Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010


















Kanchanaburi

The day began with an unexpected, but delightful short visit to the home of the father of Rujapa Jiamtanopachai, a wonderfully charming young lady who is a member of the incoming GSE Team to our District. Rujapa has been accompanying us daily, helping us through the some of the language barriers that we have encountered and, in general, solving any small problems that inevitably occur in a trip such as ours. Those of you who will meet Rujapa while she is visiting Virginia are in for a real treat. Her father treated us to refreshments and presented us with small gifts which he had made.

Today was a potpourri, complete with activities that diverted from the itinerary and frequently tested the team’s flexibility and ability to adapt. Instead of going to the originally planned visit to a film studio, with a viewing of a famous Thai historical film and then a visit to a farm, we wound up taking a long drive through the countryside to a hot spring.

Had we known to bring swim suits we probably would have been better prepared for a pleasant dip. However, rising to the occasion, the team purchased some appropriate shorts at the spring and continued on as though this was what we planning to do all along. Unfortunately for me, Thai men are not built to my proportions (girth) and, try as I might, I was unable to find anything that came close to my size.

As my team relaxed in the hot spring, I was forced to submit to a one-hour Thai massage. (Why don’t I hear wails of pity?) For one hour I was kneaded, pummeled, twisted and probed by a slightly built lady with incredibly strong hands. I thought that I might never walk again but, surprising, after the ordeal, I felt great.

We next proceeded to the Hellfire Pass museum. Funded mainly by Australia, the museum was built as a memorial to those who had perished building this particularly mountainous stretch of the same railroad that we had visited the previous day, over the River Khwae. In sharp contrast to the museum in Kanchanaburi, which had left me disappointed, this museum was well-organized and informative, with a marvelous view of the steep terrain through which this section of the railway had been built, adding to our appreciation of the achievement.

Whisking us back to Kanchanaburi, our hosts prepared the team to attend a wedding celebration for the daughter of one of the Rotary club presidents. Whereas my host had told me to dress in a white shirt and tie (no jacket) which was perfectly appropriate, the rest of the team’s hosts had conspired to outfit them in formal Thai clothing and, for Brooke, Amanda and Jennifer, new coiffures. When they arrived at the banquet hall (an intimate gathering for about 500 of the family’s closest friends and relatives) I was hard-pressed to recognize my own team.

I was treated royally and was included in a family photo taken with the bride and groom, the bride’s parents and the District Governor Nominee, with whom I sat at dinner. DGN Somphop is a delightful man with a marvelous sense of humor, who made me feel quite at home, translating the goings-on into English for my benefit.

For the entire team, the evening was a rare opportunity to be immersed into an aspect of the Thai culture that we might not ordinarily see. It certainly reinforced the universality of love.


Saturday, February 27, 2010

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Kanchanaburi

The day started as we fondly said farewell to our new friends in Suphanburi and set out to meet new ones in the northwest province of Kanchanaburi, whom we greeted, of course, at a restaurant midway between the two provinces. After a wonderful lunch we drove with our new hosts to the homes where we will spend the next four days.

In the afternoon we visited Kanchanaburi’s most famous landmark, the infamous “Death Bridge”, immortalized in the film “Bridge on the River Kwai”. It was here that, during World War II, the invading Japanese army, while buiding a 300-mile rail link between Burma and Malaysia, used Australian, British and other prisoners of war, as well as slave labor, to build a bridge over the River Khwae (the name was changed to Kwai for the movie.) Over 100,000 men perished from malnutrition, disease and torture during the 20 months in took to complete the railroad. Thousands perished at this very spot when the Japanese mistakenly thought that they could avoid an Allied air attack on the bridge by using the prisoners as human shields and lining them up on the bridge.

We visited a cemetery where the graves of Allied soldiers were lined up in perfectly manicured rows, as at Arlington, with the exception that each grave was marked by a simple raise plaque, with a unique flower arrangement at each grave. I interpreted this arrangement as meaning that although all these men had fought and died for a single cause, each grave was that of an individual who maintained that individuality even in death. Needless to say, I found the cemetery to be an emotionally wrenching experience.

