Return to Wangpikun

Yes, Karl returned to Wangpikun and stayed with some friends that we made while teaching there.

Here is a picture of Aranya; one of our former students.


Here is Karl with Aranya and her family. They are the friends that Karl stayed with. Aranya's grandfather lent Karl the hat for the picture.


Karl also met up with some of our other friends and even got to meet the school's latest volunteer teacher who had just arrived. He shared some of our hard won knowledge about teaching English in Wangpikun.

Experience Bangkok

There is a lot to experience in Bangkok and but it was so hot that we decided not to fill our days too full. On Thursday, April 19th we wandered around some tailor shops in the Silom area of Bangkok. We were really disappointed in what we saw as far as the tailors went. Most of the shops offered an entire “suit of clothes” in 24 hours for too much money. We knew there had to be a catch. The more legitimate tailor shops needed two weeks to finish a complete suit and cost even more money. We didn’t have two weeks so we gave up on the tailor-made clothes idea.

Friday we got to spend some time with Due. He is staying with his cousin Ying in a suburb of Bangkok and working to earn a bit of money before he starts college. Due had the day off so we met him and Ying at the Vimanmek Teak Mansion which was built for one of Thailand’s past kings. It is full of various items that have historical significance and many were possessions of past kings or queens. We took the tour of the mansion but were a bit disappointed that we weren’t allowed to take pictures. So, the only picture we have from Vimanmek is of a monitor lizard crossing the street! For dinner, we went to a fun restaurant near the Victory Monument. You order various ingredients and then add them to a pot of boiling stock. When everything is cooked, you scoop out what you want into your bowl. Due helped us order and he made sure that none of us went home hungry. It was good to see Due again and we really had a great time.




During our entire trip we’ve passed up buying some souvenirs because we didn’t want to carry them all over Thailand. We have heard about the Jatujak (also spelled Chatuchak) market and that you can find anything there. So, Saturday we went to Jatujak market to do some shopping. It is a huge outdoor market and with out a map of the place you will get lost. We focused on one particular area of the market and even that took almost the entire day. We didn’t find everything we wanted so we are planning on going back next Saturday. The market is only open on weekends and weekday mornings so that will be our next opportunity. You may be wondering why I chose this picture to put on my blog. Well, for one it’s the only picture I took at Jatujak and I only took the picture because my sister, Ruth who is currently house-sitting for us is going to be moving to St. Louis Missouri. At the time, it seemed like a good reason to take a picture! By the way, Ruth recently set up a blog of her own at us4palmers.blogspot.com. Many of the stores at Jatujak are named after American cities or movies. The “Dances with Wolves” store was a bit amusing with all the Native American paraphernalia.

Our reason for not returning to Jatujak on Sunday was the Khohn performance at the National Museum. Karl has wanted to get pictures of a Khohn performance since his first visit to Thailand over 20 years ago. When we visited 3 years ago we attended a performance and his camera wouldn’t work! So, this performance was not to be missed. The cheapest and easiest way to get to the National Museum actually requires a bit of back-tracking. We took the Sky Train from its northern terminal to the southern terminal then got on the Chao Phraya Express to go back north along the river to the pier closest to the National Museum. We walked the rest of the way through an Amulet market that is set up on the sidewalks. At this market they sell a variety of amulets that will provide you with specific kinds of protection. As we walk by we see people scrutinizing amulets to determine their authenticity.

Upon reaching the National Museum we stopped to buy some snacks and started talking to another customer. It turned out that Ubon was also going to the performance and to our surprise he treated us to some cold water and paid our entrance fee to the performance. The performance wasn’t strictly a Khohn performance. There were several dance troupes performing and it started with a group of kids playing traditional Thai instruments. The evening progressed through a variety of traditional Thai dances; some performed by young ladies and others by young girls. They mixed in a few Khohn and Lakhon performances. One was quite fun as it was a story that involved some monkeys causing mischief. The monkeys were played by four young boys who did a wonderful job acting like monkeys! Karl took a lot of pictures and I even tried to get a few short video clips. My little camera can take video clips but I hadn’t really thought of doing it before. I don’t know why because it would have been a great way to capture things like the train in Samut Songkram. I guess we are just going to have to come to Thailand again!

