds the fact that the Asset Examination Committee were coup appointed and the red shirts claim that the odds were stacked against Thaksin from day one. At first they boasted they will put one million protesters on the streets of Bangkok next week. However, they have now downplayed this to much smaller protests at key locations around the capital.

Although the main protest seems to have been called off, the government and metropolitan police are taking no chances. Nor are the police in Samut Prakan who have responsibility over Suvarnabhumi International airport. I took these pictures today during a riot police drill which simulated an attack by the red shirts who were trying to disrupt the running of the airport. As we all know, during the previous government, the yellow shirts easily shut down the airport which led to travel chaos and stranded foreign tourists. No-one wants a repeat of that.

It is difficult to say what will happen next week. Everyone has different opinions. Hopefully things will pass smoothly or it might just be the start of something bigger. The red shirt leaders are threatening to escalate their protests with the intention of bringing down the government. We haven't had any serious violence so far, however we have had a few bomb explosions in Bangkok already. This may or may not be the work of the red shirts. More likely a third hand who wants to gain from any chaos that is caused. If you can avoid Bangkok for the next two weeks then it might be advised to do so. However, it is a big city and the chances that you will get mixed up in anything is very slim. Just use your common sense and avoid any large protests.

We will be posting hourly updates next week in our Paknam Web Forums over at www.ThailandQA.com and also on our twitter accounts @ThailandVoice, @ThaiBlogs and also @Paknam_News if there is any trouble at the airport. You can watch a video of the riot police drill at Paknam Videos and also many pictures at Paknam Photos.

It’s no secret what attracts many people to Thailand on their holidays is the idea of cheap getaway and Thailand does have the reputations of being a cheap destination. It’s also true to say many residents will tell you Thailand is anything but cheap with dual pricing for tourists and locals, over inflated prices in tourist areas and high inflation over the last few years.

I thought I’d do a little investigation into this trickly question and started by researching the prices for a single adult in comparison to the nearest equivalent in the UK.

Accommodation (per night)

             Thailand                 UK
Guest House     £8                    £20		
Hotel           £25                   £29
Tourist Resort  £50                   £40 (Spain)

For single accommodation the cheapest option in Thailand is a guest house, they can be booked in advanced or checked into on the spot, they range from as little as £2 per night and go up to over £20. The former offers little more than a bed in an old wooden house and the latter decent room with air-con, cable. Realistically good price to pay would be between £6 and £14 depending on how touristy the area. The resort is an average four star location in Phuket, booked from the UK.

For the UK the prices are a Bed and Breakfast in Blackpool, Premier Inn and an equivalent resort in Spain booked from the UK.

Food (per head)

                      Thailand                UK
Street Food             50p (street noodles)    £2 (slice of pizza)
Local Cafe              £1                      £4 (English breakfast)
Tourist Cafe            £2 (English breakfast)  £8
MacDonald’s Burger       40p                     £1
Non-Tourist Restaurant  £4+                     £10-20+
Tourist Restaurant      £10-20+

Thailand is the home of cheap eats. With the exception of western food you’ll enjoy high quality food at low prices. If you’re not stuck in a resort where you’ll be charged the hyped up prices there will be cheap food everywhere.

Transport
                      Thailand                  UK
Taxi                  £10 (Airport to Bangkok)  £55 (Airport to London)
Local Bus              12p – 36p                 £1
Long Distance Coach    £12 (Bangkok-Chaing Mai) £14 (London-Newcastle)
Long Distance Train    £15 (Bangkok-Chaing Mai) £60-150 (London-Newcastle)
Underground            20p - £1.20              £2 – £5.00
Sky Train              20p - £1.20              £2 – £5.00

The Thai coaches prices are from the official bus stations not private operators who are best avoided. Taxi is on the meter or pre-paid including toll way fees.

If you’re doing anything but coach trip around the country, Thailand wins hands down. If travelling by coach in Thailand expect to pay more once you realise the luxurious options available and decide you like them. VIP 24 is a good place to start.

British Rail companies should be rounded up and shot.

Sightseeing

Thailand                                        UK

More Expensive in Thailand 
Jungle Flight £45                               Arial Extreme £22
                                                Go Ape £27.50

Siam Ocean World £18                            London Aquarium £8.25
                                                Brighton Sea Life £8.40

National Parks £4                               National Parks free 
Beauty Spot outside national park 50p - £2      Beauty Spot outside national park free
Jim Thomson’s House £2 (fee to charity)          Wallace Collection free
National Museum £2                              British Museum free
Sukhothai £2.50                                 Avebury free

Roughly the same price
Safari World £10                                Woburn Safari Park £10.50
Corrections Museum free                         Science Museum free
National Gallery 65p                            National Gallery free
Grand Palace £8                                 Buckingham Palace £10
Ayutthaya 50p (per ruin)                        Stonehenge £6.60
The Prasart Museum £6                           Design Museum £6
Bangkok Art & Culture Centre free           Tate Gallery free

Cheaper in Thailand
Crocodile Farm £5                               London Zoo £16.50p
Ancient City £5                                 The Eden Project £16
Wat Po	 50p                                    Westminster Abbey £12
Wat Arun £1                                     St Paul’s £12		

*all prices were calculated 60 baht to the pound, since the article was written the pound has dropped to 50 baht, so the Thai prices will be around 12% higher.

