Bangkok, Thailand – November 19, 20 and 25, 2010

We arrived in Bangkok late in the morning on the 19th and immediately started our touring. We went to the Grand Palace, which is just awesome with its gold colour and detailing, and to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. We got back to the hotel about 4 p.m. and then went back out again about 6 p.m. for a dinner cruise. Some folks went for expensive shopping in the two spare hours but I definitely wasn’t into that.

The Grand Palace was such a surprise to me. I had no idea what to expect but it was absolutely stunning. The complex covers over 218,000 square metres and is surrounded by four walls, 1900 metres in length. Over 100 buildings are included in the complex including the royal residences, throne halls and government offices. It showcases the architectural and cultural history of the country since the founding of Bangkok in 1782, according to one brochure. All I know is that every building was beautiful and I’m sure we didn’t see even a quarter of the complex. The Grand Palace is a symbol of the monarchy and is used for many royal ceremonies. Judging by the number of people around, it is also very popular with the tourists. There were so many buildings and so many people that it was almost impossible to get good pictures although I’m sure I took several hundred. Between the buildings there were statues and shrines and all of them were beautiful. I just don’t know how to even describe it but it really was overwhelming.

Many of the buildings were of a Thai design with sloped and slightly curved roofs and generally several layers at the front. Each of the edges was adorned with beautiful gold designs with ornate curves or horns or heads at the end. The fronts of the buildings were also heavily adorned in gold with blues, green, red or white as a background. The entrances were ornately decorated with statues and smaller structures, often also gold. Between the gold decorations there were often gemstones or glass of various colours. The gold colour was everywhere and even the large stupa was gold from top to bottom and it was surrounded by smaller bejeweled spires and towers. There were large decorated porcelain statues of men and animals guarding many of the buildings. On the buildings there were also carvings of decorations like men, elephants, monkeys, etc. There is a lot of marble around as well in the walkways, pillars and bases of the statues. It was very “rich” looking to say the least.

Some of the buildings are based on other cultures. For example the one room’s interior is similar to the Versailles Palace in France and the one building’s exterior is similar to Buckingham Palace in England. The murals in some of the buildings were also reminiscent of European frescoes. In total there are 178 panels depicting various real and mythical scenes from Thailand. The ones I saw were quite spectacular and with 178 panels, this is the longest continuous mural in the world. The complex also includes a model of Angkor Wat, which seemed rather strange at first. However, it turns out that over a hundred years ago Siam, now Thailand, ruled part or all of Cambodia including Siem Reap where Angkor Wat is located (Siem actually is Siam). In 1866, the King of Thailand sent two Americans to photograph the site, which is when the world first saw pictures of it, and then in 1867 he sent for a detailed description of Angkor Wat. From those details the replica was built and completed in 1882 on a scale of 1:1,000 so the people of Thailand could see the site for themselves. Apparently the replica is so detailed and accurate that when he visited Thailand the Prime Minister of Cambodia took pictures of it to help his people with the current restoration of Angkor Wat.

Wat Phra Keo or the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, which houses the 2,000 year old, 31-inch emerald Buddha, was closed so we didn’t get into that part. The King’s birthday is coming up on December 5th and some new statues were made in honour of the occasion. This was the day they were dedicating the statues so they could be sent to the communities around the country where they would be officially unveiled during the birthday celebrations. The King will be 83 I believe and he is obviously a very well respected and loved man. He is in the hospital at the moment and the hospital is on the river so the people sail their decorated boats past the hospital to keep the king entertained and let him know that they are thinking of him and wishing him well. There are pictures of the King and the Queen everywhere in the country but they are definitely from when they were younger. They say there are some older pictures too but we never saw them. The son who is to become king is apparently not well liked by the people or the government so they changed the law to let females become Queen and rulers. The eldest daughter currently lives in the US so they don’t know if she will come back when her father dies or if the son they don’t like will take over the position. The ones we talk to all want the daughter but I’m sure some of the people really aren’t in favour of a female in the position, especially one who hasn’t even been living in the country. It is also interesting to note that the King is actually a US citizen who was born in Massachusetts while his father was working or studying there for a few years.