After the performance, Karl and I walked the short distance to Wat Phra Kaew. The temple was closed but Karl wanted to get some night pictures. I really like taking night pictures. Well, Karl takes the pictures and I watch. What makes night pictures interesting is that when you use a long shutter speed, only some things are actually in the picture. Karl purposefully took pictures while cars were passing and yet all that shows up in the picture are the headlights or taillights. If Karl uses the flash and a long shutter speed, there is a ghost image of whatever was there when the flash went off. I think you can see what I mean from some of the pictures here. What was fun for me was watching what was happening in the street as the picture was being taken and then seeing how it showed up.

At Victory Monument, Karl setup his tripod again and we took some pictures of the monument from the pedestrian walk that is around the traffic circle.



On Monday we tried to return to Jatujak but when we arrived we found it closed for the day, we then decided to take the Sky Train down to Jim Thompson’s house. Apparently, Jim Thompson was responsible for making Thai Silk world famous in the 1950s. He disappeared in 1967 and now his house is a museum with an attached store which sells Thai silk. When we got there the house was closed and the store was open but everything looked closed so we didn’t even go into the store. We wondered to the end of the alley and watched some commuter boats go up and down the canal there. Bangkok really has an impressive public transportation system. There is the Sky Train, the subway and the Chao Phraya Express. They all interconnect at different places but service different areas of Metropolitan Bangkok. If the place you need to go isn’t within walking distance of one of the stations, there are buses, tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis and regular taxis. Finally, if you need to get some where that is along one of the many canals, there are a variety of boats that will take you there. All of this doesn’t exactly make getting around Bangkok easy but that is because the area is so huge! It is a lot easier than it would be getting around Florida if you didn’t have a car. When we took the Sky Train back to the terminal station we saw that there was a huge traffic jam and we didn’t want to try taking a taxi back to our hotel. So, we boarded the subway to a station that was closer to our hotel and out of the traffic jam.

We didn’t do very much on Tuesday. We did get a visit from our friend Wick and his family. They were in Bangkok to pick up Wick’s wife from the airport. She was returning from an extended trip to Chicago where Wick’s sister lives. We got to chat with them for a few minutes before they had to leave for Nang Rong. Wick commented on how much traffic there is in Bangkok and we had to agree. Sometimes it takes over an hour for us to get from the main tourist attractions to our hotel.

That afternoon and evening we walked around the area and did some shopping at a local market. Besides finding a cute pair of shoes, we also watched a man who was making elaborate designs with hard candy. He had created beautiful butterflies, weird-looking beetles and many different kinds of animals. While we were there he made a turtle. I purchased a monkey who wore a hat and was fishing; I thought it was really cute. We also found an Italian restaurant and stopped there for dinner. Their pizza was pretty good. Karl says it was the best pizza he’s had since we came to Thailand ... it's the only pizza we've had since we came to Thailand!

The Whirlwind Tour

Thursday Suleeporn and her friend To took us around to a number of sites. We saw so many things in one day, it really felt like a whirlwind tour! First was a temple where Suleeporn went to school and she showed us the shrine of a monk who was very kind to her as a child. While we were at this temple, an ordination ceremony was being held for a monk. We arrived at the part where everyone makes a procession around the temple. At the front of the procession was a small brass band playing music that reminded me of Mardi Gras style music. They were joined by some girls dancing and Suleeporn said they dance to help send the monk to heaven. After circling the temple a few times, the soon-to-be monk threw one-baht coins wrapped in colorful tissue paper into the crowd and then went into the temple. We returned to the monk’s shrine where Karl coaxed some novice monks into getting their picture taken. Actually, they enjoyed it as much as Karl did. They would put on serious expressions when Karl was taking the pictures and then break into smiles when he turned the camera to show them the results.

