Dan and Ploy's Website
Below you will find some photographs taken during our travels in Thailand, including our house in Saraburi, my attempt to learn the Thai language, and some of the funny and interesting things that happened during our stays there.
The page was last updated on 20th February 2010.
We were invited to Ploy's ex-husband's wedding, my first Thai wedding and a far cry from Southampton registry office where we got married, not to diminish that event in any way. You can read about the event here. Click on the images to view them full size.
We went to a local event for the Western New Year. A description of this event can be found here. Click on the images to view them full size.
A surprise find on Sukhumvit road, leading out of Pattaya towards Bangkok is this 'folly', created by the owner of Saha Farms chicken farm in Thailand. There is a little of Las Vegas about it as the art works on display are all copies and imitations but the shear scale and enormity of the project is breathtaking, and from recollection it is free, but regardless in my view it is a must see whilst in the area. Click on the images to view them full size.
Thai Language Links
On the 18th September we will arrive in Thailand, not just for a visit this time, but to live and work. This means that my half-hearted attempts to learn Thai now have to become more serious or I will be in danger of being relegated to only choosing 'friends' from the embittered ex-pat community.
So I have dusted off my Thai language books and bookmarked some useful websites that I have found particularly useful.
The best Thai language book I have found is The Fundamentals of the Thai Language by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs. I am fond of this book for many reasons. The first is it was the first Thai language book I ever bought, 150 baht from a bookshop in Pattaya on my second ever trip to Thailand, some 27 years ago now. Secondly the first edition was published in 1957, the year of my birth, which gives the book some unjustified affection. And lastly, but most importantly, it immediately starts by teaching you to read Thai instead of just learning how to say 'I am hungry' or 'I come from England' using some transliteration code that is largely undecipherable. Thai is a tonal language and has some sounds that we do not have in the English language so some means of representing these sounds is necessary but each book uses their own 'superior' version. 'Fundamentals' avoids this issue by teaching you to read Thai at the outset which also gives you the advantage of being able to read road signs, shop fronts and newspaper headlines, even if you don't know what they mean at first. I believe that reading Thai also helps you remember the vocabulary.
Once commited to reading Thai children's books like those on the left are very helpful for getting familiar with the characters. Similar books allow you to practise writing the characters which certainly helps to fix them, especially those that have subtle little differences like ห and ท. Whilst this helps formal learning it does nothing to help with stylised writing on posters or indeed, to help me read Ploy's writing.
However there are some websites that can help in this regard.
http://www.learningthai.com/ has a wealth of material on learning Thai including photos of common signs found in Thailand where you can see the sylised forms of writing sometimes used, http://www.learningthai.com/photoalbum/.
I must also mention this Thai/English dictionary, http://www.thai2english.com/, which also has a downloadable version, http://blog.thai2english.com/, that costs $40 but gives you an extended dictionary and has some very useful notes on reading Thai and Thai grammar.
Another very useful site for learning Thai can be found here, http://www.seasite.niu.edu:85/thai/ and this Thai Forum has a section with about learning Thai which is very helpful, http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/.
There are also some forums which have some useful tips on learning Thai. These include, http://womenlearnthai.com/ and http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/oldguard2 (look for the Brush up your Thai entries).
Lastly, if you want to practice your new found skills, try reading the headlines from the Thai Rath newspaper or the gossip from Sanook.com.
What does help is to have a Thai keyboard which, if you are outside of Thailand, you can purchase here, or if you have a laptop you can buy stick on labels although they do tend to fade with use.
Wang Nam Kio
These photographs are taken from our trip from Saraburi up to Nakon Ratchasima, usually known as Korat, and then on to visit a famous teacher monk at a small temple in Wang Nam Kio, (Green Water Palace). Click on the images to view them full size.
The Ayuttaya flooding
The plan was to visit a monk at a temple in Sena, near Ayuttaya, but the flooding in the area was too bad and I made Ploy turn back. The devastation was incredible, with so many houses uninhabitable and people living by the side of the road trying to feed themselves and their livestock. Click on the images to view them full size.
