With Christmas trimmings still up and presents yet to be fully enjoyed, we packed up some long forgotten summer clothes and headed southwest to Thailand on December 26th. Seoul was grey and cold so the bright sun, green foliage and warm Thai smiles that greeted us in Bangkok made the journey and wait in immigration lines very tolerable. The friendly nature of the Thai people was immediately apparent and certainly reflects the country’s love of tourists and its reliance on this industry. Despite all that I’d read/heard about traffic in Bangkok, we had a smooth trip to the Peninsula Hotel and were soon enjoying a relaxing, if not spicy (!) late lunch by the pool which overlooks the Chao Phraya River.
As you can see the Peninsula Hotel was very comfortable and the girls all took advantage of the spa, enjoying Thai massages with lemongrass oils for a fraction of what such services cost in other countries. Each morning, Bill and I lingered over coffee on the riverfront terrace while the girls slept in. We loved watching all the river traffic which included shuttle boats associated with the various luxury hotels on the riverfront, big sputtering canal ferries, smaller river taxis for locals to scoot from one side of the river to the other and the noisy but very colourful long-tail boats with huge outboard motors seemingly more fitting for a car or truck versus on the stern of a tourist craft. 
We also saw several huge barges full of sand, mud, slime, ??? glide by and were stunned by the living conditions of those who reside on these vessels. Grim. The murky brown, garbage-ridden water flowing in the Chao Phraya river was less than inviting (surfing anyone?).
We all indulged in the delicious delicious array of fruits, pastries, cold cuts, raw fish, etc. that the truly international buffet offered. It won’t surprise you which items appealed to Daphne and Zoe after 4 months of Korean cuisine….Cocoa Krispies, ham and cheese omelettes for example. The fresh mango was the best I’ve EVER had in my whole 52 year life! In the afternoons upon our return from sightseeing, we lounged by the pool, slathering ourselves in sunscreen that Eloise had brought us from the U.S. The guests were from all over the world, with Europe and China well-represented. An elevator chat with one family proved once again the 6 degrees of separation theory since we quickly found we had mutual friends from Princeton (the Bermans) in common.
We toured many of the main tourist attractions with Alissa, a smiley guide arranged for us by the hotel. We loved the Golden Buddha at Wat (Temple) Traimit. He is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha and dates from the 13-14th century. For most of his history, however, no one knew he was made of solid gold since the gold was covered with plaster and jewels to deter invaders from recognizing its true value. It wasn’t until 1954 when the statue was being moved and the plaster cracked that the solid gold nature of the Buddha became apparent. Irregardless of his tremendous value (well over $200 million), we all appreciated the Golden Buddha for his symmetry and elegance and marvelled at the accessibility (no glass/security guards) to such a valuable treasure.
According to our guide, Thai people consider long earlobes are thought to be good luck and a sign of longevity. This statement immediately prompted a close examination of all Stanton earlobes and a sign of relief from Zoe who has particularly nice ones. A brief aside: I have subsequently learned at a recent meeting of my Seongbuk-dong book club that Koreans also care about earlobes, admiring those that are big and detached. Often, the only comment made about a newborn baby is one praising his/her ears. Who knew?! Perhaps some of you are checking out your own earlobes now….? 
If you look closely on the image below, you can see a photo of the current King who looks to be in his late 50s. There are similar photos throughout the city of him, but what we found perplexing is the discrepancy between the public posters and his current condition since he is currently a very frail, 88-yr. old monarch who now essentially “resides”, along with his queen, at the hospital due to his failing health. Certainly Donald Trump, for one, would be a whole lot easier to take if the only images displayed publicly of him were taken during his more attractive (?!!) youth.
There were white strings coming from the temple down to the city square in front of the adjacent monastery which were strung up in anticipation of upcoming Buddhist sacred holiday. During holidays, participants will chant outside the temple and blessings from the temple are thought to be transferred to participants along these white strings. Bill and I briefly considered rising before sunrise to witness the daily chanting rituals of the monks who reside nearby.
