Caves and Houseboats

As it creeps up on April, the hottest month of the year in Thailand, there are a couple ways to escape the heat: water and caves. These pics are from Kanchanaburi province and the famous "River Kawai". The six-eight cylinder "longtails" pulling the houseboats rumble up and down the river, most with a modified pipe as a muffler. The only thing louder are the high-powered PA systems that send ripples through the canyons.

This is another fine example of using noise pollution as a marketing tool to draw participants in Thailand. Besides meditation, it seems noting is done quietly in the Kingdom. Follow your ears to the action... literally at any time of the day! Between the searing heat, unrelenting smoke of burning season, and the ear shattering noise from PA systems in every nook and cranny, the festive summer holiday season can be trying times for many foreigners living in Thailand.

My plan to escape north, to the mountains of Chiang Mai, were dashed when the Bangkok Post reported the International Airport had to turn on the runway lights, in mid-day, because of the blanketing smoke.

Ahhh... Amazing Thailand.

Khao Yai National Park

Procrastination has kept me from two things, updating my blog site and visiting Khao Yai National Park. This post now catapults me back into the world of travel writing, my hobby that has recently been lost in the working world.

About two hours away via scooter, or motorcy as they call it in Thailand, is Thailand's first national park. While two hours can not be constituted as an expedition, it is a bit challenging to make your way out of the congestion of suburban Bangkok. So therefore, to bolster my own self-worth and pride, I will think of it as a mini solo expedition.

Conquering the smoke belching trucks and rule-less streets heading towards the mountains, the air quality drastically improved after entering the park. It is a steady climb to the top with several waypoints to see waterfalls, wildlife and viewpoints. As always, morning is the time to beat the crowds. Even though on the outskirts of a population of 10,000,000 inhabitants, I had Thailand's largest park mostly to myself before 10 AM.

When life gets busy, sometimes it is easy to forget how a couple hour drive can totally change your environment and mood. It is always a gift to get back to nature, and let the worries fall off like the leaves of a tree... as John Muir once said.

Thai Art - Khon Masks

Many who visit Thailand return home with a "Khon Mask". These highly detailed masks are used in traditional theatrical performances originally created for the Royalty of Thailand. These performances began during the Ayuttaya period and are still performed today in cultural centers and periodically seen on Thai public television stations.

The masks will also appear in the more trendy pop-music stage performances, which seem to have captured the interest of nearly all Thai people in recent years. These Vegas-style stage shows, with live bands and beautiful girls and boys in extravagant costumes, can be regularly seen on television and live in cities and towns across the Kingdom.

Temple Fish

The Chao Praya river snakes through the central plains of Thailand passing the historic town of Ayuttaya before twisting through the center of Bangkok proper. The central plains, with Bangkok lying in the center, contains about half of Thailand's 50 million inhabitants. The Chao Praya river is a main artery hosting barges and tugboats carrying an array of goods from Thailand to the far reaches of the globe.

Between the large manufacturing plants, and ramshackle residential houses propped strategically up on high stilts, various temples hug the shores which are increasingly being overrun by water hyacinth. The invasive species was imported to Thailand by a former Queen hoping the water plant would grace a royal garden or two.(a story I have heard told several times but never officially confirmed) Today, the water plant clogs many of the canals and rivers deeming them virtually useless.

Many people come to the riverside temples to make merit to the Monks and the fish. It is believed that giving to the temple, or Monks in general, constitutes good karma and therefore a more prosperous life and afterlife. Along with this ritual, people also make merit by feeding the fish at the riverside temples. Since non-killing is considered one of Five Precepts of Buddhism, the fish congregate near the temples where they are well-fed and free from fishing practices.

Japanese High School Robot Club

Other than the Thai stations, cable TV in Thailand offers of a wide variety of stations from around the globe. While surfing I usually click to the Japanese station, which is mostly broadcast in English. I watched an interesting documentary about a Japanese High School robot club. To the best of my recollection this was their motto.

Change your mind and you can change your actions.
Change your actions and you can change your habits.
Change your habits and you can change your character.
Change your character and you can change you destiny.

Change

Making the transition from the northern hills of Thailand to one of the largest cities in the world requires time. Time to adjust to the culture of the city.