Bang Saen
Bang Saen is a small resort by the sea, not far from Chon Buri. Ploy and I spent a couple of days there, mainly because she had to have a follow up appointment with a doctor at the hospital (she had fell at the entrance to a department store), but also to visit a friend who lives in Chon Buri. Bang Saen is also home to a fantastic Chinese Temple, the Nha Ja Sa Tai Jue shrine. Click on the images to view them full size.
A 60th Anniversary
Ploy telephoned me on Thursday morning and said, "Why don't you come to Thailand. This weekend is the 60th Anniversary of the King's accession to the throne and there are celebrations everywhere." So I booked a flight and rapidly arranged holiday from work and flew out that night, and I was so glad I did and was able to participate in what was a very special event. Click on the images to view them full size.
We stayed in Bangkok at our usual hotel, the Nasa Vegas. The Friday was the official anniversary and there was a parade of royal barges along the Chao Phraya river. Ploy managed to get us a seat to watch the parade at the Chang Pier. Every possible position near the river was lined with yellow shirted Thais (yellow is the colour of the King's birthday), and one or two foreigners. We had bought our 'official' yellow shirts and also a commerative 60baht note that had been specially printed for the occasion. Watching the boats go by was eerie: the oarsmen of every boat seemed to be synchronised, chanting the same rythmic devotion to the King, with the only other sound being a spontaneous burst of applause. The excitement grew as, what would have been the Kings boat, bedecked in gold, appoached. The entire procession was also accompanied by lightning and thunder, but strangely no rain, which all added to the effect. Click on the images to view them full size.
After the parade we walked around the royal palace surroundings (entry to the palace was for Thai people only so we didn't wait in the very long queue), and then joined in a celebratory party in the nearby park where Ploy slowly moved us forward towards the stage, eventually getting so close I was frightened I would be included in the band. There was also the largest gathering of monks I have every seen, offering good luck to the King. Again being part of all this, trying my best to sing along with the national anthem, being embraced by the Thai people as one of them (they constantly relit my candle when it blew out and people kept coming up to me and saying 'dee' 'dee mark' [good] and asking Ploy where I was from) made it feel very special. The rest of the night was then spent trying to get a tuk-tuk, along with a few million other Thais. Click on the images to view them full size.
On the Saturday night there was a fireworks display. Ploy booked us seats on a boat, which, in advance of the display, took us along the river to show us the royal barges and then parked up for a view of the fireworks. Every possible position on every bridge and every vantage point along the river seemed to be a sea of yellow. Click on the images to view them full size.
On Sunday 25 other royal representatives (of the 29 world wide, for the UK Prince Andrew was there), were presented to the King. It was a quieter day and we spent it wandering around the royal palace environs and trying to book another seat for the Monday royal barge procession when it was rumoured the King would be present. In fact he wasn't, but after the procession we went for something to eat opposite the democracy monument (MetHav Alai Sornd Reng Restaurant), and watched the parade of limousines for all the royal families, including the King, as they went off for a special dinner. All the streets were closed for this and we took the chance to join everyone else (and by that I think the entire population of Thailand was on the streets of Bangkok that night), and enjoy the decorative lights. Click on the images to view them full size.
The next day we went back to Saraburi, but I was so grateful for having been part of it all. I had no time for the Royal family in the UK, but the King of Thailand does make you think again what an intelligent, altruistic man can do in such a position. Not for this man the glamour lifestyle, the constant parading at fashionable functions or the opening of bridges and launching of boats, the buying of shoes or the taking of extravagant holidays. This man has made a difference to the people of Thailand, especially the poor and it easy to have respect for him. The world will be a poorer place without him.
I have also been meaning to mention a restaurant in Saraburi called the Banana House (careful how you ask for that in Thai). It does the most fabulous Tom Yam soup anywhere: none of this insipid stuff you get in Singapore, or, God forbid out of packets, this is the real thing: Spicy enough to make you gasp and with an intense sourness, (I like to add more lime too). Tom Yam Pla is my favourite with Mud Fish, none of those nancy boy prawns, great lumps of fish. That and a cold beer Chang and I am in heaven. The cook is unusually a man (for Thailand anyway): he gave up his day job as an electrical engineer to open the restaurant. Do try other things, from chilli frog (too many bones for me) to lemon prawns, but if you miss the Tom Yam Pla you will regret it.