Thai Travels
Mae Sai / Golden Triangle / Chiang Rai / Chiang Mae / Sukhothai / Ayutthaya / Nakhon Ratchasima / Dan Khun Thot / Wat Ban Rai / Samphrang / Nakhon Pathom / Wat Lai King / Thai Human Imagery Museum
This page covers some of the places I've visited in Thailand since 1995. There are quite a lot of pictures, which may take a while to download. Never mind ( mai belai, mai pen rai ) you can be reading the text as they come down. I will start in the North and work my way Southward.
The Far North
I have visited Chiang Mai twice. My first impression was of a smallish, lightly industrialised city. As a Westerner, arriving there for the first time, I was disappointed that I did not land in a timewarp from the last century. As it turns out, this is similar in most large Thai towns.
Chiang Mai, like many other Thai towns, would not keep you interested for long as a casual tourist. If however you have special interests, it may appeal more. Is it worth a visit? Definitely yes! Partly for the history which it contains ( well concealed ), but mainly as a centre for getting to other nearby interesting places.
I took a tour through Chiang Rai to Mae Sai, on the border with Myanmar ( Burma ). While Thai's can cross the footbridge into Myanmar, without a visa, most other nationalities cannot ( this was a slight disappointment ). However traders in Mae Sai do a brisk business, selling Burmese artifacts and gems. Of course you have to be careful as to what is genuine and you are left wondering, what you would have paid the other side of the bridge.
From Mae Sai we made our way to the Mekong river, At the point where Thailand joins Myanmar and on the other side of the river is Laos. Not far to the North is China.
The View in the picture above is of the Mekong river, looking north from the 'yellow spot' on the indented 'Golden Triangle Map'. I took a short trip in small boat. It seems the main sport is to head North, ( so you are between Myanmar and Laos ) cross to the Laos side and speed Southward down the Mekong. Then when a group of people are spotted bathing, the engines are cut. You drift past them, camera's clicking and videos rolling. Having passed the bathers, the engines roar into life again, until the next group of bathers is spotted. After this bit of fun, you return to the Thai side, to the place where you boarded the boat.
Heading Southward
Sukhothai is another semi industrialised town. In this case the old city is some distance from the current commercial centre. The Old Sukothai is now a nicely laid out park ( pictures above and below ), with ancient Chedi sprouting up among the trees. It is where many people head for, to celebrate Loy Krathong.
Personally I preferred Wat Chet Thaeo ( below )
This is a little way to the North East of Sukhothai
As well as the remnants of an ancient town, there is a Wat and Chedi ( pictured above ) on a hill and some impressive Chedi and Monastery remains in the park below. The lower level Chedi is surrounded by statues of animals, which look like Siamese cats. Fortunately or otherwise, night was falling when I visited. Fortunately, this made it very atmospheric, especially when the moon appeared beside one of the Chedi. Unfortunately, my photos were insufficiently lit, to make them worth publishing on this page.
Towards Bangkok
I took the picture above at Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya is 4 - 5 hours drive South of Sukhothai and is about 1 hours drive North from Bangkok. Unlike Sukhothai, the ancient parts of Ayutthaya sit near the more modern present day buildings.
East of Bangkok
During 1997 I acquired a wooden carving of the Thai Buddhist monk, Long Paw Khun ( Phra Yan Wittayakhom ). He was especially famous, originally because of his smoking. I am now told he has given that habit up, for health reasons.
Having had Long Paw Khun's image in my home for over a year, I became very keen to visit his Wat. On 27th December 1998 I did exactly that.
I headed to Nakhon Ratchisima and was directed to Dan Khun Thot. Wat Ban Rai was not far away.
These days Long Paw Khun is more known for his generous donations to charity than his smoking. It is true that when you visit his Wat, there are plenty of opportunities to buy 'Long Paw Khun' souvenirs. However there is plenty of evidence that the proceeds from this, are being put to good use. Most noticeable is a large educational establishment at Dan Khun Thot.
I was very happy to discover that Long Paw Khun was resident during my short visit. I was among 2 - 3 hundred visitors. We knelt in two rows about three people deep, while he walked between, touching each person on the head with his bunch of sticks. He autographed various artifacts, including Long Paw Khun statues and sun visors, which people had detached from their cars.
I have to say that the visit to Long Paw Khun is one the most memorable of all my Thai travels.
West of Bangkok
Wat Pathom Chedi at Nakhon Pathom, above is believed to be the oldest Buddhist temple in Thailand. The large Chedi ( in the background of the photo above ) was built over the previous structure. A reconstruction of the original 'encased' Chedi stands in the grounds ( in the foreground of the picture above ).
Wat Lai King, near Samphran Elephant Ground contains a mural ( above ) which depicts the Wat Pathom Chedi. Stangely, there currently appears to be no river beside Wat Pathom Chedi, though there is one at Wat Lai King. Whether this was poetic license by the artist or there used to be a river at Wat Pathom Chedi, I don't know. Of course much of the land around Bangkok used to be underwater.
Near Wat Lai King, I was amazed to see this huge red 'tower of Babel' like structure, which a dragon had curled itself round. This also seems to be part of a temple of some kind. The picture I took above, does not give much of an impression of how massive this structure is.
Also in the same area is the 'Thai Human Imagery Museum'. This is like a waxworks. However because the climate is not suitable for wax, the Thais developed the art of making life like images from fiberglass. The picture above is of a display depicting a scene from 'Pra Apaimani' by the poet Sunthorn Phu.
The image above gives an idea of the degree of realism that has been achieved using fiberglass as a medium. As well as life size images of several famous Thai monks, the museum displays images of Ramas 1 - 8, several scenes depicting slavery and it's abolition as well as various Thai pastimes. Most people know of Thai Boxing, but few know about 'Bald Head Smashing'.
The museum can be found at:-
43/2 Moo 1 Pinklao-Nakhonchaisri Rd. (Km. 31) Kunkaew,
Nakhonchaisri
NakhonPathom
Thailand