Our next stop was the city of Samut Songkhram. The resort is actually located in a smaller town in Samut Songkhram Province. We had come to see the MaeKlong train station but we first stopped at temple famous for its very old Buddha. At the temple, there are two elephant figurines about a foot tall each with handles on their backs. Suleeporn explained that if you ask an elephant a yes/no question and you can’t lift the elephant with your little finger than the answer is no. Suleeporn got Karl to give it a try just for fun. We then headed to the MaeKlong train station which services a single route; a shuttle service with two passenger cars between Samut Songkhram and neighboring province Samut Sakon. Along the train tracks is a market that literally covers the tracks. Each day, the train leaves Samut Songkhram in the morning and returns just before noon. It leaves again just after lunch and returns around 5:00 pm. So, four times a day the vendors along the railroad tracks pull everything back away from the tracks to let the train pass. They have less than 5 minutes to do it so we had to come and see this for ourselves. When there is no train the market feels crowded and dark. The only place to walk is on the tracks. The umbrellas and awnings keep the sun out but also keep the air from circulating so it is stuffy and a bit stinky with all the fresh seafood. As soon as the bell for the train sounds, people move quickly to roll back trays on wheels and move baskets holding their products. Then the umbrellas and awnings are folded up and out of the way. Trays of vegetables and fruits that are flat enough are just left next to the tracks. It all happens very quickly and suddenly the alley is bright with sunlight. Because it is not very long, the train goes by swiftly. As soon as it passes the vendors are pulling everything back out and the alley returns to the cramped market it was before. Peeking out from our little cubby-hole along the side, Karl snapped a picture of the train as it came and went. The whole thing takes less than 10 minutes and it is really an amusing sight!

Jeap one of the ladies from the resort had come with us, but was feeling tired so she took a bus back to the resort. We know Jeap from our last visit and she is expecting her second child in August. A good month to be born as far as I’m concerned! We had been sight-seeing for almost four hours so it was no wonder Jeap was tired. Suleeporn’s friend To who was graciously driving us around for the day owns a prawn farm and a fruit grove with many different types of fruit trees. He invited us back to his house for Pad Thai made with king prawn from his very own farm. As someone who really likes shrimp this was a nice treat! The shrimp were huge and delicious. It was the best Pad Thai that I’ve had. After lunch, To took us to the prawn fields and let us take a look around. As I mentioned earlier in this post, right after lunch very few people are out and about so there weren’t any workers to photograph. We saw one person who was catching shrimp in the small canal that supplied the shrimp farms with water from the ocean. Suleeporn explained that sometimes the shrimp escape the farm and live in the canals.

Out in the midst of the prawn fields is a small mountain. The people of Samut Songkhram are very proud of their mountain because it is the only one that they have. To joked that it was just a baby mountain as it was only about three-stories high. There was a temple on top so we hiked up the stairs and went to see the temple. In addition to a Buddha inside they also had a Buddha footprint. On the way back down we caught sight of two members of a monkey troop. They kept their distance and we kept ours.

We made what may be our only trip to the ocean to a mud beach that is well known for razor clams. At least that is what we think they are called in English. During low tide, you can walk out and easily dig the clams out of the mud. It was nearing high tide when we arrived so we just admired the ocean and strolled along the vendor shacks. There wasn’t room for the shacks on the sidewalk so they are built out over the sloping sea wall. A scaffold like structure supports the back of the shacks to keep them level with the sidewalk. The first picture is looking out over the Gulf of Thailand and the second shows what the razor clams look like. This little girl liked to play with the clams.

We stopped at one more temple which was unique in that all the interior decorations were done with inlaid mother-of-pearl. The workmanship is very impressive and Suleeporn said that they have been working on the temple for five years and some work still remained to be done.

Our final stop of the day was To’s fruit orchard. To had been teaching Karl some Thai slang through-out the day and they were having a lot of fun with it. The phrase “bawd hag” literally means “burst lung” and it is slang for being very afraid. It comes from the idea that when you are afraid you breathe so hard that you could burst a lung. To said that when riding a motorcycle I am “bawd hag” and I thought that was a very appropriate description for how I felt. The other slang phrase that To taught us was “yut yut” (the “t” is almost silent). This means “very much” and through out the day Karl and To found creative ways to use the phrase. As we followed To through the grove he would call back to us “gin lynchee yut yut” (gin means eat). We did as instructed; picking and eating lynchees as we went along. As we came back out of the grove, To explained his very amusing way for keeping people from stealing his lynchees. Unfortunately, we were sworn to secrecy so I can’t write about it. It really worked! You can see in the picture that the trees overhang the road and yet the lynchees are still on the tree. However, To had lost quite a few lynchees to us. We ate so many that we didn’t want dinner and To picked a bunch for us to eat later.