Thailand wins hands down over the UK in the basics. Accommodation, food and travel if you keep out of the resorts and travel more independently, however if you are going to do something Thai prices go up. State run places are not too expensive but still more expensive than the UK as most things in the UK are free. Private tourist attractions are often rip-offs worldwide so we shouldn’t be surprised many in Thailand are too. With the exception of temples there are very few good deals in Thailand and some genuine rips offs. In a country where the operating expenses are a fraction of that tin the UK a lot of these prices are pure profiteering. One can wonder why it is twice as expensive to run as the UK when the employees wages are probably 1/10.

Whether Thailand is expensive also depends of what kind of holiday you are going to have. Are you a backpacker travelling for a month staying at guesthouses and travelling by local bus or a family of four looking for a two week holiday in a four star hotel expecting to do and see everything. If you’re the latter you may find two weeks in Spain would have worked out a whole lot cheaper.

For the whole time I have been in Thailand it has been seeking to abandon its reputation as a cheap backpacker location and become a package tourist rival to Spain, and has largely failed. It has made a number of moves to do this from Amazing Thailand to making visas harder to get for backpackers but one thing it doesn’t seem to want to do is offer a good deal. Thailand’s whole motive to attract more high spending tourists is of course no different to any other country, to make more money, but the idea of actually having to win the business over with a good deal and rather than tourists just appearing out of thin air has been the point the Thai tourist industry has been missing for years. The fact is western tourists can go to a plethora of cheap locations from Turkey to Cuba offering what Thailand has, what will attract them to Thailand is a good deal.

I remember being in Thailand when the Asian economic crash occurred in 1997 and the Thai Baht halved in value vs. western currencies in days creating the possibility for cheap holidays. I thought hey presto, Thailand has the opportunity to become one of the hottest destinations of earth. This was scuppered by the tourist industry which doubled the prices of almost everything in tourist areas the very same week and legions of tourists attracted by the supercharged currencies found they had no more spending power than before the crash and told everyone back home. With the exact opposite happening in 2008 and the Thai baht almost doubling in comparison to western currencies and tourists drying up I wondered if the opposite would happen and the prices drop. This largely did not happen and Thailand now to me looks pretty uncompetitive in the world market.

The grounds of a Buddhist temple in Thailand have a variety of buildings of all shapes and sizes. At first glance their use might seem to be random. But, there is one building, called the "phra ubosot" which is not only the most sacred but also has distinguishing features that makes it easy to spot. Surrounding the consecrated area there is a boundary marked by eight stone slabs. In Thai these are called "sima" (see-maa) and are often leaf shaped. They can be found at the cardinal points of the compass.

What I didn't realize before is that beneath these stone slabs there is a sacred stone ball called "luk nimit" in Thai. You don't normally see them as they are usually buried. I took these pictures at the weekend at Wat Rat Niyom Tham in Amphoe Bang Phli, Samut Prakan. I was there to take pictures of the ceremony attended by the Samut Prakan Governor to consecrate a new "ubosot". Local people were there to pray and also to place gold leaf on the stone balls. They would later be buried with the "sima" stone placed on top.

In addition to the eight balls surrounding the building, a ninth stone ball is buried inside and then the main Buddha image is placed on top. Lay people don't normally use this building. There are other buildings, for example the "viharn" which also has a Buddha image. What makes the "ubosot" special as it is the only place where an ordination can take place. Hence it is sometimes called the "ordination hall". Actually, the first part of the ordination can take place anywhere in the temple grounds. However, the last part can only take part in the "ubosot".

You can see more pictures of this ceremony in our Samut Prakan Photo Album. I will also cross-post it in our Thai Buddhism blog where you will find more information about Buddhism in Thailand..

Thai women are naive, attentive and submissive to their husbands............. Hang on a minute are we talking about the Thai Women we all know?

A few residents of Thailand may think I’ve finally lost the plot. But no this is the image being a portrayed of the female denizens of the Land of Smiles on a legion of websites trying to persuade men a Thai bride is for them. The gullible suckers.

This very stereotype is the subject of Louis Theroux’s documentary Thai Brides. While I normally enjoy Louis Theroux’s programs I have to say I found Thai Brides rather condescending to Thai women. He made the documentary very much from the uninformed point of view of the men and portrayed the women as victims being exploited by the agencies and men.

Residents of Thailand will realise just how false this premise is. In a country where the women not the men run the economy and are more often the main breadwinners for the family, it follows that women are not the sheep Louis portrays, who when coming to the agencies of their own volition are making conscious decisions as much as the men. But then that would not be good TV.

With the whole premise of the documentary not seeming to match reality I decided to conduct my own investigation into what's happening on the Thai singles scene. After a couple of hours Googling I found there seemed to be two kinds of services out there. The Louis Theroux style introduction sites where punters pay around £1500 + airfares, come to Thailand and meet girls on the agencies books, who usually speak little English, and have interpreted conversations with them. The other kind of sites are the web based Dating sites which are free to join; people enter their profiles and pay to contact one another.

