Thailand Slide Show, Part 1
(The author at the night of King's birthday on the Sanaam Luang)
©1997-2002 Martin Kraemer
Please feel free to sign the guest book! Thanks!
)
A small boy, sitting in the empty rain water tank in front of his house
in Thonburi, watching the traffic on the khlong pass by.
Famous 
--the Temple of
the Emerald Buddha-- in 
=Bangkok, in the sunlight.
Inside (the Temple of
the Emerald Buddha) it's always busy; tourists as well as praying
buddhists come here often.
Look at the decorations of the different temples inside
(the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha)! These /grud'/ (Garuda) figures surround the whole
temple.
A /yak^/ (giant) from the Ramakien story welcomes the visitors, towering 5 meters
high at the entrance door.
All the decorations of
(the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) are glistening in the
sunlight.
A beautiful /gin-na^rii-/ figure, half bird, half man, inside
(the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha).
Inside (the Temple of
the Emerald Buddha), a small boy is delighted about the lotus flowers
blooming in a small pond beside the temple.
The five-headed naga inside (the Temple of the Emerald
Buddha) serves as a railing for the stairs leading to the temple.
A daemon "holding" part of a golden stupa inside
(the Temple of the Emerald Buddha).
"Still life" inside
(the Temple of the Emerald Buddha).
Some of the wall paintings decorating the walls in
(the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha).
Isn't Rama's Beloved Sita beautiful? Wall paintings decorating the walls in
(the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha).
On the 
(great lawn)
in front of (the
Temple of the Emerald Buddha), all children like to have their kites
fly on a sunny weekend with their families.
Do you like Thai Curries as much as I do? Everywhere in Thailand,
you can enjoy them (spicy hot, of course) right on the side of the
street, prepared freshly every day.
Sugar cane juice, made freshly on the market (here on /ja'tu'jak'/ weekend
market in the northern part of =Bangkok), is a sweet and delicious refreshment.
On the streets of every town in Thailand, tasty and spicy food is prepared
freshly for you (this guy is frying mussles), and you just can't eat as
much as you'd like to.
A ride with the 
(Tuktuk, the
name imitating its sound) in =Bangkok (the "Taxi" for the poorer people),
is certainly a must for the tourist (at least once...). But don't let
them lure you to a "cheap cheap cheap!" gem store.....
The Reclining Buddha in /wat^jetuphon-/ (Wat Phoo, Bangkok) is about 60 meters long.
Don't miss the chance to throw a couple of Satangs into the Monk's Bowls on the
back of the Buddha! Clink-Clonk-Clunk...!
The feet are the human's "lowest" part, in thai perspective. Look at the
beautifully decorated mother-of-pearl inlay of the Reclining Buddha's feet! So
if the feet are incomparably beautiful already, how beautiful must the rest of
Buddha be then!
A couple praying in /wat^jetuphon-/ (Wat Phoo, Bangkok) in front of the Reclining Buddha
(in the background)
Wat Traimit in Bangkok houses the massive golden Buddha figure
which was discovered by accident under a simple-looking plaster covering
when the figure was about to be moved for restoration purposes.
The Buddha statue in front is about as big as a man. Now you
can guess how big the huge statue in the background must be,
which can be found in northern /bang-lam-phuu-/ in
=Bangkok.
On the different Buddha Statue markets in Bangkok, you'll find
Buddha Statues in all styles and shapes.
/wat^ben-ja'ma^bOO-phit^/, The Marble Temple, is decorated with Carrara Marble
which was imported in the last century all the way from Italy.
The Monks at /wat^ben-ja'ma^bOO-phit^/ (The Marble Temple) are
preparing the evening prayer ceremony.
The Golden Mountain /wat^sa'get'/ in the evening sun.
A young couple praying in the temple on the top of
the Golden Mountain /wat^sa'get'/
Sunset over Bangkok as seen from the Golden Mountain /wat^sa'get'/
(the Temple of the
Emerald Buddha) in Bangkok, seen at night from the
Famous -- the Temple of the Emerald Buddha --,
brightly illuminated during the night of the King's birthday (Dec 5th)
Friendly people selling "Suki & DtomYam" at night in chinatown.
This is a commercial thai dance, of course.
But it's so beautiful, isn't it?
The Erawan Shrine (on the corner where there used to be a famous hotel
called Erawan. It was torn down in 1989 and a gigantic SOKO department store
was built in its place). But still people come to worship here, day and night
there are people and dancers and gamelan music and incense.
This is The Heart of Chinatown. Here you'll find traffic jams all day long,
and lots of interesting shops at each side of the road.
Close to /wat^phoo-/ (the temple of the Reclining Buddha), there's a small
old market. This is the place to look for dried shrimps if you like them.
Especially in the hot season, you'll prefer to be close to the
river. Using the river taxi is in most cases much faster than being
stuck in one of the traffic jams. And you'll also see an old
chinese style Sampao once in a while. No, this is just a ferry boat
from one of the hotels along the river.
In northern Bangkok, you'll find a green market in /thee-weet"/ (Theves).
Go there by river taxi and enjoy the flowers and the colors of
the groceries. (I made this very picture TWICE, about three years apart,
and every detail of the arrangement looked the SAME!).
This type of Bangkok, with small houses and little streets, is
now vanishing more and more, making place for huge skyscapers.
Interestingly, this is a recent photograph taken just around the
corner of one of the most-frequented tourist areas, the Khao Saan
Road in /bang-lam-phuu-/ Banglampoo.
©1997-2002 Martin Kraemer
Please feel free to sign the guest book! Thanks!
If you happen to have questions, comments or suggestions regarding these pages, don't hesitate to send me mail:
Martin Kraemer
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