Okay, back to the topic at hand, the Emerald Buddha, which some belief to have been built in 43 B.C. but lost for many centuries. In actuality the Emerald Buddha is made from green jade and it was discovered in northern Thailand in the 15th century. Apparently when it was discovered it was covered in plaster and when the plaster started flaking off the nose a monk thought it was green emerald and that’s how the name came about. Since that time it has been in the King’s possession. In the 16th century it ended up in Laos when the King of Thailand who was of both Laos and Thai royal heritage, went back to take over as King in Laos. It stayed there for over 200 years before coming back to Thailand and when the city of Bangkok was established the Emerald Buddha was placed in the Royal Monastery. The Royal Monastery serves as the royal private chapel but there are no monks in residence. Apparently the interior of the Monastery includes a beautiful altar, many statues and some beautiful wall murals and decorations. The Emerald Buddha is attired in three different outfits throughout the year to represent the changing seasons of hot, rainy and cool, which it supposedly is now even though the temperature is in the 90’s and it feels like over 100 according to the weather reports. Anyway, perhaps I’ll see this building on my next trip if the monastery is open that day.

The throne room was quite ornate but we weren’t allowed to take pictures in there so I can’t actually remember any details. We had to take our shoes and hats off but we were allowed in. I know there was a big high throne at the back and I think that was for the coronations. There was a smaller lower throne at the front and I believe it was the one used for receiving guests. There was a seven layered canopy over the thrones as well. I am going to have to start keeping notes in a journal because everything is starting to run together in my mind. I really don’t know what else to say about the Grand Palace except that it was a feast for the eyes, a wonderful surprise and very enjoyable. I’d like to go back again just to see if it’s as impressive the second time around.

Wat Pho, the temple compound containing the Reclining Buddha was built in the 16th century. The Buddha itself was built in 1832 and it is magnificent. The only problem is that the Buddha is very hard to get a picture of as it is so large (46 metres) and housed in a building not much bigger than it is. The building itself has wonderful murals or frescoes on the walls so it’s equally impressive. The Buddha is a beautiful shimmering gold (gold plated actually) and the face alone is 15 metres high. The feet, which are probably the easiest part to see, are three metres high and five metres long and the soles are inlaid with mother of pearl, although I have to note that I don’t remember that part and maybe didn’t even see it. I guess I was too busy trying to take pictures of the whole length of the Buddha – the best ones come from down by the feet. To view the reclining Buddha you take of your shoes and then just walk in one door, around the Buddha and out the other door and put your shoes back on. It was a pretty quick visit but well worth while.

We had a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River for our farewell group dinner. The dinner was very good but you really couldn’t talk as the engine and the music were so loud so there wasn’t much of a farewell dinner (unlike China where we had a separate room and a few short speeches about the trip and things that happened on it). However, the skyline of Bangkok is quite magnificent, especially when you pass places like the Grand Palace or some of the temples and even the new modern high rises. The boats on the river were also beautiful to see but I’ve got more on that below.

I can see the river from my hotel room at the Sheraton Royal Orchid and it is a very busy river. There are a few tug boats pulling large barges loaded with goods but mainly the traffic is just ferry and tourist boats. The ferries run regularly for the locals and, like in very city, sometimes they are almost empty and sometimes they are just packed full with many people standing. The tourist boats are small for quick tours or river crossings or slightly larger for dinner cruises or even larger for dinner and party cruises – and they all move very quickly. The party boats especially are decorated with bright lights and pictures. Some are decorated with neon lights like bright balloons and some like animals and they really are creative. Some even have huge video screens projecting continual shows. Even the smaller boats all have white or coloured lights all around their shapes. This all makes for a very festive river at night and the 21st of November, the day we are flying out, is the biggest festival of all – Loy Krathong day. It is the full moon and the Festival of Lights on the river which means the river will be especially beautiful. There will be floating lanterns and even airborne lanterns as people send their worries and cares away, which sounds like a great idea.

The next morning four of the remaining group members took a tour to the Damnden Saduak Floating Market and the Rose Garden. We left at 7 a.m. and returned at 5 p.m. so it was a full day. At the same time it was very relaxing and enjoyable with a pace somewhat slower than the previous few days.