I started off by checking several of the agencies offering what they call Full Service, some noticeably had a large number of women on their books and many of these girls came from the North East, had only a secondary education to 15 years old and lived in Bangkok stating production as their field of employment. This suggests they are line factory workers who have come from rural Issan to work in a Bangkok factory to support their families. I went to one of these factories and interviewed a worker in my Lazy Thais piece for this blog. The factories will have hundreds of line workers in this thankless low paid job and obviously the agencies in question target industrial areas for their marketing and are attracting quite some response. The Google search I carried out revealed no shortage of rival sites. £1500 to introduce a punter to a non-English speaking factory girl from Issan must be a pretty lucrative business and not exactly a difficult or taxing thing to arrange.

The large number of women on some of these agencies books intrigued me considering others had so few. I investigated one, Thai Professional Introductions, which was featured in the Louis Theroux documentary. This boasts a truly enormous number of female members on the website. This particular agency is also illegally using a copyrighted blog of Stephen Cleary’s from this site for profit without permission and refusing to respond to emails from us. I quickly noticed looking at most of the women’s profiles the dates of births didn’t match the ages stated, a women’s age would state she was 28 but her date of birth would be 1976 showing she joined the agency six years ago and her profile hasn’t been taken down. There may be hundreds of members on the list but perhaps only a few are current, no-wonder he wants payment in advance.

The other kind of site out there are the dating sites where you correspond as equals from your computers back home. I checked several of the latter style of sites, it’s also a competitive business and there’s profits to be made for who is good at it. Several sites I checked didn’t give out when members were last online, seemed to have a shortage of members and were pulling out the stops to give the opposite impression. Others seemed to be full of fashion model types and I quickly worked out these were false profiles set up by the site owners to attract traffic. Several sites I joined I quickly got mailed by a stunningly beautiful 22 year old, who wanted to chat, most likely sent as standard by the site to encourage members to pay a month's fee to read the mail. A few other sites I tried were advertised as Thai but seemed to have a large number of members from other countries especially the Philippines, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America.

However the was a good number of ubshady sites out there and I settled upon one European based site I shall call Siam Smile to bullet proof myself against legal reprisals. Siam Smile seemed a genuine site, had thousands of members, often hundreds logged in each day. None of the photos were fashion models and the few who were obviously fake had their profiles eliminated pretty quickly by the quite diligent site owners.

The Siam Smile site had a useful feature it showed the join date and the last time members signed in. I carried out an extra check on it. I joined the site as Thai woman seeing if the Thai language procedure was any different. The forms I had to fill in were exact translations of the forms I had to fill in as a western man, there was no difference whatsoever in the enrolment procedure and questions asked for a Thai women to that of a western man.

Taking on the persona of ‘Malcolm’ a childless, divorced, 40 year old, averagely paid financial advisor from Welling Garden City I forked out a month’s membership and joined the site, B1600. I set myself the rule, I would not contact any women, I would let them contact me so to see what happened. Here’s my report...............

In my month long membership 162 women visited my profile. I was actually surprised by how young some of these were, often early twenties. On the other hand I had many in their forties and even a few in their fifties. However most of my visitors were late twenties to early forties. I received contacts from 52 different women showing an interest in me and inviting me to reply, 15 of these were in Thai writing. From these I replied to 20 women I found intriguing of which 11 responded. 10 of these I hooked up with on either Windows Live or Yahoo Messenger and we managed to chat. Two of them it quickly transpired we were unable to chat in English and instead we chatted in Thai, eight however we had varied level of English chat ranging from basic to advanced.

I set myself rules for the chat. That in no way would I lead the women on or show any romantic interest in them, I simply subtly interviewed them about their lives and motives for being there. Only four of the 10 came back for a second chat, perhaps my pumping them for information was responsible and one Noy has became a good friend whom I chat with 1-2 times a week but not romantically.

The girls......

Mam, was the very first contact I made, was rather a failure as an interview as she turned the tables on me and interrogated me thoroughly. Mam spoke excellent English and worked as a science teacher at secondary school. She was 32, had never been married and lived in the city of Khon Kaen. The first question she asked me was when I was next coming to Thailand; she also wanted to know my job, living arrangements, and plans for the future, details of my previous relationships, all in meticulous detail. All good stuff to ask if looking for a serious partner, she was definitely trying to weed out timewasters. She had obviously thought about her membership very rationally and gone into the whole business pretty well organised. She had a good knowledge of what was happening in the news in UK so we actually had something to discuss and wasn’t exactly shy to give her opinion. Ironically I had set out to prove Louis Theroux stereotype of Thai women wrong, for journalistic suspense it would have been great if it was the very last person I spoke to on the last day of my membership and I could write this at the end of the article, but the very first person I spoke to within 2 days of joining pretty much zapped his myth.