At all of the Wats we toured, visitors bought incense, lotus flowers and/or small amulets to leave as offerings at the entrance of the temples and often played the various gongs and bells hanging nearby.
Dressed in bright orange, the Thai monks were a cheerful contrast to the Korean monks sporting grey robes we see all over Seoul…another reflection of the contrasting cultures? I particularly liked this rotund monk who seemed to “echo” the adjacent statue almost perfectly though not at all deliberately!
The next stop was Wat Pho which is the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok and home to the Reclining Buddha. Covered in gold leaf and 150 ft. long x 50 ft. high, this Buddha is truly impressive and I was unable to capture its majestic stature in a single picture. This temple is also the birthplace of traditional Thai massage and home today to a school teaching this style of massage. The students offer their services to the public, but as appealing as a Thai massage was at this point on our tour, the oppressive heat was a deterrent.
He’s so long, it’s hard to see his feet!
We enjoyed the calm and peace of this temple and found a few moments to sit in the shade. It was so nice to have all the sisters together and hear all the banter back and forth between them.
We then went to Wat Phra Kaew which is home to the most sacred Buddha…the Emerald Buddha. We could not actually enter the temple where this Buddha statue is located because of a blessing ceremony in progress; consequently, my pictures are less than clear. Perhaps you can make out the knitted gold cloak that this small (only 26 inches and made of jade, not emerald) Buddha wears. The cloak is made of real gold and it is one of the seasonal costumes that only King himself is allowed to place upon the Buddha four times a year. Recently, however, the elderly King has been unable to climb the ladder to change the Buddha’s cloak so the statue has not had a “costume change” in awhile.
Wat Phra Kaew is located on the grounds of The Grand Palace which is a large, rather ecclectic, complex filled with gilded buildings, pavilions, ceremonial halls and gardens. It has been the official residence of the Thai monarchy for nearly 200 years, but the current king has never resided there and only conducts official business/state functions in some of the buildings. 
Thailand truly loves its gold and jewels. One building after the next was covered with gold leaf, bright mosaic tiles and gems, all of which is a stunning contrast to the natural wood, white mulberry handmade paper (called Hanji) and stone building materials used throughout Korea. A quick reminder of Korean palaces:
Here are a few shots of the many, many bejewelled buildings and figurines we enjoyed at the Grand Palace. The omnipresent gold leaf seemed to intensify the heat and we were glad to have our sunglasses. We were able to observe a worker re-applying some gold leaf, very much a full time job here.
Unfortunately, we were a bit slow to request the “elephant” pants the Peninsula Hotel concierge desk provides guests who wish to be as comfortable as possible in the heat and yet appropriately dressed for the sites. Only Bill was lucky enough to procure a pair of these harem style pants while the rest of us “invented” outfits, some of which were truly special and hence, these photos were eliminated (for obvious reasons!) as possible Christmas card options.
At the entrance to the Grand Palace there is a small textile museum founded in 2003 by her Majesty Queen Sirikit. I got heavy resistance from the “troops” when I begged to visit the museum as we had already spent over 4 hours with Alissa and we were all “hangrey”, but I “won” and it was so worth it. A small collection of gowns the Queen wore to various state dinners was beautifully displayed. The brief history of the silk road and weaving demonstrations were also fascinating, such that all of us would recommend a stop at this gem of a museum.
Following this long, hot day of touring many of Bangkok’s top sites, we enjoyed dinner on the Peninsula Terrace. Afterwards, Eloise and Zoe elected to chill (literally!) in their rooms while Bill, Daphne, Claire and I decided to visit a nearby night market Alissa had mentioned earlier. We took ferries across and down the river with lots of other hot sweaty folks…tourists and locals alike. The market was not at all what we were expecting as it was mostly a huge food court bustling with folks chasing cheap eats and beer. The rest of the market was a maze of tiny stalls filled to the brim with repetitive, generally uninspired clothing/textile/souvenir products and loads of consumers excited about all the “bargains” to be found. We did not find ANYTHING appealing, save a pair of elephant harem pants for Zoe, a leather wallet for Claire and a birthday present for a friend of Daphne’s…all for about $30. There was a group of decorated elephants we found humorous, as well as several items from the sex industry such as the candles/dildos (?) featured below.