We drove for about an hour to our first stop and boarded our longtail boats for what seemed like a very fast ride down very narrow canals that twisted and turned throughout the area. Along the banks of the canals you had two options: green vegetation or houses on stilts. Both options were varied with the first being tall trees, short trees, shrubs, grass, flowers, etc. and the second being little dilapidated wooden shacks, large older looking wooden homes or more modern-looking homes or businesses of various sizes and operation. Some of them looked like mansions and many of them looked like wonderful modern places to live. And almost every house we saw had a dock for one or two longtainl boats. Some were just docks where the boat could be tied but many were lifts with manual hoists to get the boat out of the water. Some of the houses were only a foot or two above the water level while others were ten feet or more above water level. I thought the water level seemed pretty high but the guide said that it was often much higher and would flood any nearby roads and walkways.

Our ride was a fascinating journey for about 45 minutes and very cool and relaxing. We were going so fast we couldn’t take pictures except at corners where we had to slow down. A longtail boat has a long fixed pole that sticks out the back and the motor is at the end. I guess that is the original of the longtail name. Bangkok and the surrounding areas have canals everywhere and were once known as the Venice of Asia. The walking bridges over the canal are high enough to allow boats to pass but most boats are very low so I guess the height of the bridges is really the highest expected water level plus 6 or 7 feet so the tallest man standing on a boat can get through.

We eventually got to the actual floating market and we knew we were getting closer as the number of boats on the water increased. Not only were there more longtail boats but there were also more boats full of produce and goods, as opposed to just tourists. People had fruit, vegetables, hats, purses, spices, souvenirs, art work and fast food ready to sell to anyone. The fast food boats were actually cooking and preparing the food right in the boat. Some had huge pots boiling away while others had sizzling grills. And you have to realize that the average width of a boat is only three or four feet and the length might be ten to fifteen feet. They do have a flat bottom, which makes them much more stable than a canoe of a similar size. At times in the main canal of the main street there were so many boats that the water just disappeared as it was bank-to-bank boats. The market was packed both on the water and on the land. Yes most of the people were tourists but there were a lot of locals as well. They were definitely the ones buying the produce and eating the food from the floating restaurants. The tourists were gravitating to the souvenirs.

The whole market was a scene of pure chaos and yet perfect harmony at the same time, if that makes any sense. To our western eye it was chaos and kind of like having hundreds of street vendors moving up and down a busy narrow street with people buying and selling all the time. But it works for these people because it is their way of live and they are perfectly happy bobbing around on their boats frying bananas for their neighbours to buy and hoping to purchase something different from their neighbours at the same time. When you live in houses on stilts on the water all the time your only way of getting around is by boat so why wouldn’t your business also be in a boat or at least in front of your house at the side of the canal? It makes sense and it certainly seems to work.

From the market we drove to the Royal Thai Handicraft Centre. This is mainly a wood-carving workshop and we got to see the carvers working as well as the finished products. Every product included intricate detail whether it was a large piece such as a cabinet or tables and chairs, or a small piece such as a picture or key chain. There was such depth and dimension in the carving that many of the items were three to four inches deep with forest scenes and animals. It was all very beautiful but most of the pieces I really liked were well out of my price range and way too big for my condo, let alone my suitcase.

At some point along the road we stopped where someone was selling sea salt. There are many ponds along the side of the road and these are required as part of the process of making salt from sea water, which appears to be a thriving business around here. The salt in the building was piled 6 to 8 feet high for storage. The harvested salt is washed and bagged into different sizes for sale. We didn’t buy any but it looks just like the sea salt on any store shelf in Kelowna.

We then tried to go to a certain temple and stupa but there was some big celebration or ceremony taking place and traffic was totally blocked in the area. After being stalled in traffic for many minutes we decided to just try and take a picture from the van and then keep going to our next stop, which was lunch. We went to the Rose Garden and had a delicious buffet with a great variety of foods available. The restaurant was in a beautiful setting and we sat right next to the window overlooking a lake and gardens and some traditional buildings. After lunch we had some time to wander around the garden and lake and river and the flowers were beautiful especially the orchids.