Another early contact I had was from Nan a 29 year old single parent from Issan who lived in Bangkok with her family. She was divorced, her husband she said was no-good, gambling and having many girlfriends, so she got rid of him. She contacted me on the bounce from a relationship with another Englishman she met on Siam Smile. Apparently he promised her the world, to come to Thailand and marry her, however he never lived up to this promise and broke up with her, them never meeting. She was very bitter and kept on insisting “farang lie” not the best chat up line to a new guy I thought. We chatted a few times and I gathered by examining her Windows Live profile she had contacted a lot of men on Siam Smile. She told me her aunt had suggested she join and she had done so because she was unlikely to find a new Thai man having a child. She had a rather possessive personality and I quickly gathered from what she told me, wore her heart upon her sleeve, so I was very careful not to be remotely intimate with her. Despite the fact I was not only not showing interest in her but showing positive disinterest, one word responses to her lengthy messages, for around two weeks I every time I opened up messenger she was there and contacted me to complain I hadn’t contacted her, I began to feel like I was being stalked.

Noy is also from Issan and a pretty 26 year old accountancy student. I wondered why she would contact me, she said I was the first person she contacted and I looked kind in my photo. She had only joined the site a few days before. I made an educated guess that she was a student looking to practice her English but I was wrong, there was something deeper, though I was never able to quite place it. She seemed to have a good life, small middle class city family, only one older brother, father a government officer, her mother had recently died but also I noticed on her Windows Live profile was chatting to a couple of other guys in their 40’s. After a while she told me these contacts didn’t work out and she had developed a stalker problem similar to mine with one of these men. I chatted to her several times and the only hint she gave me to why she was there was that Thai guys didn’t find her attractive and she wanted to experience the world. I came to the unsure conclusion that she was just looking for adventure and a way out of her small corner of Issan to experience the wider world. She saw a foreign relationship if not the solution at least some interesting to explore temporarily. On the other hand she wasn’t the biggest fan of Thailand and its class structure and graft and kept on saying she wanted out.

Jeab I chatted to only once. She had almost perfect English and had lived in the USA with a friend before marriage. She had a 5 year old son and had just divorced her husband who was from Hong Kong. Her parents were from China and she spoke perfect Chinese too. She had worked as a middle manager in a large Thai corporation before getting married 5 years ago but now after a long working hiatus was a checkout girl in a supermarket struggling to support her child. In her mid thirties she was in a rut, no longer a yuppie, no longer a jet setter, and going to be stuck in an ends meet existence after having experienced the hi life. I got the impression there was a duality in her motives, she realised a western marriage was perhaps her only way of restoring her past existence and that she had a disillusionment with Asian men having had a bad experience so saw western men in an overly idealised way. She seemed to be quite single mindedly seeking a quick relationship, knew what she wanted in the man and little was going to get in the way. Despite having the deepest conversation of anyone I contacted on Siam Smile discussing such things as philosophy to alcoholic ingredients I obviously didn’t meet her expectations and was quickly deleted from her contact list.

Wan was also from Issan but lives in Bangkok running her noodle stall with her sister. She is 27 years old and quite freakily lives and works on the same (rather lengthy) main road as me, though I’ve never seen her. She only has a secondary education but speaks excellent English, learning it at school. I spoke to her three or four times but she seemed to have joined the site out of curiosity more than any real desire to find someone and perhaps just to practice her English. One time she told me she couldn’t leave Thailand as she had to help her sister run the business, which made me ask her why she joined in the first place, to which she didn’t have an answer. She took a keen interest in me telling her of my life and wasn’t very forth coming with hers. She had parents and another eight brothers and sisters on her family farm back in Issan was quite glad she had left and was enjoying Bangkok nightlife such as Major Cineplex and Central Shopping Malls.

Panya was a 29 year old from a Bangkok suburb and worked for a travel agency. We got only a few sentences into our conversation when we had to swap to Thai. Apparently she's a Level 1 AUA student, I guess this piece of writing if it achieves one thing, it proves the accuracy of the AUA Placement Test. Panya was attending English classes specifically so she could chat to western men on dating sites. This is a suspicion I have always held but it's taken me a long time to come up with some solid evidence. Panya had apparently shot the gun and needed a little more practice before endeavouring on her romantic mission. I asked her why not find a nice Thai boy instead of going to all this trouble? She replied she didn't want a Thai man because she would worry about him getting girlfriends. This seems to be a typical response from middle class Bangkok girls who have the financial independence these days to not want this traditional aspect of Thai culture.

One thing I didn’t do was talk to any of the men on the site, however this didn’t stop me asking the women what was going on. It seems that some of the men were quite aggressively pursuing the women, making romantic overtones very quickly and a lot of promises of undying love and them being the one. The women were all bar one very cynical about this and didn’t believe them, western men being mere amateurs at this compared to Thai men it was well within their powers to spot. I also came away with the overall impression that most of the women on the site were not finding their soul mates, but instead were coming to the site with idealised views of western men and coming away as disillusioned with western men as they were with Thai. I did get the impression while the Louis Theroux documentary is terribly misplaced about the women it is more accurate about the men.

