Transcript A Visit to the Land of Smiles” The Kingdom of Thailand A

“A Visit to the Land of Smiles”
The Kingdom of Thailand
A Travel Article by Brian
for Travel Magazine
Ms. Plowman’s Class 2002
Day One
•
The Kingdom of Thailand is one of
the friendliest countries in the world.
Everywhere you go throughout this
exotic land you see friendly, smiling
faces. This is a great country for
young people to visit, as I will report
for Travel Magazine.
Day One
•
Thailand is the size of Texas and is
located between Burma Laos,
Cambodia and Malaysia. Thailand is
on the other side of the world, so it
takes a long time to get there. I
boarded the country¹s national
airline in Seattle and flew 15 hours
in a 747 jumbo jet before arriving in
Bangkok, the capital of Thailand,
and largest city. I ate three meals,
watched two movies and had two
naps on the airplane. When we
landed I was anxious to get off. As
soon as the door opened I felt a
warm blast of humid 80-degree air,
even at 11:00 at night! We went
through immigration and were
whisked away by taxi to our hotel. I
noticed a lot of families were on the
streets at this late hour.
Many were sitting outside in front of
small shops and eating at small
restaurants. I couldn¹t wait to explore
Bangkok.
Day Two
•
I woke up at first light and looked
out my glamorous hotel window.
The mighty Chao Phya River, the
“River of Kings”, flowed below me.
What a magnificent sight! Huge
barges filled with rice or coal
crawled slowly up the river. There
were long tailed boats skimming
across the water and I saw water
taxis carrying people from one side
of the river to the other. Bangkok
was huge; it stretched out in all
directions as far as the eye could
see! Dotted all around the city were
gilded temples or wats, and I could
even see the walls of the famed
Grand Palace in the distance.
Day Two
•
We ate breakfast outside on the
verandah by the river. My mom
thought it would be a good idea to
try a typical Thai breakfast. It wasn¹t
a good choice for me. It was a kind
of rice gruel with an egg floating in
it. My mother ordered fruit and I
shared her plate. There was
pineapple, watermelon, mango,
papaya and many fruits I have
never seen before like mangosteen
and rambutan, all beautifully sliced
and carved in different patterns.
Day Two
•
It was 8:00 a.m. and it was already
getting hot. February is supposed to
be a cool month, I can¹t imagine
what the hot season is like. We
started our sightseeing adventure
by river on our first day because it is
cooler on the water, and we can
avoid the famous Bangkok traffic
jams. We rented a long tail boat with
a guide for a half-day. Our driver
was named Prasert and he spoke a
little English. He liked to hydroplane,
skimming across the water at a
thrilling speed. The long boat
passed the slow rice barges using
the long motor for shallow
maneuvering. Our first stop was
Wat Aroon, the Temple of the Dawn.
Day Two
•
Prasert let us out on a platform near •
the temple and said he would wait
for us. The temple rose high into the
sky and glittered in the sun. As we
came closer we could see the
temple was made of small, shiny,
colorful ceramic tiles. We climbed
the steep stairs to the very top of
Wat Aroon. It was a beautiful view. A
Buddhist monastery was behind the
temple and I could see many boys
my age with shaved heads wearing
saffron colored robes. Buddhism is
the primary religion in Thailand.
Most boys spend six months to two
years as monks. They live in
monasteries and are taught about
Bhuddism and how to live a simple
life. All over Thailand
early in the morning they sit on the
ground before their living quarters
heads bowed while people line up to
put food offerings in their empty
bowels. To feed a monk is an honor
believed to bring good luck.
Day Two
•
Prasert was waiting for us as he
promised, and he sped us away at
high speed to see the Royal Barges.
It was interesting to see life along the
river. I saw beautiful flower markets
filled with orchids and roses of all
colors and we could smell the
fragrant lotus blossoms. There were
huge warehouses filled with teak
logs. There were ornate Thai styled
houses belonging to the wealthy next
to simple houses where children
bathed and brushed their teeth in the
shallow banks of the river.
•
Prasert maneuvered our boat
through Bangkok¹s canals to the
home of the royal barges. Bangkok is
known as the “Venice of the East”
because it was built on canals or
klongs.
We stopped at a large open building
and we stepped out to see the royal
barges. Two times a year at special
ceremonies the royal barges are
brought out from their river warehouse.
They are like giant, elaborately
decorated canoes. Forty men wearing
traditional Thai costumes oar the
individual boats in races on the Chyao
Phya River. They pass the grandstand
saluting the King and Queen of
Thailand with their oars.