From the solemnity of the cemetery we proceeded to the Bridge itself. Unfortunately, the streets between the two have become a huge tourist trap, complete with vendors plying junky trinkets and food stalls selling all sorts of perishable foods that have been sitting out in the broiling sun all day. A run- down and extremely poorly organized war museum completed the garish scene, with life-sized mannequins that only hinted at the misery that had taken place here.

The bridge itself, now restored with new sections replacing those that the bombs destroyed, is just that – a bridge, with no more indication of its frightful moment in history than any other bridge. Knowing what had taken place here and what it was now left me feeling sadly empty.

My melancholy abated considerably when we shared a sumptuous dinner with our host families and other Rotarians at a fabulous restaurant further upstream. I can’t impress enough upon the readers of this Blog how incredible a Thai dinner is – not like a local restaurant at home, where one order a plate and then share a bite or two of our eating partner’s dish. Here the dishes keep coming and coming, each different and tantalizing. A diner never knows whether to fill his plate, thinking that that one may the last, or take a chance that there might be three or four or more still to come. And then there’s desert. A dilemma that I think I’ll have to sleep upon.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010
























Friday, February 26, 2010
Suphanburi

Today our itinerary calls for us to visit some of the agriculture-related businesses of Suphanburi Province. The first stop of the day was at a fish farm.

This was not your ordinary farm breeding fingerling trout for stocking local Virginia rivers. This fish farm was comprised of five lakes, covering some 280 acres! Upon arriving we came upon a huge mound of small, dead fish waiting to ground up and mixed with rice to form a paste-like patty, that will be used to feed the other fish in the ponds – at a rate of 44 tons a day.

The farm produces essentially two species of fish. Snakeheads, that invasive species that has created horrendous problems in Virginia and Maryland ponds because of their voracious appetites and their ability to move out of water, on land, from one pond to another, are a popular fish crop – precisely for that ability to remain out of water for up to ten days. This makes these two-to-five pound fish ideal for transporting live to a wide range of markets. We were told that they are very tasty.

The second species produced by this farm were catfish – catfish weighing over 220 pounds! While we were standing there, a pickup truck pulled up with a bed of live catfish. Two very strong men hoisted one of these gigantic fish out of the truck so that we could take photos. This experience certainly put a new face on what we know as “fishing”.

From fish farms we next traveled to a pig farm. This farm, on a far smaller scale than the fish farm contained “only” 300 pigs. The farm did not breed pigs, but instead, purchases small 40-pound piglets and with carefully controlled diets and extreme hygienic conditions, (the pig sties are covered with mosquito netting to prevent them from carrying disease,) they stay at the farms for several months, until they reach about 200 pounds, and then are sold at market.

The last stop of the morning was a rice production plant. Rice is probably the most important crop in Asia. The basis of every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner, is rice. In central Thailand, which we just touched the edge of, there are rice fields as far as the eye can see. This plant, which has been in the same family for generations, takes the rice grain, shells the husks, processes it through several steaming and roasting steps, and produces the final product which is shipped out in huge bags. It appeared as if much of the equipment being used had been there when the plant first opened – but it still worked so why change it?

We had lunch at a restaurant that could only be described as hole-in-the-wall yet, as usual, the food was delicious. It seems like you can’t go wrong in Thailand when it comes to eating!

After lunch we went to a large plant nursery, with seemingly endless rows of every conceivable type of plant, from wonderful varieties of orchids to life sized topiary horses rising on their hind legs while pawing the air with their forelegs. I was also particularly interested in the visiting birds and spied a species of sparrow that I had never seen in the USA. Sometimes one finds treasures even when not looking for them!
Our last stop of the day before returning to our hosts for dinner, we made one final stop at a laboratory that was cloning plants, so that only the best species would continue to be sold for planting. To me this had a Darwin +one quality to it. I wondered to myself that the question of ethics even entered my head when it came to asparagus and bananas, how would I feel about similar procedures in other species.

