Thailand
The diaphanous Wat Rong Khun (left) and sinsiter Baan Dum house (right) are both Thai modern architectural masterpieces.
Chiang Rai, Thailand northernmost province, is home to two remarkable expressions of Thai contemporary art, each wild and bewildering in its own way...
Read MoreDuring my visit to the 40-story Buddha at Wat Huai Pla Kung, a break in the clouds occasioned these heavenly rays.
Short post, just to share images of this epic 40-story Buddha I happened across in the area sounding Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand. The Buddha, located at Wat Huai Pla Kung, just north of Chiang Rai City, was only completed in 2017. You can even take an elevator up into a room behind the Buddha’s face, and peer out through the eyes of the Buddha. Windows to the back of the room provides a view of the landscape of rolling hills and small villages...
Read MoreThe Songrkan tradition of spraying water originated in the act of pouring water on someone as a sign of respect thought to wash away sins and bad luck. Over the years, that practice has transmogrified into the four-day country-wide water gun fight to mark the Lunar New Year
I had a blast celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, in Chiang Mai, a historic town and traveller-nexus in Northern Thailand. The water-festival, marking the Lunar New Year, has origins in the act of pouring water on someone as a sign of respect. Officially, Songkran, which lasts 3 days, doesn’t start until April 13th; however, celebrations were well underway the day before, with (mostly) young people taking to the streets in colorful clothing to spray one another with water guns. The country-wide water fight persevered for the next 3 days as Thais celebrated the transition from Pisces to Aries...
Read MoreYoung Thais hanging out on the banks of the Nan River, eating traditional foods and drinking watered-down whiskey.
Phrae and Nan are remote, rural provinces in Northeastern Thailand. There are significant populations of ethnic minorities in the area, notably the Thai Lü, ancestors of immigrants from Xishuangbanna, in southwestern China. Both regions are a little off the beaten track and I didn’t see a single other tourist the entire time I travelled in this part of the country—probably also due to the fact that it was off-season...
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A contemplative monkey at the Prang Sam Yot Temple in Lopburi, Thailand. Lopburi is home to hundreds of rhesus and macaque monkeys.
Lopburi is one of Thailand’s oldest cities, developed during the Dvaravati period, circa 500-900 A.D. However, for most visitors to Lopburi, what remains today of its ancient architecture, is only a complement to the experience of the hundreds of rhesus and macaques permeating Lopburi’s streets and historic sites, which more than anything predicates Lopburi’s inclusion in the guidebooks...
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A Buddha statue entwined in a Bodhi tree's roots at Wat Maha That in Ayuthaya.
Ayuthaya was my first real destination in Thailand after bussing from Cambodia to Bangkok...
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