Day Two
•
Our next stop was the magnificent
Grand Palace built in the eighteen
century. It looked just like the
elaborate palace in the movie the
“King and I”, which is actually
banned in Thailand for making fun
of the King. It is here that Thailand¹s
King, His Majesty Bhumibol
Adulyadez, meets heads of states.
Thailand is a constitutional
monarchy. It is run by an elected
parliament headed by the Prime
Minister who is elected by the King.
The King is a figurehead, but still
has a lot of influence in Thailand
and is loved by the people The
Grand Palace complex is spread out
on many acres. There are temples
with ornate gilded spires guarded by
exotic statues of mythical beasts.
There are many statues of Buddha,
which are covered in gold leaf. I liked
seeing the interesting murals painted
along the walls of the complex. The
murals tell the story of the life of
Buddha.
Day Two
•
I visited the Royal Chapel, which is
the home of the Emerald Buddha.
Everyone has to take off their shoes
and sit on the marble floors with
their feet crossed so as not point
their feet at the Emerald Buddha,
which is a sin. The Emerald Buddha
is smaller than I thought. It is only
about three feet tall and sits on a
golden altar in the front of the
temple. It is not really made of
Emerald but jasper. The Emerald
Buddha was wearing its winter coat.
Three times a year His Majesty the
King changes the robes of the
Emerald Buddha to reflect the
season. There is a scent of burning
incense, and many Thais pray and
meditate in this peaceful place.
We also visited nearby Wat Po
which is the oldest and largest of
Bangkok¹s more than 300 temples. It is
home to the huge Reclining Buddha, the
largest Buddha in Thailand.
Day Two
•
As we were leaving the Grand
Palace, I begged my mom to let us
take a thuk- thuks back to the hotel.
Thuk-thuks are fast, noisy open -air
three wheeled vehicles, She
relented and we had a crazy ride
through the famous Bangkok traffic.
•
We decided to eat dinner that
evening at the popular Sala Rim
Naam one of the six restaurants at
the Oriental Hotel where we were
staying. We wanted to see the Thai
Classical Dance show. We sat
crossed legged at the low tables
while waiters served us many
different kinds of delicious food.
Including sweet noodles curry and
prawns.
Thai food is very popular in the United
States so I was not surprised at many of
the flavors of the cuisine including
coconut, peanuts and coriander. I was
surprised at how much hotter and
spicier the food was here.
Day Two
•
Soon after dinner the lights dimmed
and musicians started to play music
using instruments I had never seen
before. They were woodwind and
percussion instruments. The
musicians sat on the floor and
played Thai classical music by ear.
Then the Thai classical dancers
appeared wearing elaborate
costumes and headdresses. They
danced and acted out stories from
the Ramayana the ancient Thai
story of good versus evil. There
were characters representing
monkey gods and princesses and
princes.
Day Three
•
The next day we went shopping hoping
to find some famous Thai bargains. Our
first stop was the Jim Thompson Silk
Shop. Jim Thompson was the American
who helped establish the Thai Silk
Industry in the 1950¹s. There were rows
and rows of brightly colored silks, all of
them hand-loomed and hand-dyed in a
mind-boggling range of colors, patterns
and weights. My mom purchased some
bright royal blue silk in an elaborate
pattern. A tailor took her measurements
for a custom made dress which would
be ready for a fitting the next day and
ready for pick up the following day.
•
•
•
•
– Next we visited many of the gem
and jewelry stores near our hotel.
Thailand is famous for its rubies and
sapphires as well as many other
precious gemstones. You can choose
from individual stones or beautiful
jewelry designs at great prices. My
mom bought some sapphire earrings
We visited many small shops selling
Thai handicrafts from bronzeware to
baskets, quilts to porcelains. There are
also many shops selling antiques such
as tapestries and puppets from Burma.
Day Three
•
At dawn the next morning we were
on our way to the floating market of
Damnern Saduak. The market is
about one hour from Bangkok.
People here live on klongs or canals
and travel by small boats from one
destination to another. The local
market is on the water where
vendors in boats sell everything you
could want. We arrived early so we
could enjoy the market before it gets
too hot. We arrived at the market
and hired a boat and driver so we
could wander among the klongs.
The waterways were crowded with
boats paddled by women with their
unique wide brimmed Thai style
straw hats for sun protection. The
boats were laden with all sorts of
things to sell from beautiful orchids
to fruits and vegetables.
•
There were boats selling noodles,
fried bananas, fresh coconut milk,
dried fish, and rice. It was very
colorful and I took lots of photos.
•
There was even one boat brimming
with durian fruit, the most infamous
fruit in all of Asia. I saw many signs
in Thailand saying no durian
allowed. People say that a ripe
durian tastes something like a
banana but it smells terrible, like
Limburger cheese. I don¹t think I
want to try one.