Now that’s a lot of end-of-the-day thinking.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010





























Ayutthaya

Today we spent the entire day at Ayutthaya (ah-you-tie-yah) , one of the richest, politically and commercially advanced cities in the world from the mid-14th century, until it was literally destroyed by Burma 400 years later. Known as the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, it thrived and developed into a great center of regional and international trade. A cosmopolitan city, it was criss-crossed by canals, earning it the nickname “Venice of the East”. In addition to Thais the population included Chinese, Mon, Khymer, Malays, Indians and Persians. Now, all that remains are haunting ruins, that can only hint of the grandeur that once must have been.

Our first stop in Ayutthaya was the Chao San Phraya National Museum which houses thousands of artifacts which reflect glory of better times. Many of these are various images of Buddha from various regions of the kingdom. Although somewhat overwhelming in their numbers. They all reflect a sense of tranquility and peace. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the museum, so you will only have my word attesting to its beauty.

We spent the main portion of our visit exploring the ruins, spires and art of this ancient wonder which once was the kingdom of 33 kings and several dynasties. In recognition of its historical and cultural importance the historical park was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 1991.

A luncheon treat – we ate on a boat that cruised down the Chao Pharaya, the same river that bisects Bangkok some 75 miles downstream. This gave us an entirely different view of the ruins at Ayutthaya, as well as a feeling as what the present city looks like from the river.

Our final experience of the day took us by yet another means of transport – elephants! A twenty minute, somewhat bumpy stroll, was great fun and made the perfect ending to a wonderful day of new experiences.






Ayutthaya

Thursday, February 25, 2010
















Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Suphanburi

Last night I stayed at the beautiful home of my host for the next four days, DGE Pornchai, a prominent Suphanburi physician. I can assure anyone concerned about me that I am in excellent hands.

Today is scheduled to be a vocational day, with the team splitting up to pursue their individual areas of interest. Since I had expressed interest in my post-retirement field of photography, the D3330 GSE planned a day of photo-ops for me.

Our first stop was the Wat Phai Rong Wua which houses the world’s largest metal cast Buddha image in the world. It is called the Phra Phutta Banlue. It rises to height of 80 feet and has a lap width of 30 feet. It is truly impressive (but not to a cat who chose to lay down in the hat that I placed on the floor besides me as I knelt in respect, and tried to fall asleep.)

Leaving the giant Buddha we travelled to another wat that had been founded by Chinese settlers inThailand hundreds of years ago There I found groups of elementary school children, each school identifiable by the the bright colors of their t-shirts.

Proceeding onward we came to what appeared to be an amusement park, which featured in the entrance a huge, gaily painted dragon proudly topping an equally attractive building. As it turned out, the building housed an important historical museum. Unfortunately, the exhibit times did not coincide with our timetable and we had to move on to our next stop. An old street market which covered perhaps as many as 15 to 20 blocks. As we meandered from shop to shop it became quite apparent that anyone’s shopping desires could be well satisfied. There was even an old photography store which contained, among other treasures, an ancient large format bellows camera (of the type that might have been used by Ansel Adams).

After an al fresco lunch, in what one might mistake as a tropical jungle, with a myriad of plants, trees and birds, we moved on to the “featured” event of the afternoon – a buffalo show. Actually the show took place in an area that was housed in an exceptionally beautiful park, with a large lake that was the home to hundreds of very large catfish. When I tossed a handful of food pellets into the calm water of the lake, it suddenly was transformed into a churning sea as the frenzied fish fought for the tidbits.

The buffalo show, which featured not the bison that we erroneously refer to as “buffalo”, but rather huge water buffalo, some with horns spreading more than six feet. The show demonstrated how the buffalo are used as beasts of burden in plowing the rice fields and other farm applications. In order to qualify as a “show”, they also performed stunts that I somehow always associated with trained horses – raising one hoof at a time to voice command, kneeling, rolling over and (this was new) smiling.