Thai women will join the agency for a number of reasons. For some it will be economic, after all she is the main breadwinner who has to support her parents in their old age as well as her family and possibly younger brothers and sisters too. A man who will support her and her kids while she supports her family is desirable. Thailand also suffers from antiquated cultural values, a women over 30, with children or even just divorced can be pretty much on the shelf to Thai men, so a husband from a culture that doesn’t hold these prejudices can perhaps be their only prospect of not living a single life. Thai women are also very romantic as anyone who has had a Thai girlfriend will testify and do tend to wear their hearts upon their sleeves and perish the thought of the cynics they may actually be marrying out of love. Many educated and wealthy Thai women in recent years haven’t married because they are quite attracted to the idea of having and equal western style relationship not a traditional Thai one. This article explains.

A quick survey of the people who contacted me shows the diversity of Thai women on the site. A large number of single women in their thirties and professionals backs up the idea the larger part of those applying are pretty in control of their lives. There are remarkably few in low end jobs unlike the women on the Full Service sites. One other figure that stands out is the predominance of Bangkok and Issan members. The scarcity of southern and northern women could be put down to local culture but this doesn’t explain the lack of women from other parts of Thailand. One could cynically put down the high Issan membership partly to poverty but as many of the women from Issan have good jobs, a cultural tradition of marrying foreigners which has built up there recently may also be part responsible.

So far from the shrinking violets some websites claim most Thai women on the market for a partner are quite liberated women, in control of what they are doing and have much to contribute.

Traditionally, in Thailand, when a Buddhist dies, their body is cremated and then the bones and ashes are collected and are either kept at the temple or at home or sometimes both. However, there is a third option which is seemingly becoming more popular these days. It is called "loi angkarn" which means the floating or scattering of ashes over the water.

It is not really a Buddhist tradition as it has been adapted from Hinduism where they often scatter ashes in the Ganges River. Some Thai people believe that floating the ashes of their loved ones in a river or in the open sea will help wash away their sins but also help them go more smoothly up to heaven. It doesn't matter where you do this, but if you are in the Bangkok and Samut Prakan area then an auspicious place is the mouth of the Chao Phraya River at Paknam where I live. There are at least half a dozen boats here that people can charter to take them from the city out into the Gulf of Thailand. It costs about 1,200 baht and for that you get the services of a captain and layman who will lead the ceremony. Some people also bring along a couple of monks.

There are a set number of rituals that have to be done in the correct order before the main ceremony. This includes paying respect to the guardian spirit of the boat and then later the god of the ocean and the goddess of water. The bones and ashes that were collected from the crematorium the day before were wrapped in a white cloth. Rose and flower petals were placed on top and also a jasmine garland. In this picture they are sprinkling scented water onto the ashes.

Next comes the prayers where the mourners request the spirits and gods to look after the deceased person. It is then time for the white cloth containing the ashes to be carefully dropped over the side. They don't actually scatter the ashes, they just let the cloth float away and then sink. As they watch it go, they say their final farewells while at the same time scattering flower petals on the water.

If you are interested in Buddhism in Thailand, then you might like to visit our website at www.thaibuddhist.com.

(The crime scene of almost every Farang 'murder' in Pattaya - the infamous Pattaya hotel balcony)

As a Farang in Thailand we have all heard some of the most laughable quack-wack Thailand myths: ladyboys who have coaxed clients back to their rooms only to drug ‘em and cut out their kidney (and after sell it to a hospital), tuk-tuk drivers who are part of a dangerous mafia syndicate and dodgy cashiers who stuff items in your bag before calling in the police on charges of theft. As mentioned in part one, even some ‘journalists’ pick up on these pathetic myths, or even conspiracy theories, and sell them to some naff tabloid back home. And on the subject of conspiracy theories too this time around, a classic from last year was the David Carradine story (or former Mr Kung Fu himself). Instead of sticking to the forensic reports, sensationalist articles written claimed that Mr Kill Bill was in fact murdered, for example, by a couple of well-endowed ladyboys he had met in Patpong earlier that night. (Read this blog for more info on one of the hilarious articles published).

Then we have just the simple Thailand myths like: Thais stand up for the national anthem at the cinema, the word Farang is derogatory, gambling is a serious crime, Thais never criticize the monkhood,Thai women married to Farang can not own land and all the poor people love Thaksin Shinawatra.

Pattaya Flying Club ‘Suicides’

Probably the best told Thailand urban myth over the past few years is that all the Farangs who commit suicide in Pattaya by jumping from hotel balconies were in fact the victim of cold-blooded murder. With the cover-ups so intricately planned, it could go down as the best drunken barstool conspiracy theory since Elvis was abducted aliens and returned to Earth as a Phuket jet-ski operator. Even though 66 year-old Henrick weighs in at 220 pounds, his skinny-as-a-chopstick former teenage ‘wife’ standing at 5 foot 1 in high-heels is miraculously able to throw Henrick over a one-meter high Pattaya 15th floor hotel balcony. She then flees the scene on the back of her Thai lover’s motorbike. According to the best myth-tellers, everyone was involved: the cops knew it was murder but for the sake of tourism they put it down as suicide. The housekeepers, check-in staff and security guards, they all knew the ‘truth’ but got paid backhanders to keep quiet. It gets told (in that ever-popular “I used to drink with the guy” fashion) that even though Henrick drank 17 bottles of Thai hootch on a daily basis, enjoyed messing around on the side with local Lolitas while occasionally indulging in a ladyboy three-some, was actually a perfectly normal guy.