By the time we got back to the resort it was after 5:00 pm and we were all very tired. It had been a really fun day. Here is a picture of the four of us back at the resort.



Friday we needed a rest. Karl did take some time riding around on our rented motorcycle but I was happy staying in the air conditioning, watching Thai soap operas and getting pictures ready for the blog. I don’t understand anything they say on the Thai soap operas but I find them funnier that way. Friday evening we were invited to dinner with May, Mod and their father Patarapong. Also at dinner was a friend of May’s, Tor who recently graduated from college in Computer Engineering. Tor is very bright; a few years ago he won first place for Thailand in a programming contest sponsored by Microsoft. Dinner was full of good conversation and really good food. We had some grilled king prawn that were huge and very tasty. They had been caught in the river right at the resort. We had several other Thai dishes that we enjoyed but we especially liked the Tom Yum Kun which is a spicy sour soup with vegetables and shrimp. It is a favorite of the Thai people as well and we’ve had Tom Yum Kun before. At Banthip Suanthong it is particularly flavorful. In the picture from left to right, Tor is sitting next to me then May, Mod and Patarapong.

Over the last few days we got some pictures of our friends here at Banthip Suanthong. In the first picture on the left are Suleeporn, Aui, Yong and Jeap (left to right). The next picture on the right shows some of the folks that worked at the resort restaurant. They are Lek, Bo and Dang. We met Dang during our visit three years ago and Bo was kind enough to rent us her motorcycle. The bottom left picture is Somjate and Somsakun who were both very nice to us. Somsakun, the lady on my left, would leave flowers for us at our room and her husband Somjate took us to the bus station on Saturday. The last picture on the bottom right I am with Pacharee who is the owner of the resort and May and Mod’s mother. We really enjoyed our stay at Banthip Suanthong and that is thanks to the friendly people here!

In addition to the human friends we have at the resort, we also made a feline friend. This chocolate calico cat liked to come into our room and play “catch the string” or get scratched under the chin. I’m sure Ernie would be very jealous if he knew that we were giving attention to another cat but fortunately he can’t read!

Saturday we headed to Ayuthaya with a bag of Lynchees in hand (a gift from Suleeporn). Happily it wasn’t a long trip. We took a shared van to Bangkok and caught another one to Ayuthaya. The whole trip took about 3 hours. Here in Ayuthaya we are planning to see some of the historical sites before we go back to Wangpikun for the Songkran festival.

I’ve put more pictures from Samut Songkhram in our online photo album at: Samut Songkhram I’ve also gotten some time to reduce the file size of some additional pictures from Cambodia and Laos and uploaded them. Enjoy the pictures!

Take a ride on the Orange Popsicle Bus

When the episode regarding the Orange Popsicle Bus is retold over family dinners in future years, Karl will want it to be clear that it all started because I took my time getting ready. Our plan was to catch a bus from Nong Khai to Udon Thani and then another bus to Loei. When we finally reached the bus station, we learned that we had just missed the bus to Udon Thani but another one would come in 45 minutes. However, there was a bus that was going to Loei by a different route; west along the Mekong and then south through the mountains to Loei. It was leaving right away and should only take 6 hours to get to Loei. When we took into account the time we would have to wait for the Udon Thani bus and our connecting bus to Loei it was more than 6 hours. It was already 10:00 am and we had told Due’s parents we would be to Loei about 4:00 pm. So, we paid our fare and boarded the orange bus that looked like it had been on this route for quite a long time. The seats with minimal cushions and lack of AC caused us some concern but we decided that the scenery along this route would be more enjoyable anyway. In the picture, Karl is with our Tuk-Tuk driver and they are in front of an orange bus very much like the one we took.

The scenery was very nice. Along the first stretch of road that we traveled there were huge plant sculptures. Great care was being taken to grow and mold bushes into a variety of animals. We saw dolphins, turtles, giraffes and even a dinosaur. The best one was a group of plants made into two life-size elephants back-to-back and one with a rider. Sorry I don’t have any pictures to share; it was hard to get them from the bus. Soon we came to the Mekong River and we followed it for quite some time. When we crossed the Friendship Bridge the river looked low but here there were times when we couldn’t even see any water. I’m sure the river was somewhere between the huge boulders and sandbars. It reminded me that Due had once told me that during the dry season he could walk across the Mekong to Laos. We also went through many small towns and saw the traditional Thai style houses made of wood.