Floating Market Bangkok
Day Three
•
•
It was interesting to see life along the
klongs. Many children waved to us as
they paddled to school on the narrow
waterways. We looked inside one
school, which had its doors wide open,
and we could see young children
reciting the Thai alphabet. We passed•a
wat and we could see monks in their
orange robes sitting on the floor
humming in unison. A small boat came
alongside in which the driver cooked us
some delicious Thai noodles, or Phad
Thai.
Once, the only way to get there from
Bangkok was a trip of several weeks on
elephant back or an exhausting river
journey. In the late 1920¹s a railroad was
built, but today it is only a one-hour flight
by air.
Chiang Mai is known for its slower way of
life. We rode on a bicycle pulled cart
through the city to visit the handicraft
areas. One area makes lacquerware;
another produces big, brightly colored
paper umbrellas. We visited silk weavers
and I saw silk moth larvae being fed
special leaves. When they got big
The next morning we left exciting
enough, they would begin spinning their
Bangkok for a visit to northern Thailand
silk cocoons. In another part of town we
and the slower paced city of Chiang Mai.
watched silversmiths hammer out bowls
Chiang Mai was once the capital of a
that look as thin as tissue paper. We
kingdom called Lanna or “Land of the
visited a Thai celadon pottery factory.
Million Rice Fields”.
Celadon bowls are light green or blue in
color and they have a cracked glittering
glaze.
Day Three/Day Four
•
In the evening Chiang Mai has a
night bazaar that is very interesting.
Hill tribe people from all around the
area come to the market to sell their
wares. Each tribe has their unique
costumes. I bought some jewelry at
one stand of the Karen tribe. I think
the jewelry is made from the horn of
a water buffalo. My mom bought a
quilt and a wall hanging.
•
The next morning we took an
excursion out of town to a traditional
Thai logging camp and elephant
training center at Chang Dao about
40 miles away. Elephants are still
used today to move teak logs from
the dense jungle areas of northern
Thailand to the rivers.
At the camp, the mahouts or keepers
train the young elephants. The elephants
lumber down to the river every morning
for a bath. They are like mischievous
children. Sucking up trunkfuls of water to
drench their mahouts. We watched the
older elephants demonstrate how to roll,
pull and lift logs. I even got to feed a
baby elephant some bananas.
•
Day Four
Our next adventure was a short trek on •
elephant back. We took a 1 ½-hour trek
through the jungle, passing through
bamboo, mango and litchi trees as we
stomped up a jungle creek bed. I sat in a
creaking, swaying box behind the
mahout who sat on top of the elephant
behind the ears. Along the way the
mahout taught us how to say hello, a
little, and thank you in Thai hello is
Sawasdee, a little is nit noi, and thank
you is kap khun krap. The elephant
walked slowly through the jungle on our
way to visit a hilltribe village of the Lisu
people. The Lisus live in a small village
with a single row of open houses. There
is no running water or electricity. There
are pudgy pigs running around like pets.
Chickens and roosters wander through
the houses.
A few children are playing soft music on
bamboo flutes. On our return to the hotel
we stopped at the famous temple of Doi
Suthep on Suthep Mountain overlooking
Chiang Mai. It was built in 1383 to house
a relic of Lord Buddha. It is said that to
find the perfect site the local King
released a white elephant, which walked
all the way up the mountain, circled one
spot three times, trumpeted his
satisfaction then knelt down. A tower of
gold in the courtyard of the temple stands
to this day to mark the spot. It is a festival
day and there are vendors making special
foods such as banana fritters. Other
vendors offer wicker baskets of caged
little birds. I buy a basket with a bird and
set the bird free for good luck.
Day Four
Day Five
•
From Chiang Mai we flew to the south
of Thailand to the tropical island of
Phuket. Phuket is a beautiful coralrimmed island of rolling hills and
jungles resting on the waters of the
Andaman Sea. It is now a popular
tourist attraction. The first thing I
noticed as we were landing was how
bright blue and clear the water was. I
couldn¹t wait to go swimming!
•
On the way to the hotel we saw
plantations of coconut trees. We
watched as men urged monkeys to
climb the tall trees and throw down
their harvest of ripe coconut fruit. We
saw rice paddies with water buffaloes
standing
in the water and on the shoulders of the water
buffaloes were little orange birds. Rubber
plantations and fields of sugarcane cover large
tracts of the island.
