After breakfast and a morning flight, we find ourselves in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital and largest city, and the final destination of our tour.
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Bangkok's "Skytrain"
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Tracing its beginning as a small trading post in the 15
th century, Bangkok today has a population of around 10.5 million people and is the economic and political center of Thailand.
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Inside Thompson's house
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Known for its street life and cultural landmarks, the city consistently ranks among the world’s top tourist destinations.
We check into our hotel, the Rosewood Bangkok, and enjoy lunch. Afterwards, we travel by “Skytrain,” Bangkok’s elevated rail system, to the Jim Thompson House. James Harrison Wilson Thompson was an American architect, intelligence officer, and entrepreneur who revitalized the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s. During World War II, Thompson was an operative for the OSS, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, with assignments in North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
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Silk prints
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After the war, he returned to Thailand and founded the Thai Silk Company Limited, which brought Thai silk to the forefront of the textile industry. Generating one of the largest land searches in Southeast Asian history, Thompson mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia on March 26, 1967.
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A klong boat
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Thompson built his house by purchasing and dismantling six Thai teakwood dwellings—some as old as one hundred years—and reassembling them on his estate. As we toured the residence, our guide pointed out several unique, non-Thai features that Thompson added to the structure with his architectural background. After the house was completed, he filled it with his notable collection of art, antiques, and furniture. Today, the house has been transformed into a museum, and we ended our tour at the gift shop, which featured—what else—Thai silk clothing!
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Temple of Dawn
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We returned to our hotel and had dinner that evening with David and Linda in the hotel’s Chinese restaurant.
The next morning, we boarded a bus that would take us to a marina for a canal tour. Bangkok lies in the Chao Phraya River delta. The area is flat and low-lying, with an average elevation of around 5 feet above sea level.
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Ornate artistry
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Dubbed the “Venice of the East,” most of the area was originally swampland, which was gradually drained by the construction of klongs (canals) and which served as the primary means of transport until the construction of modern roads. We board our boat and follow the canals and river to a stop at the beautiful Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn). Built in the 17
th century and named after the Hindu god Aruna, the temple is distinguished by its distinctive central spire (prang) that towers over 200 feet and is ornately encrusted with porcelain and seashells.
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Temple and spire
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Surrounding this spire are four smaller, equally-adorned spires. As we toured the temple grounds, our guide pointed out many Buddha murals that tell the story of his life, as well as impressive sculptures of animals and soldiers.
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Posing at the temple
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We left the temple complex and reboarded our boat to further explore Bangkok’s network of waterways.
Bangkok has almost 1700 canals, totaling over 1600 miles in length. Because of differences in water levels throughout the network, it is necessary for the city to maintain a system of locks that greatly slows water travel. We had to spend an inordinate amount of time waiting to pass through the locks on our route.
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Homes along the klong
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We ended our canal tour with lunch at a social club-like Thai/Chinese/Indian restaurant, returning to our hotel for some afternoon free time.
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Big Buddha along canal
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We are up early for the last day of our tour. Today we are going to tour the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, and it is recommended that we do this as early as possible to avoid the blistering heat and humidity. After breakfast, we board a bus and arrive at the Grand Palace complex in the heart of Bangkok.
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Stupa in the temple complex
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The Grand Palace has been the official residence of the King of Thailand (Siam) from the 18
th century to the mid-20
th century. Construction of the palace began in 1782 under King Rama I, but many new buildings and structures were added throughout successive reigns. Architecturally, the complex showcases a blend of Thai and European styles that feature intricate designs, colorful spires, and ornate details that reflect Thai artistry and craftsmanship.
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Ornate gate guardians
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No longer a royal family residence or government hub, the complex is one of the city’s major tourist attractions, drawing over 8 million visitors annually.
Within the walls of the Grand Palace lies Wat Phra Kaew, commonly known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and which our guide referred to as the “Super Bowl of temples” because it is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand.
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Ubosot, pavilion, bai sema shrine
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Built on the traditional principles of Thai religious architecture, the temple complex was constructed at the same time as the Grand Palace by King Rama I. Successive kings added, restored, and embellished the temple during their reigns as a way of making religious merit. Today, many important state and royal ceremonies are held in the temple each year and are presided over by the king and government officials, making it the nation’s preeminent place of worship and a national shrine for the monarchy in the state.
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Mythical figure
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The largest building in the temple complex, the Phra Ubosot (ordination hall), was built to house the Buddha image known as the Emerald Buddha, an image of the Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture. The image is made of a semi-precious green stone described as jade or jasper, making the “emerald” descriptor refer to its color rather than its composition.
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Another stupa
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The figure is small, being only 19 inches wide at the lap and 26 inches high, and is quite plain without its gold seasonal decorations. Each seasonal decoration for the summer, rainy season, and winter or cool season is changed by the king or a senior member of the royal family in a ceremonial changing of the seasons. Unfortunately, photos inside the Ubosot were not allowed.We left the Ubosot and viewed several other Buddha images as we continued through the complex.
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Another shrine
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In fact, it was difficult to look in almost any direction and not spot a Buddha.
Leaving the Grand Palace complex, we entered an adjacent temple complex named Wat Pho. Also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho was rebuilt by King Rama I on an earlier temple site.
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Reclining Buddha
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The temple is considered the first public university in Thailand and today teaches traditional Thai medicine and massage as the national headquarters and center of education for this field. The temple complex also houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. Included in this group is the image of the reclining Buddha, which was built by Rama III in 1832 to represent the entry of Buddha into Nirvana and the end of all reincarnations.
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Full view of image
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We entered the wat and were awestruck at the image’s size and adornment. At nearly 50 feet high and 150 feet long, the image is nothing short of imposing. It is constructed of a brick court and shaped with plaster, then gilded. The wat was crowded, and it took some time for us to completely circle the image and exit.
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Feet of Reclining Buddha
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We left Wat Pho and returned to our hotel, where we had lunch with David and Linda. The afternoon was spent lounging and swimming in the hotel’s pool and repacking our bags for tomorrow’s flight home. Our group assembled with Tod for a farewell cocktail reception and dinner (yes, it was Thai food!), and we said our goodbyes to our new friends.
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Lots more Buddhas
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After breakfast the next morning, we gave our farewell wishes and hugs to David and Linda and headed to the airport for that grueling flight home. It was a good trip, even if we didn’t get to see the Shirley Temple!
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At the farewell dinner!T
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