Celebration Bangkok Style

Last weekend was the King's Birthday. For the Thai people it is a major celebration and for all of us it meant a day off on Monday!

It was the King's 82nd Birthday and there were events all over the city and crowds of people everywhere.

The centre of most of the celebrations was the Democracy Monument, which also happens to be the location of most of the protests against the Government that you see on TV.

The crowds were dressed in pink. Not quite sure what the significance of that colour is. The King is highly revered and deeply loved in Thailand as well as being respected throughout the world for all the good things he has done for the people of Thailand.

Bangkok has also been adorned for the last few weeks in Christmas decorations.

The celebration of Christmas is all about appealing to the Thai's love of consumerism - you wont find any reference to the true meaning of Christmas - a lot like back home really.

I even spotted Santa Claus - don't know how he can stand being dressed up in the suit in this climate!

The shops are always crowded in the big department centres and malls of the city, even more so at this time of year. The three photos below show some of them.

Well as I head back to Australia for Christmas, that will be it for the blog for 2009. I'll be back next year!

The Chao Phraya River

With it's headwaters in the mountains of Northern Thailand, the Chao Phraya is the main river in Thailand.

The river flows over 350km, through the heart of Thailand's central plains, the nation's food bowl.

It arrives at Bangkok with only 40km left in it's journey to the Gulf of Thailand.

The river is always brown, from the silt it picks up along the way.

Through Bangkok the river meanders back and forth and flows rapidly past the city. Add to that the strong tides and it can be quite difficult to navigate and it can be a little tricky to get on and off the ferries.

There is a real assortment of structures along it's banks, from the old to the new, but the main thing you notice is that the river is always alive with activity.

It is certainly one of the nicer places to be in Bangkok, with the cool breezes that blow off the water.

A ferry ride or a cruise on the Chao Phraya is certainly one of the highlights of a trip to Bangkok!

Wat Arun

With its 80m high 'prang' towering over the Chao Phraya River, Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, is my favourite temple in Bangkok.

Wat Arun was built in the early 19th Century during the reigns of the Kings Rama II and III, when the capital was located on the temples side of the river, opposite to where it is now.

The construction of Wat Arun is a little different to most of the other temples in the city, with the surface covered in colourful pieces of broken porcelain from China.

Apparently the bits of crockery came from the ballast of ships that were visiting the city to trade. An early example of the benefits of recycling!

The little pieces form beautiful designs such as flowers and shells and is incredibly striking both from a distance as the sun reflects of them at all angles as well as upclose where you can appreciate the craftsmanship.

It is a steep climb, but the view of the river and the city that awaits you makes it well worth the effort. It is truly spectacular.

Combine all this with the various unusual statues and figurines, the cool breeze that blows off the river and the grassy areas and trees of the surrounds and you have an amazing, special place worth visiting over and over again.

My Walk Home

Each afternoon after school I get on the shuttle bus which transports us from RIS out to the main road, a distance of about 3km. You can see the shuttle on the right of the photo at the top of Soi 184 that runs out to the school.

The walk home takes about 10 minutes and goes through a busy section of Ramkhamhaeng Road, with lots of shops, stalls and activity.

The motorbike is a popular form of transport and one of the first shops is the motorbike dealer. New bikes start at about 30000 Baht, around $1000. The motorbikes share the footpath with pedestrians so you have to be careful they don't run you over.

There is a covered market on the way home, which is a good spot to get fruit and vegies as well as a variety of other household items and clothes.

The food vendors are next along the street, the smells of the cooking  making you hungry. I often pick up barbequed chicken from here.

There are lots of other stores including pharmacies, hardware, hairdressers and even a comic store.

I then turn off the main road and into the street that runs down to the entrance of my mooban. The S&P restaurant specialises in cakes and the coffee is pretty decent.

The entrance to Parkway Chalet Village is a tree-lined street

Just before I arrive at my soi there is a pretty little park.

Finally I arrive at my soi and I am home!

Samut Songkram Province

About 50km south-east of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand is the province of Samut Songkram. I went with another teacher from Ruamrudee on a day trip organised by the Siam Society.

First stop was the Railway market. As you can see in the photo, the pathway through this part of the market is a railway line - which has a train come through a few times a day. All the stallholders have to pack up and move their items off the tracks, let the train past and then set up again!

In Thai markets, it is the smells that are most foreign. I don't think I will ever grow to get used to the smell of dried fish which is very popular and for sale everywhere. The fresh fish and crabs in the next photo have a strong enough odour as it is.

Our next stop was a small floating market where the shops are the boats.

We were very fortunate to visit the home of the leading craftsman of the Thai fiddle. The fiddle is constucted from a rare type of coconut and the highest quality fiddles can go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. We were treated to a brief performance as you can see below.

Not only does this man make and play the fiddle, he also teaches others how to play. Some of his proteges are sitting in the background above and are practising an item for an upcoming concert below.

The house was in a beautiful garden and orchard; a nice place to sit and relax.

We then moved on to have lunch on the river and then after lunch took a trip down the river, passing traditional homes on the banks.

Our final stop for the day was the town of Amphawa, which is very popular with the residents of Bangkok who make the trip on a Saturday night to shop in the market and enjoy the fresh seafood on the river. It was a very crowded place but an interesting end to the tour.