Category: Thailand
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Chasing leopards by the falls!
It was a very hot day when I visited Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest mountain (at 2565 metres or 8415 feet), in early May this year. Temperatures in Chiang Mai city had reached 40 deg C the day before, but it was much cooler up the mountain. There are large tracts of different types of forest…
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Princesses of the steps – innocent!
Anyone who has visited the beautiful temple – Wat Phra That Doi Suthep – on the mountain above Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, and has walked up the long flight of stairs rather than taken the funicular lift, will have seen the lovely little girls in Hill tribe costumes who sit on the bottom of the…
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Songkran 2016 Pattaya
Depending upon your age and inclination, the Thai New Year Songkran water festival is either your worst nightmare, or a lot of wet fun! Personally, I do enjoy it in moderation, but eventually get fed up of being continually doused in water and need to retreat to my hotel. Officially, Songkran only lasts three days…
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Thai classical dance
I love watching Thai dances, the delicate hand and leg movements and the beautiful music. Not to mention the grace and beauty of the dancers themselves! There are many different types of dance in Thailand, all sorts of regional dances with different styles and meanings. For example, sword dances were inspired by types of combat that…
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Happy New Year! Am I a goat or a horse?
It is now the year of the goat. Or is it the year of the sheep? Or the ram?! According to one site on Chinese Astrology (1) “goat people are elegant, charming, artistic, gifted and fond of nature”! Well I certainly identify with that! So I looked it up and it turns out I was…
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The White Temple: Wat Rong Khun
Wat Rong Khun (วัดร่องขุ่น) is a unique temple situated near Chiang Rai. It is the life work of a Thai artist called Chalermchai Kositpipat – with an army of assistants – and is an extraordinary creation of buildings, statues and murals, all of which are very modern but nevertheless in the Buddhist tradition. It is…
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Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden
The Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden is located in the Mae Sa Valley, on the edge of the Doi Sutep-Pui National Park, about fifteen km north of Chiang Mai. The park is large (1000 ha) and there are a number of different sites and glasshouses linked by a perimeter road (see map). Perhaps the most impressive exhibits…
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Chiang Mai Sunday Night Market
The Sunday night walking street market in Chiang Mai has become very popular in recent years. Once a week, a colourful traditional market bazaar takes place along the length of Ratchadamnoen Road (and other side roads) in the Old City. The area is closed off to traffic and hundreds of market traders set up shop selling…
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Boats in the bay
Every morning – throughout the year I think – motor boats criss-cross Pattaya bay bringing tourists out to floating pontoons from which they get a short paraglide. There are larger boats taking people out to the floating platforms, and smaller speed boats taking them for short rides dangling from a parachute behind the boat. I…
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