Thailand is certainly VERY VERY cheap compared to Korea and many other places and so we recommend it as a post-Christmas, “light on the wallet” destination. Unfortunately, amidst all the crowds and bright lights, poor Bill spent most of the time at the night market on the phone with AT&T since he discovered someone has stolen his identity and opened up a bunch of new phone lines on our account. Big mess and stressful, but he’s on it and AT&T has since removed $3,800 of fraudulent charges!!
The next day we ventured out into city on our own, riding the efficient and air-conditioned subway system. Staring at the curlicues and accents adorning the sandscript-like Thai writing, Daphne, Zoe and I were all instantly reminded of how easy the Korean alphabet is relative to those of its neighbouring Asian countries. In fact, during our week in Thailand, I was only able to pick up two words (“Khob khun Krab” (thank you) and “Sawatdee ka” (hello)) which are essential for tourists but very limiting otherwise. It was interesting to see the bustling city full of bright magenta taxi cabs, tuk tuks, noisy motorcycles (we don’t have these in Seoul!), random statues and indigent street peddlers, all thrown together. Here are a few street scenes we encountered on our way to the Jim Thompson museum.
Jim Thompson was a famous American businessman who organised the Bangkok OSS office after WWII and fell in love with Thailand, its geography, people and culture, so much so that he decided to invest in a private hotel and the silk industry after serving in the Army. He was a renowned collector of antiques and constructed a “house” made up of six different Thai dwellings to showcase his art. Thoughtfully decorated and landscaped, the Jim Thompson house is now a wonderful, small museum that we thoroughly enjoyed visiting.
Thompson was friends with the author of “Anna and the King of Siam”, the novel on which Rogers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I” was based and he convinced the producers of the original show to have all of the costumes made out of Thai silk, thereby raising awareness of this lovely textile to audiences around the world. Thompson, in fact, is single-handedly credited with revitalizing the Thai silk industry and protecting this cottage industry by allowing women weavers to work at home and thereby retain their positions in the household yet earn significant income. Thompson suddenly disappeared while on vacation in Malaysia and his mysterious disappearance triggered the largest manhunt ever in S.E. Asia. He was never found, but he remains a huge presence in Thailand nonetheless.
There were Thai dancers performing in the main courtyard who instantly reminded me of the various Thai au-pairs who cared for me as a child in S.F. I was always fascinated by their ability to curve their fingers way, way back as you can see in the photo above. We learned about silkworms and saw weavers spinning the silk from cocoons (look closely at for the threads coming from the cocoons being woven together). We also secretly picked up some gorgeous silk ties for Bill’s birthday in early January. If you’re ever in Asian airports, check out Jim Thompson stores since you’ll love the silk products and low prices, certainly relative to Hermès, etc.
Hang time at the pool, massages in the spa and then a post dinner tourist trap show,”Siam Niramit”, roughly translated as Thai Miracles rounded out Day Two. “Siam Niramit” is an elaborately-staged spectacle, complete with live elephants, that tells the history of Siam/Thailand and is worth seeing for the dancing, costumes and set, though there will be no “Tony” awards given to this show.
A stay in Bangkok is not complete without an outing in a long-tail boat along the canals near Chao Phraya River. We chose the late afternoon to charter a boat so we could enjoy the city’s sites in the afternoon light and watch the sunset. Many, many Thais live in very modest houses along the canals and each one has a spirit shrine. From the boat, we could see all the homes, stores, schools, temples/monasteries and small restaurants that make up this canal community. I tried to capture as many as I could as we motored by. Several boats came by selling trinkets and food. Eloise engaged one boat purveyor and purchased a back-scratcher for $2. The water is filled with garbage and the living conditions bleak, but it wasn’t smelly or buggy and everyone waved to us. We had to go back through the locks upon our return to the big river and found it interesting to watch the ferry boat captains jockey for position and then share a beer while waiting for the water to rise in the locks. We passed many many temples that glittered in the fading light. Beautiful and peaceful.