It is virtually impossible to go anywhere outside the Thammasat University campus without embarking on a major, and usually cluttered, highway. While this is by no means unordinary by Bangkokian standards, it is a bit unnerving to a Farang (Westerner) who, for the past few months, spent much of his time riding around in the sparsely inhabited mountains and valleys of Northern Thailand.

A long time ago, while bartending in Flagstaff Arizona, an old-timer told me that the key to success in life is one must be able to accept change. Everything changes. He had lost his wife, moved several times for business around the country, and at that moment was newly retired. Whether it be self-imposed, or simply a product of life, change is inevitable. They key is the ability to adapt to this change.

One of the beautiful things in life is change. Without change life would simply be one day ticking past the next with no real means of measurement. Even for the Buddhist Monks of Thailand, living only in orange robes and on the handouts from the lay-people, living in the same monastery year after year, days are measured by change. The goal is to change the mind. It constitutes years of effort to change the mind from discontentment to contentment, no easy task. It is about change.

So, from the days of building log homes in the rural mountains of Colorado, climbing around on the massive trusses in the crisp cold clear air gazing at the snow-covered peaks, to teaching English amidst the buzzing smoke-belching highways of Bangkok, once again change has come. From my twenty-something days to my forty-something days, change has come. And for the handful of people that read this blog, I know change has come – I hope everyone is adapting well.

Sand Temples

The Songkran Festival celebrating the Thai New Year is not just a one day event, it lasts nearly an entire week. If you don't like getting wet, you won't like Songkran. Everywhere you go, I mean everywhere you go, people will douse you, and your scooter or car, with water. From high powered squirt-guns to full garbage cans, the various modes of drenching spares nobody.

Songkran is also a festive event at the temple. Many, like this one in rural Northeast Thailand, have "sand temple" competitions. The temple parties last most of the day and well into the night. Oh yea... you may get wet.

Thammasat Rangsit University

Thammast University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Thailand, smartly purchased the entire site of the 1998 ASEAN Games. The large campus sits on the northern outskirts of Bangkok adjacent to the main highway which runs north to Chiang Mai. This is my 125cc Honda Wave in front of the main football (soccer) and track and field stadium.



Two of the nicer buildings at Thammasat Rangsit University.




To deal with the searing sun and tropical rains, covered walkways connect almost the entire campus. One side is a walking lane and the other a bike lane.



These twin indoor stadiums held several events such as badminton, volleyball, basketball and ping pong. Students now mainly use them for badminton and ping pong.

Ordinary Average Guy

Why do so many guys wait anxiously for the yearly Bangkok International Motor Show? To see all the latest models, of course.

Sky Train

How does a foreigner get around in a city estimated over ten million people? Mass transit. The BTS, or "Sky Train", can take you to most of the key centers around Bangkok, Thailand's capitol city. The Sky Train links to many of the major subway and bus stations. With a good map and an adventurous spirit you can explore a concrete culture that is unique to the world. A city where you can experience world class shopping and dining in a modern high-rise, and just around the corner see tin shacks littering the banks of the many canals. You can meditate in a ancient Buddhist temple, and then walk down the street to a brothel touted as a Karaoke Bar. Ahhhh... Bangkok!

Laos and Language

The international bus from Mukdahan to Savannakhet takes just under an hour. The two towns sit on the Mekong River directly across from each other. A couple years ago the new “Friendship Bridge” was built to connect Thailand and Laos. Someone described Laos and Thailand as having a brother/sister relationship - Thailand seeing themselves as the big brothers.

It seems Laos, colonized by the French, has gotten the short end of the stick in Southeast Asia. Alongside Cambodia, the people have mostly endured hardship in the recent past. But around 1000 years ago, before the colonial borders were drawn on a map, the area that is Laos today was part of the Angkorean empire that dominated much of the Southeast Asia peninsula.

Today, Laos may be on its way back due to a growing tourist industry and relatively improving economy. Many young backpackers and travelers now chose to visit Laos in order to escape the engulfing westernization of today’s Thailand. Many describe Laos in comparison to Thailand 30 to 40 years ago.

I was applying for a visa in Savannakhet when I met an interesting young lady. She had a small photo shop set up in a ramshackle structure taking visa-size photos for people who were passing through the Thai consulate. I wasn’t very confident when she sat me down behind the thatched bamboo divider to take my picture, but it was going to be an easy transaction since she spoke clear English.