Lest you think that our visit is all play and no work, the entire team gathered in time to make our first presentation, to a joint meeting of four Rotary clubs. Considering that fact that this was our first attempt, the presentation went quite well. I started my talk in my well-rehearsed Thai, but after a few minutes of looking at blank stares, I asked if they would prefer me to speak in English. This was received by laughter and applause. We were assisted my an ex-pat from New Zealand, who translated our presentation back into understandable Thai.

After a long Rotary meeting lasting over 2 ½ hours, we finally staggered back to our hosts homes and to bed.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Day 1 -- BANGKOK







Tuesday, February 23, 2010


The start of an amazing day. Actually our day "started" with our arrival shortly after midnight at Bangkok's airport where we were warmly greeted by about 40 Thai Rotarians, ;ed by their District GSEChair Quanchai. What a reception, complete with banners, leis, and lots of introductions and handshakes. We were truly made to feel like visiting dignitaries! Although we were pretty tired (after over 30 hours of travel) the experience was unforgetable and worth every minute.
By the time we checked into our hotel and got to bed it was already almost 3:00 AM.
After a 6:00 AM wakeup call, we had a wonderful buffet breakfast, filled with both Thai and American delights. To our credit, the team stuck mainly to the unnamed Thai breakfast items and we were not disappointed. This bodes well for future meals in Thailand.

Our first stope of the day was the headquarters for all of Thailand’s four Rotary Districts in downtown Bangkok. We were greeted by various Thai Rotary dignitaries, the presidents of some of the presidents of Rotary clubs in District 3330 and by the entire outbound GSE team going to D7570. The outgoing team had many questions for us about Virginia, particularly about Virginia’s weather and snowfall. We had many photos to show them, but assured them that, although they would probably see the remnants of this year’s record snowfall, they were unlikely to have very much snow.

The two GSE teams then set out for lunch at Bangkok’s Navy Club, so named named for its location on the Chao Pharya river, which intersects Bangkok, rather than for any military affiliation. Lunch was served family style, which is typical of Thai restaurants. Plate after plate of incredible unnamed dishes kept appearing as if by magic. I believe that, in a deliberate effort to break in the farang (foreigners –not a derogatory terms, just a description of all non-Thai persons) slowly, the spices were kept on the moderate side. In any case, the meal couldn’t have been more delicious (aroy mâak).

Fully satisfied, we then set out for the Royal Palace, which is not the king’s residence (although it has been used as such in the past), but rather the most significant place of Budhist worship in Thailand. Amid jeweled and enameled golden spires is a mini-city of sacred buildings, statues, murals including the most sacred object of all – the Emerald Budha – which, three times a year is dressed in different ceremonial robes by the king himself. Only the most reverent behavior is allowed within this temple – no shoes, only kneeling on the floor with feet pointed away from the budha and no photography (although I was allowed to take a picture from outside of the temple.

After a short “tuk-tuk” ride ( a sort of motorized rickshaw) we got back in our van and were driven about two hours to Suphanburi where we met our host families for the next four nights and, believe it or not, enjoy yet another incredible Thai meal. I believe that I will have a tough time maintaining my weight over the next month.

GSE Team enroute

Monday, February 21, 2010
Tokyo (Narita International Airport)

After traveling 18 hours we have arrived at Tokyo. Now a three hour layover, the seven more hours of flying and we will arrive in Bangkok. We're almost there!

So far the flight has been uneventul, however we had the unexpected good fortune of flying by way of the polar route. This took us over several hundred miles of breathtaking scenery as we passed over the Canadian Rockies and Alaska. Snow-capped mountain poeaks pointed jagged fingers at us as we soard above them. The route then took us over the Aleutian Islands and the western coast of Siberia (which, unfortunately) was shrouded in dense cloud cover. We then followed this path to Tokyo.

Now for a few houurs here to freshen up, then on to Bangkok.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Today we had our last team meeting since we leave in ONE WEEK! Time has certainly flown by and it's hard to believe the trip is almost here, but everything is pretty much ready to go. With the severe winter we have had, we are all ready for 95 degrees!