The Thai Language Has No Tenses – It’s So Easy

Another classic myth which has done more rounds than a rabid Thai dog with a piece of meat tied to its tale. Even though Joe from Ireland has a limited personal Thai vocabulary of just ‘Sawatdee khrap’, ‘Sway mak mak’ and ‘Check bin’, has in his 3 months in Thailand learned from a hundred other Thai language wanna-be speakers that the Thai language does not have a past tense, passive tense, future tense, present perfect tense – absolutely no tenses at all. It is the simplest language imaginable. Joe goes on to state that anything with a brain could master the language in 6 weeks. After a year, however, when Joe finally admits that he still can’t put even a basic sentence together in the Thai language spouts out “Arrh… I’m just too lazy to learn”.

All Thai Women Wanna Have a Farang Boyfriend

Do they heck! Definitely another one of those rumours spread by expat barstool types who has never struck up any conversation with any proper Thai girl. Instead, all he has ever heard from ‘his’ Thai girl friends is that since every Thai man beats his lover, elopes with every female family member under the age of 16 and constantly drinks himself stupid before breakfast before finally running off with another damsel, is the reason that every Thai women would like a ‘responsible’ Farang boyfriend. Sucker Farang is oblivious that this is coming from a woman who has had four kids by Thai men and is dating a dancer who works in a men-only bar up the road. The reality is, there are a lot of proper Thai women out there who would be interested in having a Farang boyfriend, but to put them all in the same boat is ludicrous.
(Steve notes: There is another fairytale myth around that goes “Thai-Chinese women from well-to-do families wouldn’t be seen dead marrying a Farang”)

The Ice is Bad for You & “I Had Food Poisoning”

Let’s start with that guidebook to Thailand favourite myth of dirty ice and it’s bad for you. Ok ok… there could be a little possibility of this if it’s that shaved stuff that comes from those big blocks of ice you sometimes see. But if the ice served is cubed, as you usually get these days, you can be rest-assured it’s as clean as its counterpart in Farangland. After reading their ‘bible’ (guidebook) average Mr Backpacker on waking in the morning with a bout of ‘guts explode’ exclaims “It must’ve been the ice I had last night”. What he hasn’t blamed instead are those three Maekhong whiskey and Red Bull buckets gulped down after scoffing on a fiery bowl of Tom Yum Kung. What the guy should obviously be blaming is himself and his own stomach, not the ‘dirty’ ice. Next up, how come so many Farang on getting an even worse case of the trotts proclaim to having had food poisoning? Most of the time it is nothing of the sort, just made up nonsense they thought up after having read another page of their guidebook of myths. Get food poisoning and it’s not simply a case of running to the lavatory every half hour, instead you could be serving time in a local hospital.

Thailand: Greatest Urban Myths (Part 1)

Even for those who have never stepped a foot in the Land of Noodle Soup & Nose Jobs, chances are they’ve heard some classic Thailand myth worthy of an editorial column in the most sensational European tabloid. So worthy actually, that some of these urban legends have surfaced in such papers. But if you don’t read one in The Sun (UK), you’ll soon find a couple in some redundant second-hand guidebook, on trashy Internet forums, blogs written by 16 year-old school kids or daft videos on YouTube. However, the place best of all for enjoying Thailand legends are in the company of some know-it-all-farang at an expat pub or a hippy hangout who has consumed just that one too many Singha Beer. Yes, told by one those experts who after staying in Thailand for an incredible 6 months, believes he deserves an honorary doctorate in everything Thai.

1. Go to Prison for Stepping on a Twenty Baht Note

This certainly has to go down as one the longest-standing, most circulated and absurdist urban myth east of Europe. And what is peculiar is that when it is told or written is always a twenty baht note, as if you couldn’t find a pic of the King on any other banknote. The fact of the matter is the lese-majeste law in Thailand states that the act committed has to be done with ‘malicious intent’ ie… you would have to stamp on it and shout insanities before someone would pay any attention and call in the Boys in Brown. It does not refer to any foreigner fresh off the plane who on dropping a bank note, quickly steps on it before it flies off in the breeze.

2. You Can Hire a Professional Gunman for the Likes of 5,000 Baht

What a load of nonsense! One of those totally daft rumours told by expat wanna-be gangster farangs while sat on a barstool. And like ’20 baht note’ ‘5,000’ is the commonest fee you hear and read crop up. The only ‘gunman’ you are gonna find at a stupid price like that is some drug-crazed motorbike-taxi driver or any other complete low-life amateur whose only previous experience of shooting a gun was of a water type during the Songkran Festival. Then, ‘get what you pay for’, as soon as he gets caught by the cops, he confesses immediately to having been hired by you. According to Thai language sources which include plenty of interviews with former convicted professional gunmen, the real cost goes from 200,000 to 10,000,000 baht depending of course on the potential victim, ie… from your average conservationist to a wealthy and powerful politician. That price includes: the agent fee, an accomplice, investigation into routines/itineraries, total confidentiality if all goes wrong and a few months for the gunman and accomplice to stay in the jungles of Thailand or Cambodia etc… until the case dies down.