About 3:00 pm just before we were to turn south towards Loei, the bus driver stopped at a small bus stop along the Mekong. When we inquired how long we’d be there, we learned this was not just a bathroom break. There weren’t enough passengers (there were only 5 of us) and the bus driver was going to wait until 4:00 pm to see if more people came. Karl didn’t seem to mind he went to take pictures of the Mekong. I’ll admit I wasn’t too happy since I really don’t like these days of traveling and didn’t like the idea of this bus trip taking longer. I tried to make the best of it as you can see from the picture.

We finally got back on the road with only 4 passengers because one guy found another ride. As we wound through the mountains we did pick up more passengers. Based on the road signs it should have only taken us 1 hour to get to Loei but the bus had to go into low gear to get up the mountains and Karl thinks we were only going about 10 kilometers per hour. We made up some time on the way back down the mountains. The whole rollercoaster ride took us two hours and we rolled into the Loei bus station about 6:00 pm. We called Due’s parents and they came to get us. When we told them why we were so late, Due’s mom said they called a very slow bus a Popsicle bus. It is similar to our expression "slow as cold molasses". Karl calculated that we averaged 30 kilometers/hour on that trip! The picture is of the driver of our Orange Popsicle Bus.

Saturday evening we had dinner with Due’s parents and his sister. Due was still in Bangkok and would be taking an overnight bus to Loei. He had flown to Singapore for a short vacation. On Sunday, we went with Due and his parents to his aunt’s house for lunch followed by a trip to a local cotton weaving factory. The cotton is woven by hand with wooden looms and the fabric they make is really beautiful. Some of it is hard to distinguish from Thai silk. I got to pick out my favorite material for a dress. Due’s aunt, Toy, is a dressmaker and she wanted to make one for me! That evening we were back at Toy’s house for dinner and met more of the family. We also made plans for the next day.

Our plans began with a one-hour drive north following the reverse route that the Orange Popsicle Bus had taken. Due’s uncle Bunjong is a director at a small village school and we were going to a temple to see some of his students ordained as novice monks. Because Bunjong was a guest of honor we also got some special treatment and got to sit right in front of the soon-to-be novice monks. Boys between the ages of 12 and 20 can become novice monks and men 20 or older become monks. In Buddhism, you can decide to become a monk for a certain period of time or for the rest of your life. Almost all Thai men spend a little time as a monk at some time in their life.

After the ordination ceremony, we went to Banjong’s school where he had some work to do. The rest of us went onto Chiang Khan which is a small town on the Mekong River. This town has a border crossing into Laos, but only for Thai and Laotian and the transportation is a ferry boat across the river. At this spot in the river, there is enough water for boats. There is a nice little park with a shaded pavilion for looking out over the scenic Mekong. We all got a chuckle out of the self-service foot massage; a walkway made from river rocks. After eating a filling lunch and buying some tasty snacks for later, we headed back to the school. In the picture sitting next to Karl is Due’s cousin, Mon, and Due’s Aunt Tear who is an English teacher at Due’s high school and Mon’s mom is sitting next to Due.



We got a tour of the school with an invitation to come and teach English there on our next trip to Thailand. Bunjong has really done a lot for this school as he has arranged many programs to help the students. At the school there is a mini-market, barber shop, karaoke bar, car wash and more. All operated by the students to help them learn about different professions. Bunjong and Tear also arranged to get laptop computers donated for their library. Getting donations is one way they supplement the small school budget. The school has been recognized as a "Model Lab School". There is more about the school at the following websites: Principal Bunjong and Bunjong's Blog. They are both in Thai.

We ended the day with an "End of School" party at the school and all good parties include some karaoke singing. Due was asked to sing and he did very nicely. When it was our turn, Karl and I made all the teachers grateful that they don’t get very many foreign visitors. Our version of "Good Day Sunshine" was pretty poor! Before we went back to Loei we were presented with some very nice pictures made by the art students at the school.

The trip back to Loei went much faster than the ride in the Orange Popsicle Bus. We were glad for that because all the fun of the day had worn us out!