After the third take, in three minutely different positions, she was finally satisfied. I walked up to her aging computer to take a look just as she dropped the picture into Photoshop. In a matter of a few seconds she adjusted the colors and tone, took the shine off my sweaty face, artistically removed the strap from the bag over my shoulder, and moved me around in the frame to a perfectly centered position. Now I was impressed.

I asked her if she was from Laos, and yes she was. I asked her how she got so good at speaking English, and she insisted her English wasn’t very good. She told me she was much better in French and Vietnamese because she couldn’t write well in English – Thai was easy because it is very similar to Laotian. She spoke five Languages, now I was even more impressed.

While my six passport-size pictures were printing, She told me she looking to get out of Laos. I asked her where she wanted to go? Vietnam. There is much more money to be made in Vietnam she told me. Her sister was in Vietnam and she was going to join her soon, hopefully. And truth is, even for English instructors, there is good money to be made in Vietnam.

She was happy. She was talented, especially in language. She had many people around her shop that day and her small business was doing well. There are so many talented people in the world; this is just one fine example.

Visa Across The Mekong

One of the requirements for teaching English in Thailand is - you must enter the country on a “non-immigrant B” (business) visa. To get the non-immigrant B visa you are required to have an official letter from the school you will be teaching for, and, present the letter to a Thai consulate in another country. This requires foreigners who have the inappropriate visa to leave Thailand, then return, before they are able to get the necessary work permit to legally work in the country. Most common, this means a trip to Laos, Cambodia, or Vietnam. For me it was a trip to Savannakhet, Laos.

I needed to get to Mukdahan, the Thai border town just across the Mekong River from Savannakhet. I opted against taking a flight, which is the easier, faster, but more expensive way to get to Mukdahan. Instead, I would travel by local bus. This venture required a seventeen-hour ride including three transfers. So, as the sun set in the smoke-filled air, (it is currently burning season) the large bus swayed from side to side leaving the small streets surrounding the bus terminal.

The route would take me through Northeastern Thailand, or what is known as Issan. (pronounced “ee-sawn”) As far as tourism is concerned, Issan is one of the lesser-beaten paths. In the northern reaches of Issan, mountains dominate the landscape. As you head further East and South, towards the Mekong River, the land levels off and water buffalo still outnumber tractors. It is not uncommon to see the large beasts knee deep in mud, pulling a wooden plow, preparing the flooded rice fields for planting.

After the long ride I stepped off the air-conditioned bus into the hot air and crawled onto the tuk-tuk (a colorful modified motorcycle with 2 rear wheels and covered seating for 3-4 people) I stretched my back and realized I had survived the marathon ride. The tuk-tuk dropped me off at the Submukdah Grand, one of the nicest mid-priced hotels I have encountered in Thailand. For 500 baht, or about 14 US dollars, I laid down in a quiet room that was so clean it sparkled. When you find a clean place like this in Thailand, after a long journey, you feel like you just hit the lottery.

Boats from all over East Asia travel the Mekong, making Mukdahan a trade center. The pleasant and attractive small town, about 40,000 strong, is known for it’s riverside Indochina market. There is an endless string of shops selling everything one could possible imagine. Here you can buy fingernail clippers, bug zappers, steering wheel covers, cleavers, underwear, toys, musical instruments, rugs, bamboo birdcages, key chains, sunglasses, cooking supplies, candy, scarves, jewelry in all shapes and sizes, hats, and anything else you could possibly imagine. If you need a widget or gadget, with a little searching, you can find it here.

Later that evening I listened to the shops shutting down. I watched young boys learning to break-dance on the pier, bugs swarming around the large street lamps, and the lights from small fishing boats flicker on the water. It was a warm summer evening in Southeast Asia when the full orange moon rose slowly over the Mekong River.

The next day I would go to Laos…

Drop of Water

Everyone has heard the old story asking, “is the glass half full or half empty?” Recently I was told another version that I had never heard before.

No, it was not the story that told us simply to, “add some golf balls and your cup will runeth over.”

No, this story does not involve adding anything to fill the glass. Our dilemma may arise in the fact that we tend to focus on the water. We see a void, no matter if our glass is half full or half empty.

In another way, we could simply change the glass. Is it possible we have enough water to completely fill the void if we just chose a smaller glass? Sure, we can even choose a much smaller glass so we have some water left over. With this water we can help others fill their own glass.

