Thailand & Cambodia are awesome!

The Grand Palace

Eventually I made my way to the Grand Palace, a complex of buildings in the heart of Bangkok. It was the residence of Siam and Thai kings until 1925.



A side entrance being guarded by a friendly soldier. I asked him for permission before I took the picture just in case that sort of thing was not cool. It was.



I had to walk around to the main entrance.. Why didn't the tuk tuk drop me off at the main entrance? I have no idea.

Along the way I ran into a cool elephant statue.



The Grand Palace looks very grand and magical.





I got this shot of a whole bunch of the guards standing by a bunch of motorcycles, getting ready for something. It has a "Reservoir Dogs" type feel to it for some reason, like something's about to go down.



Something was about to go down. The king's son was showing up to change the Emerald Buddha's cloak. I did not know this yet and continued to walk around, exploring the complex.

This guy helps keep out bad spirits.

The Grand Palace continued

Some more Grand Palace pictures:

That's some very elaborate work they do there. Nice that they were able to preserve a lot of it.

Cutlass said:

That's some very elaborate work they do there. Nice that they were able to preserve a lot of it.

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It's the most elaborate architecture and detailwork I've seen anywhere in the country, and I guess it makes sense. Thais put a lot of credence in the whole "we need temples.. a LOT of temples.. and shrines.. yeah, keep building those things".. and this is after all the central religious complex that sort of defines the country. It's essentially the heart of the country, in a way politically, historically, and religiously.

I bet they spend a lot of money every year keeping this place looking as nice as it does.

I really wish I knew a lot more about Thailand, because I totally want to be David Attenborough and explain everything in a confident and intriguing tone. In contrast though my "THAIS LOVE TEMPLES" explanation comes off as uninspired.

Ah well, more pictures coming in a bit! A bunch more grand palace ones still to come, that place was unreal

Grand Palace continued

The whole complex was close to shutting down for the ceremony. It ended up working pretty well for me - I got a good amount of time in to walk around and explore (although a small portion of the place was shut down for good), but there weren't many other tourists around because I guess they stopped letting people in not too long after I came in.

So win/win and yeah, I got pretty lucky. I mean, if I hadn't gotten in I could have always came back the next day, but as I found out earlier getting to the historical centre of town was a huge pain. Taxis didn't want to go there because they'd just get stuck in traffic and waste time and gas, and neither the subway nor skytrain system has a station nearby.

So I walked around and enjoyed the sights of the Grand Palace.



The first fully dressed and on duty ceremonial guard that I saw.



It's not like he was going to say anything, so I took a bunch of pictures.



I seem to remember this as the "Beggar King", but google isn't coming up with anything.. It's an interesting statue to have at a majestic place like this either way.





Dat face

Grand Palace continued again

The po-lice was here. It was almost time to leave.



But not quite yet





Best posture in Thailand:



And this might very well be the picture of the day. I think I'm going to make that a thing.

That place must have taken centuries to build.

(edit: nm ).

Cutlass said:

That place must have taken centuries to build.

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Here's what wikipedia has to say about the subject:

Construction of the palace began on 6 May 1782, at the order of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I), the founder of the Chakri Dynasty, when he moved the capital city from Thonburi to Bangkok. Throughout successive reigns, many new buildings and structures were added, especially during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). By 1925, the king, the Royal Family and the government were no longer permanently settled at the palace, and had moved to other residences. After the abolition of absolute monarchy in 1932, all government agencies completely moved out of the palace.

In shape, the palace complex is roughly rectangular and has a combined area of 218,400 square metres (2,351,000 sq ft), surrounded by four walls. It is situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River at the heart of the Rattanakosin Island, today in the Phra Nakhon District. The Grand Palace is bordered by Sanam Luang and Na Phra Lan Road to the north, Maharaj Road to the west, Sanamchai Road to the east and Thai Wang Road to the south.

Rather than being a single structure, the Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards. Its asymmetry and eclectic styles are due to its organic development, with additions and rebuilding being made by successive reigning kings over 200 years of history. It is divided into several quarters: the Temple of the Emerald Buddha; the Outer Court, with many public buildings; the Middle Court, including the Phra Maha Monthien Buildings, the Phra Maha Prasat Buildings and the Chakri Maha Prasat Buildings; the Inner Court and the Siwalai Gardens quarter. The Grand Palace is currently partially open to the public as a museum, but it remains a working palace, with several royal offices still situated inside.

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Kyriakos, what exactly did you design, a set of buildings for Siam? I saw that Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh were in there along with Bangkok and another city.

I noticed that Thai temples and Khmer/Cambodian temples had many similarities.. but once you got used to them, you definitely started seeing stark differences, I found especially with the spires. Were you forced to lump Siam architecture along with Khmer architecture in your designs?

Khao San Road, elephants, and end of day 2

This part of the Grand Palace was off-limits, due to the changing of the Emerald Buddha's cloak by the King's son.



I was going to walk around the palace right by the wall after getting kicked out to get more pictures, but there were cops and lots of official looking people around, so I decided not to. I got in trouble for taking a photo of an embassy in Peru once, I didn't want to look suspicious when royalty was in town and everybody was on high alert.

I made my way on foot to my next destination: Khao San Road, a part of town popular with backpackers. Cheap central accommodation could be found here, as well as a market-like atmosphere, street vendors, many stores, restaurants, pubs, people offering all sorts of services.. A happening place. At night it's a big party spot.

But first some elephants:











and a long line of monks being escorted by military units across a road for some reason..