In the afternoon they present a cultural show. It started with trained elephants outside and they were entertaining, especially the one who quite obviously liked being centre stage. You could have had elephant rides too before the show but I’m saving that for in the jungle later. We then went into the theatre for the main Thai Village Cultural Show which was very colourful and enjoyable. The show is the longest running one in Thailand with over 16,000 performances over 40 years. There are over 150 cast members so that will give you an idea of the size. The stage was a typical large stage with a Thai village as a set – wooden houses on stilts and with thatched roofs. Then there were stairs down to the floor of the theatre and they had a huge performance area there as well which represented the town square. The seating was around the three sides looking at the stage and probably held several thousand people. They had a traditional orchestra that did a few numbers at the start and then accompanied many of the other numbers. The other numbers varied from song and dance to almost comedy routines and covered the main ceremonies held in a Thai village. These included choreographed martial arts and other self-defense activities like kick boxing and sword fighting, the welcoming or fingernail dance where the ladies all have long golden fingernails and move gracefully around the floor, the wedding ceremony activities that continue for the day, the ordination of a man into monkhood (most Thai males enter into monkhood for at least three months when they are young), the coconut shell dance where the ladies use coconut shells to beat the rhythm of the dance, the candle dance which is another graceful one by the ladies each of whom holds two lit candles, the harvest dance which is their Thanksgiving dance and incorporates various crop harvests, the bamboo dance where the people both male and female keep going faster and faster as they jump the bamboo poles that are being tapped on the ground, and the flag dance at end where the entire crew comes out and dances and waves flags from every nation. The whole show was very colourful and impressive.

We drove back to the city and our hotel. Sylvia and I went down to the dinner buffet and then for a quick walk along the river to see if there were any festival boats on the water but there weren’t many. She then left at 9 p.m. for the airport to fly home and I sat down to write some blogs. Tomorrow four of us are off for the tour extension to Chiang Mai and people tell us that is definitely the place to be to enjoy the Festival of Lights so I hope that’s true.

Okay, it was true. We had a great time in Chiang Mai and the Festival of Lights was enjoyable. However that’s in another blog. Now I have to report on my last day trip in Bangkok, one I did on the day the last of the tour people departed for home. I took a day trip to the Bang Pa-In Palace and to Ayutthaya and cruised back on the river. The cruise included lunch and was very good. There was an open deck on top of the boat but it was not covered so it was way too hot to sit out there for more than a minute or two. However, there were many windows in the lower area so I did get to enjoy the sights. My pictures just won’t be that great.

Bang Pa-In Palace is about an hour from Bangkok and it is the summer palace for the royalty. There are lovely gardens and flowers and many streams and ponds throughout the complex and lovely pathways and bridges as well. The one pond had huge fish in and we were each given a bun to feed to them. You’d think they hadn’t eaten in months and yet the last batch of tourists still hadn’t left. There are many buildings on the property and we only had an hour so we did a quick walk through with the guide and then had some time on our own to look around and take pictures. I climbed up the tower to get a better view but otherwise just wandered the pathways. You can’t go into the actual residence but other buildings are open. The first palace on this site was built in the 17th century but deserted with the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767. When discovered again in the 19th century it was revived and expanded in the 20th century. The present King and Queen still use the palace occasionally for receptions and banquets. There is an outer and an inner palace area separated by water, bridges and a gate with the inner palace reserved for the King and his family. In the inner court there are memorials to members of the royal family, many homes for the ladies of the court, the lookout tower and two two-stoey mansions: one recently rebuilt following a fire and one built in the late 19th century. One is a western style building while the other is a traditional Thai style building. I believe it was the latter that was rebuilt. The outer court contains assembly halls and residential halls and other buildings. The whole palace area is very peaceful and quiet so would be a great place for a summer retreat. The buildings are all lovely and in such a wonderful setting they all look fantastic.

Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand from 1350 until 1767 when the city fell to the Burmese and fewer than 10,000 of the 1 million population survived. There are many separate sites with ruins from Ayutthaya but we went to two main ones: Wat Maha That and Wat Phrah Sri Somphet. Some of the taller ruins you could see from a fair distance so it must have been quite a city in its time. Now entire complexes are almost totally in ruins with only a few buildings and walls and remnants of statues remaining. As a thriving city many palaces and temples and monuments were constructed. Now they are trying to piece it all together again. The heads of all the statues were cut off by the Burmese as they wanted to see if the statues were made of gold. Thus any statues that are still left are headless. At Wat Maha That the one head was left under a banyan tree and the roots of the tree have now almost totally surrounded it so that it looks like part of the tree. I wandered around these ruins but as nothing was specifically labeled it was hard to tell what each part had once been. It is a large site though and I can see how it resembled Angkor Wat in many regards.