Elephant Conservation Center

This successful breeding center, about an hour outside Chiang Mai, takes care of 12 elephants. They have added three babies, through natural fertilization, over the past 4 years. The baby in this picture, who playfully enjoyed running into me head first while feeding his mother, is just over 8 months old. The center adopts elephants from around Thailand when they can no longer be cared for. The natural habitat provides them with a trail walk and bath in the river every day. The caretakers are mostly hill-tribe natives who have experience working with the big gentle creatures.

A black cat

Here comes the spring
so I take a walk
to the temple I bring
A long thought

The hike was usual
a long trip of mind
but at the top
A joy I would find

I payed my respects
to the monks who do
what most of us neglect
To follow through

Then a little soul
dressed in black
crossed my path
And I was taken back

I played with the cat
with my walking staff
till it purred away
And rubbed my back

As I walked away
the cat confused
i wanted to stay
Not just for today

The trail led on
down the rocky slope

Happy Holidays

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Times are tough
All over the world
From East to West
And all the rest

Gifts may be small
This year moneys tight
But babies still crawl
And candles still light

So cherish the simple
The things that will always be
Take care of our earth
In spring plant a tree

A glimpse at the moon
A breath of fresh air
These things we all have
These things we can all share

Happy Holidays to all
Happy days to come
This is my wish
An in faith can be done


Happy Holidays,

Mountain Temple

This mountain temple is one of my favorites. I hiked to the temple the first time I came to Thailand. At that time there was one small temple building and an ancient chedi. The new temple building, in this picture, houses several large white Buddhas. The building has simple clean lines and an amazing roof structure.



This Buddha makes his home in a man-made cave at the same mountain temple. This is an example of a fairly uncommon white Buddha. Most of the Buddhas in Thai temples tend to be gold.

History

We all may be witnessing one of the most powerful uniter and speakers the world has ever seen. There is no doubt we are experiencing one of the most historic events in world history, the first black (and white) president.

Watching Barack's acceptance speech today, I flashed back to the nights our family gathered around to watch the much anticipated television series "Roots" in the year 1977. As a young boy, my emotions ran wild watching Kunta Kinte struggle through the beatings and chains of slavery wanting only freedom and to love. The most dominate emotion was sadness. It was sadness for what black people had been put through because of the color of their skin and the ignorance of their fellow humans.

Time will tell how the presidency will treat Barack, but for now he is a beacon in the darkness for countless people around the world. A beacon to all ethnicities.

Good luck to the United State's new first family, and to President, Barack Hussein Obama ll.

Deadly Box Jellyfish

An official warning issued by the Phuket Marine Bological Center (PMBC) confirms that the potentially deadly box jellyfish have arrived in the waters around Phuket, Thailand.

The box jellyfish were found in a fish trap. The jellyfish prefer the shallower brackish waters. A two-day collection recovered another eighteen more in the same area.

This follows a reported death of a Swedish Tourist in the waters off Koh Lanta. In early April another person was reportedly stung in these same waters.

The box jellyfish can have a potentially deadly sting. The toxin from the tentacles can travel to the heart in four minutes, causing cardiac arrest.

Regular household vinegar is one of the best medicines. Vinegar can slow the toxins entering the blood stream lessening the effect of a sting.

Local authorities recommend bringing a small bottle of vinegar to the beach in case of a box jellyfish sting. This method also works on other types of jellyfish stings.

If anyone is suspected to have been stung by a box jellyfish, apply vinegar to the sting. If the victim falls into cardiac arrest, begin CPR immediately.

"Your learning FLASH?"

This past week I had a chance to interview for a school in Chiang Rai, a town near the northern border of Thailand. In the interview process, I was required to “demo teach” a class of students ranging from 12 to 14 years old. The kids were great, and I was impressed with their English speaking skills.

I also toured the English speaking section of the school that consists of over 3000 students. These Thai students are required to take several classes taught entirely in English. Courses consist of science, social studies, health, English, and computer class.

I was especially impressed that these young students were learning computer programs including Excel and Flash. By the time the kids are 14 years old, they will learn how to write script in Flash, the same website design program I spent time learning while attending journalism school at the University of South Florida.

Thailand, being a developing country, looks towards its younger generations to help the country progress in the age of escalating Asian economies. Judging from the skills these kids are acquiring, Thailand should have a bright future. That is, if the country can solve its ongoing governmental saga that, according to global business reports, hinders economic stability and growth.