THAILAND 1998

In the April of 1998, I was lucky enough to return to the land of my birth, Thailand. Just the three of us went, my girlfriend Angela, my mother and I. We stayed for the entire month and were glad we did so because there were such sights to see.

We deplaned in Bangkok (the name meaning CITY OF ANGELS).
Bangkok is one of the major international metropolitan cities in the world and I'm afraid industry has taken its toll. The city was crowded, polluted and dirty. It did, however, have its own beauty if one but cared to look hard enough. The picture above was from WAT PRA GAEW. This temple housed the famed "EMERALD BUDDHA". The Buddha is a solid piece of jade that looked to be about 2 feet tall. It has three different dressings that is changed three times a year by His Majesty, the King of Thailand. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed or I would have gotten a picture.

Just prior to this temple, we visited WAT PHO where the "RECLINING BUDDHA" was housed. The gold "Reclining Buddha" is 46 Meters long with a face that was 15 meters high. Its feet alone were three meters high and five meters wide. Its feet were also decorated with mother of pearl depicting (as I am told) the "108 Auspicious Signs".

Here we also saw the wall of Buddhas. There was a collection of 150 Buddha statues on the inside and boasted another 244 on the outside. WHEW! That's a lot of gold leaf. They are now all encased in glass to protect them from the birds and the elements.

These temples also featured tall spires, called pagodas, that reached for the sky and were made up of tiny mosaic tile flowers. My Aunty Oiy said it took over two hundred years to build the spires ofWAT PHO, alone. Some of them easily reached 42 meters into the air.

From Bangkok, we traveled to my Uncle Bunchana's home in Sakhun Nakhon. My Uncle and Aunty are both schoolteachers and they have three children. In their town, we visited the open market and experienced small town culture. We decided to relax here for a few days. The movie playing at the local theatre was James Bond in "Tomorrow Never Dies". We were also able to visit the border of Thailand and Cambodia from here.

From Sakhun Nakhon we traveled to Chiang Mai, another major metropolis but not as polluted as Bangkok. It was in the city of Chiang Mai That we celebrated Sonkran. This is the Thai new year celebration. Monks are to bless devoted followers by sprinkling holy water on them and the people would bless each other in the same fashion. Of course, just like Christmas (or any other holiday, for that matter) here in America, the whole thing is blown way, way out of proportion! There were motorized pumps drawing water from the reservoir to hose down passers-by. Large drums were loaded into the back of pick-up trucks and filled with large blocks of ice to chill the water before it is dumped, squirted, sprayed and shot at revelers. No one was safe from the mêlée. We were all drenched and at one point, when Angela and I ventured off on our own, I had to wrestle with a blonde Frenchman who threatened to dump icy water over my head. Needless to say, he and I were both soaked. This celebration lasted for four days and would only end at seven o'clock at night.

OY!!!

Chiang Mai had the best shopping. Not only did it have street venders with the best prices but also had all the modern conveniences. We visited an internet cafe so that I might e-mail some friends of mine and stopped at a McDonalds for iced coffee. You could find just about anything you wanted here. Gold, silver, clothes (which comes in handy when you're soggy) silk, gems, etc... haggle for the best prices (this is expected but do so politely and with a bit of jovial humor) and be careful not to get taken by knock-offs and fakes. There are a lot of those as well.

From Chiang Mai, we also visited DOI SUTHEP which is a temple situated at the top of a small but steep mountain. What a climb!!! Here there was a glorious view of some of the Thai rain forest. Thailand was once 90 percent covered in rain forest but due to deforestation, there is now less than 20 percent. Logging has been outlawed in Thailand since 1989.

***MORE PICTURES OF INDIGENOUS FLORA***

We were also able to visit the border of Thailand and Laos from here. On our way there, we had the delight of running across an elephant conservatory.

ELEPHANT CONSERVATORY

Here they housed, fed, trained and raised money for the preservation of these beautiful beasts. They were so gentle. We fed them from our own hands and were able to ride them as well. That was a real treat!!! The man taking the money charged me more because he didn't believe I was Thai. (Undoubtedly because I am only half Thai but none the less) My mother was upset. He was very surprised and chagrined when I answered in his own language that "I didn't mind donating the extra money to the elephants and may I have a drink of his water or was that going to cost me as well?" *grins*
The archeological site of BAN CHIANG could be reached from here. An archeologist needing a topic for his thesis literally stumbled upon the site, thirty years ago and it became the unearthed proof that the indigenous civilization was far more advanced than previously thought.
The people of Ban Chiang sold beautiful pottery made of red clay and natural red paint.

Next was the trip up to Grandma's house. Did I happen to mention that I love ruins? On the way to Sakhon Nakon, we stopped at the old ruins of PHI MAI. PHI MAI was only the first of three. The other two were in BURI RUM where my grandmother lives.

This is a picture of Angela snapping photos of the PRSAT (RUINS) at the top of the mountain, in Buri Rum. It is called PANOM RUNG This was not an unusual pose for her for she snapped a picture of everything that didn't move (and of quite a few things that did!!!). She hates having her picture taken so I had to sneak this one.

There is also a PRSAT one block from my Grandmother's home. This one was called PRSAT MUANG TAM. I remember the serenity that would overtake me whenever I visited this site. You could almost feel the history in the stones, themselves. The ponds and their Lilly-pads were some of my favorite places to meditate. On this last trip, I found out that Thailand had launched a nation-wide campaign to draw tourism into the country. The old ruins that used to be free to everyone, were now a commodity. We now had to pay to get in. This campaign made it busier at the ruins, but they were no less beautiful.

***TO SEE MORE OF THE RUINS, CLICK HERE***

My Grandmother's home, the farm owned by my auntie Somlee, was not rich by any means but there was a definite feeling of closeness among the family and neighbors. It was a pleasure to return there, even if just to visit.

An interesting side note I have two cousins who are in the Thai Boy Scouts. I never realized there were Boy Scouts in countries other than the United States. You learn something new every day!

Another side note for all who wonder about this question and were afraid to ask ... NO MY FAMILY DOES NOT EAT DOGS AND CATS!

The cuisine was incredible, from McDonald's to Kentucky Fried Chicken and traditional foods. We didn't have to worry overly much about finding good restaurants because they had small carts everywhere where people set up their own little cafes. Exotic foods, fruits and vegetables, I especially loved the sweet stuff, and for those with wimpy stomachs, you could order the food in a range of spiciness from mild to Chernobyl!

I highly recommend this country for a long vacation!

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

LADY JIRA