The next morning we left busy Bangkok and flew south to Phuket for the second phase of our vacation. Thai Smile was the name of our airline which just about says it all! A private speed boat carried us to one of the many beautiful islands off the mainland and we arrived at Santhiya Koh Yao Yai resort just as the sun set. Smiling, bowing Thais greeted us with “Sawatdee ka” which is the Thai “hello” greeting that is said with hands in prayer position at forehead with a slight bow all day long by everyone. We were escorted via a small wooden safari jeep to our Grand Pool Villa built into the cliff overlooking the water. Stunningly gorgeous, the villa was almost entirely made of intricately carved teakwood and had lovely outdoor shower/bathrooms, an infinity pool and two levels for the 6 of us to enjoy. The view of the Andaman Sea was one of the best ever and we were reminded of our stay up high on the mountainside of Jost Island in the BVIs for Peter and Stephanie’s wedding years ago.
Stantons are good at relaxing in the sun by pools and beaches so we had no problem donning bathing suits, settling into our books and chatting away the sunny days. There was a nice shaded platform by the pool at our villa that couldn’t have been more perfect for late afternoon yoga. Massage appointments were easy to book either at the spa or by the beach, though most of us preferred the Peninsula Hotels treatments to Santhiya’s…oh how spoiled we are!!
We did not love the dining experience at Santhiya, however. The service was friendly (of course, because we were in Thailand!) but quite slow at times and the breakfast buffet rather bland and uninspired. Lunch and dinner fare was better and certainly Claire, Eloise and I could not get enough of the delicious sweet-sour-spicy green papaya salad and various Thai curries we tried. We all agreed that we were permanently “damaged” by our over-the-top stay on Azura island in Mozambique since all other luxury hotels have paled by comparison.
One day we chartered a small fishing boat and a gentle captain who took us to some nearby islands to snorkle and explore remote beaches. Our captain deliberately avoided one island crowded with Chinese tourists, explaining that although the beach was beautiful, all the fish were scared away. As soon as we were below the water’s surface and saw all sea life around us, we realised how correct he was. Even Zoe, who was very wary of swimming amidst so many sea creatures, found herself enjoying the warm waters and colourful underwater world. I collected some lovely sea glass at another beach while others relaxed on a shady swing. 
Our lunch at “The White House” was delicious, particularly the crab curry made with crabs caught and cooked right before our eyes. When asked about the fried eggs sitting at the base of a nearby tree, the chef explained that those were extra eggs from breakfast put out as food for the chickens roaming around. This appalled Zoe who was quick to comment that the chickens were essentially eating their own “children”. Strange.
New Year’s Eve was an evening we won’t forget as the resort tried very hard to make it special for its guests…and it was “special”. There was an “in-house” band which was comprised of a Philipino singer and Thai keyboardist and they were TERRIBLE, but I guess “in-house” band says it all. This act was followed by Thai dancing which again was lacking in talent/creativity/interest. Finally, the main act, a 6 piece-band flown in from Bangkok (!), hit the stage and played cover after cover of songs familiar to most of the audience. 
Our girls got all “dolled” up for the festivities and were the first ones to hit the dance floor and get the party started, dancing and singing to Adele’s “Someone Like You”. Bill and I joined the girls for a bit of family rock n’ roll, but then retired before the midnight hour and fireworks display.
It was hard to leave this beautiful remote island, knowing we had a long trip back to cold Seoul. If you can travel to this part of the world, I certainly recommend stopping at Santhiya for a few days or perhaps chartering a catamaran boat to cruise around the volcanic islands in the Andaman Sea. You really can’t beat the breathtaking sunsets!
seoulfulsojourn.net 