Day Five
•
We arrived at our hotel which was
right on the beach and I wasted no
time in putting on my swim trunks
and heading for the water. I swam
out a short way and was amazed at
the coral that was so close to the
beach. Swimming around the coral
were brightly colored tropical fish
including angelfish and parrotfish. I
ran out of the water to get my fins
and snorkel and I spent the rest of
the afternoon exploring the coral
reefs to watch the interesting sea
life including groupers, sea rays and
schools of small fish of every
imaginable color and shape. We
feasted on seafood that evening,
including huge Phuket lobster and
crab.
Day Six
•
We took a boat the next morning to
see the unique limestone rock
formations near Phuket which were
once featured in a James Bond
movie. The amazing green cliffs rise
straight out of the sea for hundreds
of feet. We visited nearby sea caves
and saws hundreds of swallow-like
birds build their nests on rock walls
on the caves. Their nests are made
with the bird¹s saliva. The Thais
harvest the nests of these birds to
make bird nest soup, a delicacy in
Thailand.
•
On our return to Phuket we visited
the Sea Gypsies who are Muslim
fishermen who have built their
houses on stilts on top of the water
beyond Phuket Island. There are
about 50 houses and buildings on
stilts.
Day Seven
•
The next few days were spent
relaxing on the beach with a few
visits to Phuket town and a
sightseeing trip to the nearby jungle
of Ton Sai National Park. It was
eerie hiking in the dense jungle with
waterfalls cascading into jungle
pools and strange sounds of
animals I couldn¹t recognize.
Day Eight
•
We returned to Bangkok after a few
days in Phuket and the following
day we were on another 747 back to
Seattle.
•
I will never forget the exotic sights,
sounds and smells of Thailand.
Most of all I will never forget the
friendly people who always greeted
me with a “wai” and the word
Sawasdee or welcome to the “Land
of Smiles.”
TRAVEL TIPS
Getting There
•
Getting There: The best way to get
to Thailand is by using the country¹s
national carrier, Thai Airways
International. The airline has great
package deals from locations
throughout the United States. When
you board Thai Airways 747 jumbo
jet, it is like you are entering the
country of Thailand. Airhostesses
wearing traditional Thai silk dresses,
which were chosen by the Queen
greet you with an orchid and a “wai”;
their hands folded in a prayer like
gesture that bids you welcome.
Where To Stay
•
The best hotel to stay at in Bangkok
is the exotic Oriental Hotel on the
banks of the Chao Phya River.
There is a lot of history at this
beautiful hotel originally built in
1800. It was the only hotel in
Bangkok at the turn of the century
and many rooms have been named
after the famous authors who have
visited the Oriental. Including
Somerset Maughm, Joseph Conrad,
Mark Twain, and Tennessee
Williams. It has two swimming
pools, a workout room and six
restaurants. One of the restaurants
has a Thai Classical Dance show.
Ask for a room with a view of the
river.
When To Go
•
When to go: Thailand¹s climate is
ruled by monsoons resulting in three
seasons: rainy (June to October),
cool and dry (November to
February), and hot (March to May).
There are also extremes in weather
from 95degrees and humid in April
to 70 degrees in December. The dry
season is the best time to go from
November until late April. From May
to October there is a shower most
mornings and sun in the afternoon,
occasionally there are days of
pouring rain. The cool season is
from November to February.
What To Wear/Local Customs
•
What to wear: Thais are
• Local customs: Never touch a Thai¹s
exceptionally friendly, polite and
head or point your feet at them, this is
modest. While they make
considered extremely impolite. If
allowances for tourists, women
someone “wai¹s” to you ( greets you with
should not wear shorts in public.
hands together while bending their head
Generally dress is informal and only down) it is proper to return the gesture.
the fanciest hotels and restaurants Instead of saying Sawasdee for hello or
require men to wear a jacket.
goodbye, men should say Sawasdee
Because of the heat and humidity of krab and women should say Sawasdee
Thailand, loose clothes made of
Ka. It is a small gesture but infinitely
cotton and natural fabrics are best. more polite in a country that values such
Bring comfortable shoes.
gestures. Proper behavior is especially
important at temples. You must remove
your shoes before entering a wat or
building that contains a Buddha image.
You can sit on the floor of the wat but
with legs folded under you so as not to
point your toes at anyone. Women must
never enter the monks¹ quarters, nor
hand anything to a monk.
Bibliography
Bond, Jean. “The Kingdom and I.” Town and Country
December1997: 190-196.
Cummings, Joe Thailand A Travel Survival Kit. Victoria, . Lonely Planet, 1982.
Mitchell, John. A Taste of Thailand. Hong Kong: Asia Books, 1982.
“Thailand” Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Office 98
Macintosh Edition. 1996
Warren, William, Thailand Seven Days in the Kingdom.
Singapore: Didier Millet, 1987.