Trip to Thailand & Laos, Nan - Part 1

The second morning (after my suitcase was returned...of course after I had bought new clothes and stuff) I left Bangkok for Nan on Nok Air. I love the way they decorate their planes (but not the way they cancel flights...two on this trip) Flights leave from the old airport which I used to love but now looks rather forlorn now that its reduced in size and has no hope of any improvements.

In Nan I checked in to the gorgeous Pukha Nanfa Hotel, an 80 year old Teak hotel which had totally been redone two years ago to a boutique hotel.

My room on the second floor with flatscreen tv couldn't have been nicer.

There was a safe in the closet and a huge bathroom inside the wall on the right.

After settling in I headed out to view a few of the sights. The town itself is just the usual boring concrete buildings but the old temples are something else.

Those are elephants under the mold below the gold chedhi.

My next stop was the Nan Museum, housed in the home of the last Nan ruler.

By the end of the -14th century Nan was one of the nine northern Thai-Lao principalities that comprised Lan Na Thai (now Lanna) and the city state flourished throughout the 15th century under the name Chiang Klang (Middle City), a reference to its position roughly midway between Chiang Mai (New City) and Chiang Thong (Golden City, which is today's Luang Prabang). The Burmese took control of the kingdom in 1558 and deported many of the inhabitants to Burma as slaves; the city was completely deserted until western Thailand was retaken from the Burmese in 1786. The local dynasty then regained local sovereignty and it remained semi-autonomous until 1931 when Nan finally accepted full Bangkok dominion. Parts of the old city wall and several early wats dating from the Lanna period can be seen in contemporary Nan.

A walkway on the grounds.

Guardians at the door.

The National Museum

Just a cute dragon on a Wat on the way back to the hotel.

Back to Bangkok and Kanchanaburi Thailand

After a really comfy overnight train ride from Nong Khai Thailand (across the river from Vientiane) I arrived back in Bangkok. The lower two seats make up into a bed with a curtain and a foam mattress. Really comfy.

Dropped off my bags and it was time to hit Chinatown for some serious shopping.

There is a Swensen's in the mall at the end of my route. What else was a hot shopper to do?

Koi in a pond at one of the hotels on Khao San Road.

After one night in Bangkok I stored my bags and headed up river to Kanchanaburi. I took a taxi to the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok to catch the bus. Very easy and organized. There was even a hostess on the bus who served us cold water.

Flowers in the hotel yard.

I checked in a looked around for a place to eat lunch. Most of the bars and restaurants on my strip only seemed to open later in the evening. I finally found a place called the Jolly Frog ..a big backpacker hotel..open at all hours and had some fried rice served in a pineapple.

It was quite good and only 50 baht. A real bargain these days.

Hmmmm....I wonder what that's all about?

My fancy room. The bed, fridge and tv were on a platform which made getting on a bit interesting.

My bathroom had one section with the toilet and sink and that opened out to a huge shower which included this garden!

A view of the garden part from inside the room.

The hotel pool

Trip to Thailand, Laos & Bali- Thailand TV

Every evening at either 7:30 or 8:00 pm, depending on the station, there is a review of the events which members of the Royal Family attended. I haven't seen the King or Queen on TV in a couple of years...due to their ill health. The Crown Prince is often seen giving out diplomas at graduations and at other events, often accompanied by his wife and young son. And the second oldest sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who is very popular with the Thai's, is often shown.

This is Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn the youngest daughter.
born in 1957. She has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Mahidol University, Bangkok where she is currently a professor. She is often shown going overseas and lecturing to various groups.

This is Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya
who was born in 1951, eldest child of the King and Queen. After finishing her education in the United States of America, (an MBA at M.I.T.) she relinquished her royal title to marry an American commoner. She has lived most of her life in the United States with her then husband, Peter Jensen, and their three children,
After her divorce, the princess has moved back to Thailand, and has embarked on many activities for the betterment of the Thai people. One notable project is the "To Be Number One" project which deals directly with the drug problems in the kingdom. She is very interested in the arts and starred in a movie last year. She is very fashionable. She is also just a Princess and not a Royal Highness because of the divorce and giving up the title. Her son died in the Tsunami in Thailand a few years ago.
There is always an entourage and red carpet for the royal.

And usually some sort of entertainment and/or review or a facility or ribbon cutting.
And lots of sitting time looking interested.

The Crown Prince's ex-wife is also on the tour. She is revered as the mother of the King's first grandchild and is also the Queen's niece. And several granddaughters also are frequently seen.

Trip to Bali, Laos and Thailand...the Bangkok Airport

I have just returned from a trip to Bali, Thailand and Laos. This usually requires at least one lengthy stay in the new Bangkok International Airport. Flights from the U.S. arrive around midnight and I like to take an early flight to my next destination in order to not waste a day. If I go to a hotel I usually can't get more than an hour or two's sleep so I have lately opted to just stay overnight in the airport and not bother. This is one of the new huge statues in the checkin area.
And there was a beautiful orchid display as well.





I was flying on Airasia, a fairly new lowcost airline. Lots of other people were obviously waiting all night as well.
This piece has been in the departure area since the airport opened a couple of years ago.


Other than the beautiful statues and gardens the airport is full of ridiculously expensive shops and a few eating places...also expensive. However there is also a post office which would be very convenient if I ever needed it.

Hellfire Pass Museum

Hellfire Pass is the name of a railway cutting on the Death Railway in Thailand, known by the Japanese as Konyu cutting. Work by torchlight at night by Allied POW's gave the pass its name. Here is a model of one of the large number of trestles built along the railway.




The Museum was co-sponsored by the Thai and Australian Governments.

The Konyu cutting was a particularly difficult section of the line to build due to it being the largest rock cutting on the railway, coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building. A tunnel would have been possible to build instead of a cutting, but this could only be constructed at the two ends at any one time, whereas the cutting could be constructed at all points simultaneously despite the excess effort required by the POWs. The Australian, British, Dutch and other allied Prisoners of War were required by the Japanese to work 18 hours a day to complete the cutting. Sixty nine men were beaten to death by Japanese and Korean guards in the six weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from cholera, dysentery , starvation and exhaustion. However, the majority of deaths occurred amongst labourers whom the Japanese enticed to come to help build the line with promises of good jobs. These labourers, mostly Malayans (Chinese, Malays and Tamils from Malaya), suffered mostly the same as the POWs at the hands of the Japanese. The Japanese kept no records of these deaths.

Route of the railway.

Photo of a prisoner upon release at the end of the war.

One of the many trestles.

I had wanted to visit Hellfire Pass for several years since I heard about the Museum opening. Unfortunately we were only allowed 45 minutes there. And since the pass is straight down and about a mile away from the museum this wasn't possible. It took almost that long just to go through the museum which was very moving. I will just have to go again on another visit...this time not with a tour. After this visit it was back to the floating hotel for a delicious lunch. This dish was full of delicious cooked squash.