Ang Thong National Marine Park

Sea kayaking in Ang Thong Marine Park was hands down one of the most enjoyable experiences I had in my multiple trips to islands and beaches in Southeast Asia. The concept of a protected water are is so startling.. and even more so to find that the Thais generally do respect the restrictions. The water, although murky, was quite clear of litter. The islands gorgeously green and untouched.

The kayaking, I went with Blue Stars. The outfit was heavily German focused. I suspect the 70% of the group that day I went came from an organised German tour. Considering one of the founders/guides is German, I wasn't surprised. We were split into two groups to rotate use of the kayaks. The German group was led by the German guide, and the English group was really the non-German group led by a silent Thai guide. We didn't get much narration from our guide, but given that our kayaks were paddling in single file, I don't feel like we missed out on the experience.

Ang Thong is largely composed of rock islands. We weaved between tunnels and crevices around the rocks on our first paddle. After lunch, we moved southward to the larger islands. The saltwater lake was largely non-event, more so when we weren't allowed access to the lake directly, just a view from a vantage point. The beaches looked gorgeous and quiet, away from the hubbub of Samui and its rowdy scene.

It's a pity we didn't have time to wander in some of the islands. I was sun-xhasted by the end of the trip, but I would imagine the islands offer a more lush and nature wildlife viewing than the more tourist trampled rain forest treks in Samui or mainland Thailand.

Don't do it: Karen Hill tribes

Many of you probably remember the National Geographic featuring the long-necked tribe in Sortheast Asia. Once I correlated the tribe with the region I am in, I was so excited to be able to go see them. The concept that we have tribes still practicing such exotic traditions in the world of global market and influence was so fascinating.

A bit of background: The Karen tribe is originally from within Myanmar borders. The women wear brass rings around their neck.. and add rings throughout their adolescence. It like the neck has been elongated, but in reality the collarbone and the ribs are being pushed down to a point that they need to keep the rings on to live.

As soon as we went to Chiang Rai, I booked a tour to see the hilltribes the next day. We then walked to the Hilltribe Museum (Which is a do, by the way) to get some background perspective. The museum was like a home-run shop. The exhibits were laid out in corked bulletin boards, laid out along the wall, like someone's packrat attic room. No glass enclosures. Descriptions were printed in regular home printers and glued onto construction paper backing, taped into the wall. Yet, the museum was one of the best I've been to in Southeast Asia. Informative, factual, and narrative. Including a lot of warnings about the tours offered to see the hilltribes. None of the proceeds in the typical tours go towards the villages that the people ask to go gawk at. And more often than not, the villages were notified that they would become the subject of that gawking.

The Karen tribes were worse. The notion that the Karens migrated to Thailand to flee the Burmese.. If it ever was true, it was a long enough time ago. The current "tribes" people see are imported. Businessmen bring in the women, not the men since they look normal, into Thailand, knowing that they are subjects of great tourist curiosity. The "villages" aren't real. They are just artificial sites of tourist traps. In reality the neck ring tradition has been dying out.

We walked out of the museum highly enlightened but feeling like scum encouraging the black human market. The actual visit the next day validated that and clarified what articles meant by calling it a "human zoo". The women were placed in a windy path of huts. The huts were three-walled bamboo structures with a loom on one side for the women to weave, in full view of visitors. The other half had the woven scarves hung up  and a area for the women to sit prettily to be seen. Supposedly the only means the women earn are from the scarves they sell, so we bought them up by the bunch. They were different from the usual mass produced "handmade Thai silk" in the markets, and truly interesting, but admittedly we did it out of our guilt as well.

My curiosity got the worst of me. To future visitors, I warn: don't do it. Not only does is encourage the human trade and cruel marketing of women, it wasn't even a good visit. A strong sense of artificiality, fakeness permeated the whole place.

Happy Songkran

Well, I didn't really partake in the water fights. I left Bangkok. While the official festivities in Bangkok were canceled, the government really can't stop kids from having a water fight. Still, we opted for three days away from the protests and drove up to Khao Yai National Park, Thailand's version of Yellowstone Park.

What I didn't realise when I chose our destination was that it was also the home of the fledgling Thai wine industry. We sampled the ones near us.

Granmonte Winery: Our first stop for both a taste and a meal. The Italian villa style was charming. The reds, quite foul. I confess, though, I never really like shiraz reds from anywhere. But the whites surprisingly robust and dry. The restaurant offered classic Italian dishes with a subtle "I can't give up all my Thai habits" nuance.. such as the hot peppers in my spaghetti.

PB Valley Khao Yai Winery: One of the most established wineries in the country. We took a tour which, while simple, was excellent. Harvest time is Feb-March, for those who may have the fortune of scheduling their visits. So all we saw were bare vines, but a large acreage of them. We sampled four wines, two whites and two reds. I rather liked the Tempranillo. I've never had one before so I guess I ought to buy a Spanish bottle before comparing. Chenin Blanc is the standard white in the region, based on PB's "extensive testing and analysis."

For me, the visits were fun. A little peek into how yuppification has spread to Thailand.

Perhaps, most amusing of our trip, was our foray into Primo Posto, a personal recommendation by the PB Valley tour guide. More on that later.

White Wat

Let's admit it. After a while, all wats start looking alike. And seeing another one bores more than impresses. A glimpse at the photo of the White Temple, though, bespoke of an unusual sight.