As we drove down the highway we could see many other ruins and if all of them were connected at one time it was a truly large spot. Most of the ruins appeared to be built of small red bricks and heavier solid columns. There was a wall around the entire complex. The base pads for many sculptures or pillars still exist. The seven-tiered pagodas or stupa are the only forms that can be identified. Some of the original floor bricks still exist, as do many eight-sided pillars surrounded by brick. In some cases carved decorations can still be seen on the white solid pieces. Some of the towers or stupa are leaning heavily so I hope they can get them reinforced before they too crumble in disarray.

Wat Phrah Sri Somphet was much larger and more of the stupa are still standing and almost in their original form. Again the structures were built with small red bricks and large white slabs and columns. This compound seemed to have double walls and some really think ones at that. The outer wall had slatted windows like a fort and supposedly for defense. The complex was built in the 15th century and most of the stupas and towers are bell shaped. At the entrance (or exit) of the ruins there was a white temple that looked like a Church except for the edges of the roof. There was a golden Buddha statue in it, the Phra Mongkhon Bo Phit, which is almost 17 metres high. It was quite impressive.

Now to more generic details. Thailand has a population of over 64 million people and 10 million of them live in Bangkok. The country used to be called Siam but changed its name to Thailand in 1939. That reminds me of The King and I which was about a king in this country. One guide thought it was a wonderful movie and used it when talking about several locations. Another guide hated the movie and said it was banned in Thailand because it was so bad and so wrong historically. I’ll probably never know the true version but I’m quite sure Hollywood probably embellished a few of the details. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, which I think makes their King pretty similar in status to the Queen of England. You are not allowed to criticize the royal family over here so that is quite different than in England. 90% of the people are Buddhist and the simple belief is to give more and expect less or even give more and expect nothing. There are several Christian churches in the city as well as some mosques.

The country is doing well economically and expects an economic growth rate of 7.5% this year. They are the largest exporters of rice in the world even though they are only the third largest rice producer in the world. China and India both produce more rice but they need much more of it to feed their large domestic populations so have less to export. Vietnam is the fourth largest producer and second largest exporter although I think our Vietnamese guide told us they were the largest exporter. Did you know there are over 20,000 varieties of rice? Thailand grows 38 types and one of their most popular exports to North America is Jasmine rice. Other industries include cars are clothing. Tourism is very big and health tourism is a growing segment of it. They joke that they have three seasons of hot, hotter and hottest and I believe them. I’m just glad I’m supposedly here in just the hot season. The country borders Cambodia, Laos and Burma and has oceans on the east and west. Thus it is quite humid and subject to monsoons and tsunamis. Education is free for 15 years starting with kindergarten. Hospital visits are free but there was no mention of visits to doctors or medicines. Their alphabet is like Indian Sanskrit with 44 letters and I’m sure they said 33 vowels but that doesn’t make much sense to me.

Bangkok became the capital of Thailand in 1783, the fourth capital after Sukhothai, Ayuthaya and Thonburi. Scenes of Bangkok range from beautiful river scenes with high rises, fancy shopping centres and restaurants on both sides and boats going past to small outdoor markets and restaurants on crowded streets. Then from the crowded hot streets you move to beautiful large tree-lined boulevards and massive freeways. Homes can be expensive high rise condominiums or large fancy houses or smaller old or new houses or even just wooden shacks or lean-to’s with metal roofs. It is a city of contrasts but one where everyone seems happy and content. The people are very friendly and not at all pushy. They ask you to come in and look or to buy something but if you say no thank you they simply let it go or if you say you just want to look they leave you alone. I like that aspect. And they are very gentle people. Males and females all greet you with hands folded in front as if in prayer and with a smile and gentle bowing of the head. It’s just a very polite society.

And just before I end this one I am going to give you the official name of Bangkok. The word Bangkok that we know translates into the city of olives whereas their shortened name for the city translates into the city of angels. The official Thai name is rather long so most Thais just refer to it as Krung Thep or Krung Thep Mahanakhon. We can just be thankful they shortened it to Bangkok for the rest of us. At 265 characters this is the largest city name in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records and I’m typing it (obviously) so there may be a letter or two wrong but here it is. And I thought that city name in Wales was long!

“Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit”.