And then I was at Khao San road. There's stores and various other types of establishments on both sides of the street, as well as street vendors everywhere, and usually a lot of people in between. There's stores offering souvenirs, tattoos, massages, fake U.S. college diplomas, fake California driver licenses, pharmaceutical items that you'd expect to need prescriptions for, scorpions on a stick, there's lots of restaurants, bars, pubs, a couple internet cafes, tailors, and most definitely a whole bunch of other stuff.

It was busy and getting dark though, so my camera did not come out once. Plus I was hungry. I went into the first decent looking place that had an acceptable menu out front and grabbed a seat.. beside a bunch of British people it turns out, a family from somewhere in England. I totally forget where from, but I chimed in with some football banter at some point in their discussion and we all just started talking.

That's just the way to go on a trip like that, even if you're an introvert like me. Travelling solo is perfect for my introverted tendencies, but every once in a while you need to recharge. And chatting up strangers on Khao San road is about the least socially intimidating thing you can do, the atmosphere pretty much demands it.

I ate dinner, explored the street, checked out some stores, and then took a motorcycle taxi (you sit on the back and hold on) to a skytrain station, from which it was very easy to get back to the hotel. The Bangkok skytrain system is pretty much idiot proof and I ended up using it quite a bit. It's clean, modern, cheap, and the ticket purchasing process was probably designed with tourists in mind.

Back at the hotel after a busy day 2 I took a shower, watched some CNN, and decided to get out on the town to explore the nightlife happenings and opportunities in the area. I had a long day but was starting to get the feel for Bangkok. That walk through the city, the tuk tuk ride, the motorcycle ride, the skytrain ride, the rubbing shoulders with locals, everything.. I was feeling very comfortable with everything and was ready for more.

warpus said:

Kyriakos, what exactly did you design, a set of buildings for Siam? I saw that Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh were in there along with Bangkok and another city.

I noticed that Thai temples and Khmer/Cambodian temples had many similarities.. but once you got used to them, you definitely started seeing stark differences, I found especially with the spires. Were you forced to lump Siam architecture along with Khmer architecture in your designs?

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I also created a Khmer set, and yes there are a number of differences between Khmer empire architecture and Siam architecture Mostly that the former is clearly based on stone, with more imposing and thicker forms, while the latter heavily uses wood as well, has even more repetition of different sizes of the same form, and (due to the type of surface) a lot more color too

I prefer the Siam one, but both are excellent.

Jim Thompson House

Day 3 started with a visit to a crazy shopping mall that had one giant full floor of stalls that almost only sold iphone accessories, mostly cases. I was looking for a portable alarm clock and thought that stumbling upon a part of the complex that had stores selling other electronics was a good idea. NOT SO. An endless sea of stalls selling iphone cases, in all directions... it took me a while to get out of there convinced that I was not crazy and that that's all they pretty much sold...

After I got the lock and alarm clock that took me almost 2 hours to find (but exploring the MBK Center was very fun and I had some good food there so whatever) I stumbled over to the Jim Thompson house.. On the way was an art gallery.



Jim Thompson was an American businessman and designer - the guy who revived the Thai silk industry in the 50s and 60s. He loved the country so much that he moved there permanently and built himself a sweet little house. These days the house is a museum that's definitely worth visiting - for the architecture, the artefacts, the garden, the history, the guided tour, historical displays..

There's a thread of silk being spooled here, I assure you.




Link to video.

I don't really know anything about the process, but it involves a pretty lady in makeup and a silk loom.



One of several varieties of Thai silk cocoon on display:



I booked a guided tour of the place and waited around for it to start. There was a turtle right behind me.



A part of the Jim Thompson house complex:

Kyriakos said:

I prefer the Siam one, but both are excellent.

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I've been staring at that picture you posted and you gotta tell me which temple that is.

It doesn't look like any I've been to. Is it a part of the Grand Palace maybe? Parts were off limits when I was there, including the fancy shmancy part where the Emerald Buddha hangs out.

^It is the "Sanctuary of Truth", in Pattaya



http://www.sanctuaryoftruth.com/history.php

Ahh... That place was on my "maybe" list, but it didn't end up making the cut.. too bad, it looks very unique.

More Jim Thompson House

Unfortunately camera use inside any of the buildings was prohibited, so you are not going to be able to see any of the interesting internal architecture, furniture, walkways, artefacts, and so on..

But.. The outside part of the complex is awesome in itself..

Here's a view of the overpriced store:



And here's the view from that window:



After the tour you are free to walk around and explore. I took full advantage of this.









I really like the way this picture of a turtle came out:

Nice stuff

Siam Square and the end of day 3

After leaving the Jim Thompson house I investigated the waterway that runs right beside the house - The Saen Saeb Canal.





The part of town where the Jim Thompson House and the MBK mall can be found is Siam Square, one of the most central neighbourhoods in Bangkok and the place to go if you want to go shopping.



A closer look at what happens at red lights in Thailand: All the motorcycles funnel to the front.



Modern Art:



Back at the hotel I was getting ready to go out for the last time before leaving Bangkok and heading north, when I heard something outside my hotel window:

Warning: One foul word uttered at some point in the video. It may offend some


Link to video.

What the hell? A demonstration? I guess so. One of the banners says: "Drug users are not criminals", so I guess it's that sort of a march and I guess that explains that guy who is a ball.

Side Note: At this point in time (Tuesday November 19th, 2013) I had no idea about the demonstrations in central Bangkok related to the political crisis, they just weren't on anyone's radar in terms of being potentially dangerous when I was planning my trip. They were just about getting ready to explode, but I just didn't know about any of that yet, it wouldn't come up on my radar for a couple days.

Either way my last day and night in Bangkok were good ones. Next up was Ayutthaya, which I would reach by train.