THAILAND

1992 & 1993
 After living in Taiwan, I moved to Thailand and worked as an English teacher in a Bangkok university for six months. Thailand is a great country and I always enjoyed the dream-like architecture. You can see it everywhere, even in downtown Bangkok where I lived. Though Bangkok is just as crowded and busy as Taipei it was a totally different experience because of the way Thais chose to deal with stress - just smile and everything will work out. Admittedly this can be frustrating when you are in a hurry, but it does lower the blood pressure!

See 2002 trip here.



ASIA
Taiwan
Thailand
  Thailand - Early
Malaysia
Japan
Philippines
China
Hong Kong
Macau
Viet Nam
Singapore

EUROPE
London
Amsterdam
Paris
Roma

OTHER
Friends
Links
Map of Asia

Thailand Links >

Bangkok Post
Thailand's Guiding Light
Thailand's Information
Welcome to Thailand


Published
December 1997
This is a view from outside the Grand Palace's gates in Bangkok. Many different Kings built temples (chedi) on the palace grounds and these are examples of different styles from different eras.
Here is another portion of the Grand Palace. While it is no longer the residence of the King, it is open for tourists and is often used for official events.
During my stay in Bangkok a democracy demonstration took place only a couple of blocks from my home. For several days beginning on May 16, 1992, thousands of students, commoners, and opposition party members including Chumlong flocked to Rajadamnern Road to protest against the newly elected government. As I witnessed it, some were shot and killed by the Thai Army and busses full of demonstrators caught fire. This is Democracy Monument - now a monument to the dead for many.
Bangkok is filled with streetside temples. Rajadamri Temple is right downtown next to the Hyatt Hotel! It provides a place of worship for downtown office workers and something for tourists to oggle at.
Bang Pa In, near Ayuthaya, was a retreat for 19th century royalty. Chulalongkorn's first queen drowned in the lake shown here. At that time commoners were punished by death for touching royalty - no one came to her aid. The law was changed shortly after this tragedy.
Near Bang Ba In is Bang Sai where we found this reproduction of traditional Thai architecture - not bad for a treehouse!
Standing on Ko Phangan's beautiful palm-treed hillsides you can see the island of Ko Samui off in the distance. Some advice though, never forget that coconuts can be lethal!
One early morning on a Ko Samet beach, I saw this incredibly peaceful sight - Buddhist monks on a stroll.
Many Israelis in Bangkok mistook me for a recently discharged Israeli soldier - I think this photo explains why! It's my visa photo taken in Malaysia for re-entry into Thailand. At the time, Israelis were not allowed to travel in Muslim ruled Malaysia.