What was just as stunning is the paintings inside the walls of the wat. Still under work with the artists drawing right under the tourists' legs, murals spoke some pretty political messages. Such as the World Trade Towers being attacked, both towers twined by a gas hose with the nozzles you put in your car. Then the planet shaped like a male symbol melting. The messages didn't preclude a drawing of superman and the transformers. All the more provocative images were on the far side of the temple, opposite the Buddha and praying monk. I read his message to be leaving the distractions of the modern world behind in search of attaining the enlightment. Who knows. All the signs and writing were in Thai.

I couldn't shake a sense of familiarity until I saw a frame Time article. Ah HA.

The temple isn't done yet. Most of the buildings haven't been added their elaborate design, carving, and framing, leaving the bare square corners of the pagoda buildings. I felt like the simple clean lines bore a start contrast to the extensive curves and winding outline of the primary building. Sadly, I'm willing to bet the rest of the buildings will be as intricately decorated.

How many people does it take the cross the road...

... in a moto?

So far, standing record sighted is 6. The question is how many human beings can these people squash into a single scooter or moto. We've figured out 4 is the upper limit for adults, but we wonder how far they will push it to stack their own kids on as well.

On top of that, one can't just claim to have seen the number. It needs to be witnessed by someone else or provided evidence, such as this photo.

Blurry? Yes, but given that I was rolling on a tuktuk, fumbling for a camera, trying desperately to capture them before either I or they rolled away, I produce the only photo taken amongst our group.

Kitchware, multi-use

Many of you parents have commented that your babies don't need $100 toys from Fisher Price and often prefer a mere pot from your kitchen cabinet or an empty jar. Bet your kid never did this:

It's all in the name

As an American, I chuckled at this sight.

Seen on a taxi van's window

No wonder why Asians are also gaining weight..

Seen in a recent ad campaign to sell international products in a high-end supermarket atop one of the biggest shopping malls in the city... Anyone spot the factual problems? They actually had a billboard for this promotion. Unfortunately, the taxi whizzed by too quickly for me to register let alone react and have the camera out.


Clearly, they haven't heard about Americans' obesity problem, despite the prevalence of fashion magazines imported from the States.

Bonus: American readers, see if you can spot something very very very wrong in the pictures... besides the food being called healthy. People create controversies from doing this at home!

Anyone looking at the big picture?

No one other than me seemed particularly perturbed to see a gigantic head sticking out of the ground in front of Central World this weekend.



What was even better? Of all the photos in the Planet Ocean photographic exhibition around it, they just had to chose this one to juxtapose against the figurehead.

Ayuthaya

I haven't forgotten. Just gotten busy.

Harraton, TPG and I went up to Ayuthaya as a daytrip last month. Really just an afternoon trip. By the time I finished running errands and we hopped into the car, harraton was munching on a chocolate bar as her lunch.

It was an hour's drive away from town, most of it spend extricating ourselves from the Bangkok inner city traffic. Don't get me started on the return trip.

Ayuthaya used to the Thai capital and grand palace location until the Burmese came in and burned it down in the 1700s. The ruins were left to ruins as the reigning King chose to move further south to what became Bangkok instead of rebuilding in the same spot. It wasn't until modern times that an effort to preserve what was left went underway. By then, it was clear a lot of the wats had been close to crumbling to the earth altogether. Part of its fragile and frail state adds to the appeal, but part of it makes you wonder how many more people will have the chance to see it before it really collapses. A significant number of the towers were tilted and we couldn't really make out the substance that was used to hold the bricks together.

Considering that some structures date as old as the 1300's, the enormity of the structures and design was impressive. Even with just ruins left, there was enough to really inspire the mind to picture what a place it must have been. A majority of the remaining structures were wats, or Buddhist temples, as they are called in Thai. Perhaps because they are the buildings the Thais didn't have the heart or had too much superstition to tear down. Brick was the primary building material but not the only. We puzzled over some Grecian looking concrete designs clearly slapped on the original brick walls.

The wats were pretty spread apart, making me relieved that I opted to drive instead of taking the bus. We had the freedom to roam on our own between the different sites. Most sites required an admission fee, ranging from 30-150baht a piece. We went in one but stuck around the outside for the rest. Walls can't begin to conceal the grandeur of the buildings from our view or our camera shutter.

By the end of several hours, though, we were admittedly watted out. The two most grand ones we didn't go in- Wat Luang and Wat Chai Watthanaram- and may be worth a second visit for me. I know one thing for sure, I'm coming back in the evening, armed with camera and tripod.

Heaven's Smile

Back in the midst of the PAD protests and overtaking the airport, we also witnessed an astrological event, Earthshine, to also be aligned with Venus and Jupiter, making a smiling face. As corny as all the claims of how people feel like smiling when they see it, it's true. When I saw it, I couldn't resist admiring and smiling back. Not being a spiritual person by any stretch of the imagination, I couldn't help feeling like the heaven's were sending down a reassurance.

Photographing the sky is not a skill I have yet begun to understand. My best photos of the Earth's Smile are not in any scenic set up. It was hard enough to get a somewhat clear photo of the three celestial objects alone.

Sights, # 956709

Seen in the outskirts of Bangkok:

Grand Inn Come Hotel

Think I'm making it up?

Super-size me celery sticks, maybe?