3. Thai Women Have to ‘Sell Their Body’ to Escape Poverty

Over my dead body. Any lady-of--the-night desperate to earn money can get a job in a factory and work her bum off for 6 days a week, 9 hours a day. With paid overtime at an average factory in the Central Region an employee, with no education at all, can rake in around 10,000 month. Many such damsels instead prefer to make a much easier living in the hope that they’ll go on to meet some rich sugar-daddy, regardless to whether they are married or not, who is going to transfer a big wad of money into their bank account every month. As for that sob-story of “I need money send home to take care family” academic Thai language studies have already proven that ladies-of-the-night save and send less money back home than other migrant workers of proper professions.

4. Civil Servants like Police, Soldiers & Teachers Get Really Low Salaries

Working permanently for the state is a dream job for many Thais. Salaries are low but only at the bottom of the ladder. Work as a civil servant for ten, twenty, thirty years and your salary will be very respectable by Thai standards. On top of that you can get interest-free loans, a nice pension, free accommodation, best social healthcare, retire at 55 and get plenty of other benefits. Salaries for civil servants have rocketed over the past decade or so. 10-15 years back the basic salary for a school director was around 30,000 baht, it is now in the region of 55,000. You’re average civil servant in her fifties rakes in about 30,000 a month. For a policeman with the rank of Sargaent-Major with 10 years experience, with a little danger money payment he will pull in around 20,000 plus – compared to 10-15 years ago, no more than 10 grand – same applies to soldiers. None of these salaries include possible ‘commission’ money. Compared to the West, such salaries are pittance, but for here in Thailand they are very decent indeed.

5. Getting Caught with Some Ganja is a Very Serious Crime

Getting caught smoking a reefer is about as equivalent to getting caught stealing a packet of crisps from a mini-mart. And I’m not joking! Being caught however with a kilo of it stuffed inside your rucksack at Suvarnphumi Airport is another matter of course. This myth has got around the backpacker scene so much that once a backpacker gets arrested on an island with a big Bob Marley on him, he falls into the hands of corrupt cops who wanna sucker as much money as possible out of him ‘in lieu of not serving the next few years banged up’. And such cops are renowned for their lying negotiation jargon. Even though it is possible the judge could give a first offender a very short stint behind bars, most instead get let off with a suspended sentence and a small fine (same as very petty theft). However, judges ain’t too chuffed with those who get caught again.

Follow-up blog post can be found at Thailand: Greatest Urban Myths (Part 2)

On Sunday, we went for an enjoyable bicycle ride in Bangkok. At first glance, this would sound like a crazy idea. But, it is amazing that after only a short boat ride across the Chao Phraya River, we were surrounded by lush green vegetation and almost complete silence. In fact, for most of the 25 kilometre route we cycled through jungle, along canals and down some side roads. There were only a few stretches that ran along major roads. The area that we visited has the nickname of "the lungs of Bangkok". Due to a giant loop in the river this area is virtually cut off from the mainland and access is limited. The only way to go there by car is over the bridge at the southern end. This crosses a short-cut canal which is centuries old. From Bangkok you can cross the river by boat from the Klong Toey Port.

There are many companies in Bangkok that can arrange cycle trips for you. You can easily find most of them by doing a quick google search for "Bangkok bicycle tours". We decided to go for Recreational Bangkok Biking. They are a very professionally run organization with quality bikes and talented guides. I was impressed with the information on the website and also the managing director, Andre Breuer, who quickly answered all of our inquiries. We decided to go for their "Colours of Bangkok" tour which runs twice a day at 8 a.m. and at 1 p.m. Unlike some of the other tour groups, Recreational Bangkok Biking limit tour groups to only eight. It is advisable to book in advance so that you are not disappointed. In theory, it does sound that the morning session would be cooler, but really, in Thailand, it is already maximum temperature by 8 a.m. So, just go at a time convenient to you. In fact, if you go in the afternoon you might find yourself with a smaller group.

The tour guide we had was called Mon and her English was excellent. In our group we had the full number of eight people. Andre gave us the briefing first telling us that we were about to see a side of Bangkok that not many tourists have ever seen before. He wasn't really exaggerating. The tour would take us to Bangkrachao in Phra Pradaeng District of Samut Prakan. I have explored this area half a dozen times already. But it was like I was seeing it for the first time. Going by bicycle not only lets you see things from a different viewpoint, but it allows you to go down narrow lanes and canal paths that aren't possible for cars. After the briefing, Mon helped us choose a bike and gave us some instruction on how to use them. It should be noted that these are not cheap bikes bought from Tesco Lotus. They are heavy duty bikes which are both comfortable and easy to ride. Before you set off on the tour you should take the time to familiarize yourself with the bike and gears and to make sure everything is in good working order.

Once were all ready, Mon led us off for our tour which would last about 4-5 hours. It may sound daunting to cycle for so long, but really, it is all flat in Bangkok and so you don't have to be a sportsman to join this tour. It was really easy going. We had regular breaks where Mon would buy us some drinks. I couldn't believe that after we got back she told us that we had cycled 25 kilometres! That just shows you how comfortable the bikes were. The office for the bicycle company is down a small lane off Rama III Road. Fortunately for us, Mon knew some back lanes so we were able to avoid the busy main roads for most of the time. We did have to cross the busy Rama III Road at one point in order to get to the boat, but luckily there was a subway under the road. At one point, Mon took us through some slums. Here, like in other places in Thailand, it is always amazing how people in mansions can live right next to slums. There is no segregation here and everyone lives in harmony. In the slums everyone was very friendly as we passed by down the narrow lanes. The kids shouted out "hello" or wanted to give us a high five.

One of the things that I was impressed about this company is their sterling efforts in giving back to the communities that they visit. In the case of the slums, they help sponsor one of the schools there. Over the years, they have helped to raise millions of baht in donations. They also use the services of people along the route, whether it is buying drinks or snacks or hiring a boat. This is responsible tourism at its best with a very low carbon footprint. After the slums, we ended up at the river where our bikes were loaded onto a boat for the crossing to the jungle on the other side. I always enjoy boat roads as it provides natural air-conditioning and grand views. Once on the other side we were back on the bikes and heading down narrow lanes and along raised concrete pathways that passed through banana trees and nipa palms. Our first stop was the hidden oasis of Sri Nakhon Khuankun Park. This is a lovely park tucked away in the middle of no-where. There is a lake here where we fed the fish. If we had time, we could have also rented a boat on the lake. From here we continued our journey around the artificial island. Our pace wasn't very fast and Mon allowed us to stop to take as many pictures as we liked. She even took us to an old temple and explained about the different buildings and Buddha images.

Lunch was pad thai (stir-fried noodles) at a river-front restaurant. This meal and all the drinks were included in our package price of 1,000 baht which I think was really worth it. Although you could come to this area with your own bikes, it would be advisable to join a tour for the first time to see what the place has to offer. It has certainly opened my own eyes to this region and inspired me to think about buying my own bicycle. There are definitely more areas to explore which you would need to do with a sense of adventure. This is because there are no maps and few signs. It would be easy to get lost without a guide. Obviously if you are in Thailand for a short time or even an expat, it is not always practical to have your own bike. You might want to consider taking one of their other tours. After all, a quality bike like the one I used on this tour would set me back nearly 25,000 baht. It would be cheaper to pay 1,000 baht for a tour or maybe rent a bike from them which costs from as little as 250 baht per day. I really enjoyed my morning on this tour. I was a bit tired by the end of the trip but I had already decided that I would love to join them for another tour in order re-discover another area of Bangkok. Bicycles certainly allow you to see familiar streets in a different light.

More information can be found at their website www.bangkokbiking.com. I have also posted more pictures in our Samut Prakan Photo Album over at www.paknamphotos.com.

When we talk about horse polo, we usually think of the colonials in places like India. I watched my first polo match in Gilgit in Pakistan about 15 years ago. It was a thrilling game played out on a dusty pitch surrounded on all four sides by enthusiastic locals. For me growing up, I saw it as mainly the chosen game of the British royal family and the elite. It is not the kind of sport that the average person could try due to the high costs of keeping the horses. That is why I was surprised that they not only play horse polo in Thailand but they also have dedicated grounds for this. At the weekend I went to watch a polo match at the VR Sports Club in Samut Prakan.

Polo was first introduced into Thailand during the reign of King Rama VII. He had organized a demonstration game played by English people from Penang. A polo club was later formed but it was mainly for the expat communities and the social elite in Thailand. However, the public started to show some interest when the Thailand team won a gold at the Asian Games in 1998. The Polo Association was founded in the same year and then went national in 2004 as the Thailand Polo Association. The major tournament held in Thailand is the Thailand Polo King's Cup which has teams attending from Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The game is played on a field which is 300 yards long by 200 yards wide. At each end there are two posts that act as the goal. In some ways it is like football but there are no goalkeepers. There are also frequent breaks. We were only three minutes into the the first half when the time was halted so that two players could leave the field to change their horses. In football, of course, it would be the players who would be changed. The match is also split up into 7 minute long units called a "chukka". The match that I watched had a total of 6 chukkas. Three in each half with a three minute break in-between each chukka. One final rule that I found confusing at first was that every time a goal was scored they would switch directions. So, you really need to pay attention!

It was a fast moving game despite all the breaks. I think for most of the spectators the day was more of a social event than a chance to watch the game. There were many hi-so ladies all dressed up with colourful dresses and outlandish hats. Many of the photographers there took more photos of the crowd than the horses in the match. After all, there were many top actresses as well as Miss Thailand contestants. Everyone who was anyone was there. For myself, I preferred watching the game from behind one of the goal posts. Though, as you can see from this photo you have to be quick on your feet as these horses don't exactly have brakes! I had to quickly jump to one side after this goal was scored.

I have posted some more pictures in our Samut Prakan Photo Album over at www.paknamphotos.com.