Maruekatayawan: Royal Teak Home On The Beach

A beach view fit for... well, a King.

There have been recent reports that since his stay at Siriraj Hospital HM King Bumbhibol had been residing at the royal residence called Klai Kangwon in Hua Hin, begun by Rama VII in the late 1920s. Klai Kangwon means "away from worries", I'm told, and that sounds like a good place to get away to after a prolonged hospital stay, especially as he's heading toward his 86th birthday in three more days.

Possibly also wanting to take a sea-side break he'd also recently headed slightly North for a day trip to Cha-Am in the Petchaburi district to pay a visit to Maruekatayawan Palace, another of the royal summer homes in the kingdom.

A gorgeous, open, airy, teak wonder, Maruekatayawan Palace rests on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand. The overall feel of the place is one of casual elegance; you know you're in a royal residence, but it's so peaceful and relaxing it's easily my favorite so far.

Pink  and yellow plumeria dot the grounds at Maruekatayawan 

In general the royal residences have, over time, been built to accommodate the wishes of the current ruler, naturally. Maruekatayawan was built by His Majesty King Varjiravudh (Rama VI) in the early 1920s, and is one of the oldest remaining residences. Rama VI personally designed it and saw the interior completed he paid his last visit there in 1925, the year he passed on.

A family rests in the shades on the expansive and well-groomed grounds

Maruekatayawan and the beach it graces are fine spots to relax, meditate, take pictures, have a picnic and relax.

I had a leisurely visit there with a friend one afternoon, and we ended up spending several more hours there than we'd intended.  He kept saying "I knew you'd like this", and he was right. I wondered to myself why he hadn't planned a bit longer to stop there - I'd planned to stay in the Big Mango that night - but we did get back to Bangkok that evening, although it was close to the witching hour.

A meeting and receiving hall

For photographers it's a cornucopia of photo opportunities, and I took a lot of pictures as we wandered the grounds. Rather than slam through this wonderful spot in one post I figure we'll do it in at least two installments. Hope that's OK with the majority of you.

Light blue and yellow are the predominant colors for the building exteriors

Wat Tham Kong Pen: An Isaan Oddity (2)

The main "drum cave" area

Candles and incense, lit
before prayer

The grounds of Wat Tham Kong Pen are unlike those of many other temples. There aren't formal walls or tiled walkways, except in the area called the "drum cave", called that because they'd found a large drum just inside of it way back when - or so I was told.  My Northeastern friend isn't as educated as some of my other friends, but what he lacks in that and English skills he makes up for with a good heart.

In the grand scheme of things it wasn't really all that important to know, anyway; just being there and having the opportunity to share such a peaceful spot was enough for me. Feel free to Google the place if you want to learn more.  Remember that spelling while transliterating can vary widely, and I've also seen it spelled "tham khong phen" and "thum klong paen".

My friend referred to the area as "fah-lest" (forest), and there were more trees than brush, I noticed; the welcome breeze making them sing softly as they moved overhead. It made an almost eerie whispering sound when you were standing inside the main part of the cave area, and the large gong added a harmony of sorts.

The allegedly ancient drum, next to the "rubbing gong"

The gongs (in the photo above) were intended to be touched. Most of you have made a glass "sing" by running your fingertip around the lip of it, and the raised circular center of these gongs responded the same way if you moved the palm of your hand around the sides of them, and the soft, undulating tone would reverberate around the large open area of the cave.

The alter, seen between overhanging boulders in the drum cave

Detail of offerings left by visitors

My friend naturally stopped to light a candle and incense as he bowed his head reverently in prayer for a few minutes, as did I.  When I raised my head and opened my eyes he was smiling at me and said "good". "Life is good," I replied "we need to say thank you." He nodded his head in agreement, and we walked outside to look around.

Another view of the main image area

Nearby there were several other small areas with a Buddha statue, each also having offerings in front of them - some larger, like the one below, some only a couple of feet tall, tucked into a crevice in the rocks. We didn't see any other visitors stop at them, but my friend did at a couple, while I stood at a distance and left him in peace.

Since we weren't in any hurry that afternoon we went back inside the museum to look around and learn a little more about the Venerable Luang Pu Khao Analayo.

Detail from a finely done oil portrait of the man

He was born Khao Koratha into a farming family in the the village of Ban Bo Cha Nang Nong Kaeo in Ubon Ratchathani province on December 28, 1888, where he went to school, married, and fathered seven children.

Another oil painting of Luang Pu Khao Analayo on display. I don't know the story behind it, sorry to say.

After relocating a few times during his lifetime, he eventually ended up (in 1958) at Wat Tham Klong Phane, in the Nong Bua Lam Phu District of the Udonthani Province. There he worshiped and taught until his death at the age of 95 years and five months on May 16, 1983.

Much like at Madame Tussauds, this statue was quite realistic

We asked our ride to wait down along the road a ways so we could walk and get a better look at some of the unusual architecture, as you'll see below.

Aside from the bell tower that began yesterday's post, most of the buildings in the area were built incorporated with the surrounding boulders and massive stone walls, such as the one below:

Here's a view of it from the left side, showing the rock it sits beneath:

Well, I suppose I've kept you here long enough today. If you're in the area (there's a map in yesterday's post, too) I'd say it'd be worth the hour or so drive there to see the place, if for no other reason than the rock formations and the buildings set into them.  I enjoyed my visit.

Bangkok Art And Cultural Centre Exhibits

Yesterday's post about the BACC (the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre) showed you the front and what some of the insides look like.  Today you'll see some of the exhibits that were on display one time when I had my camera and the presence of mind to take pictures.

One grouping featured penguins, a bird almost unheard of in Thailand other than in a zoo. With a second computerized movie featuring them just out a couple of weeks I'd guess it might be a nice exhibit to have there now, but these were there a couple of years ago.

The panels exhibit - done with input from many different people - filled a large area, and depicted a wide variety of topics.  Since the museum is a very public place I doubt any of them were directly disrespectful or in violation of Thai law, but there were definitely protest statements among them; some featured familiar faces adorned with a Hitler-type mustache and swastikas.  Not being able to read Thai I'm going to err on the side of caution - or cowardice, depending on your level of generosity today.

The second panel below reflected some political unrest, but in light of the flooding recently it's timely now, too.

If you or someone you know are the artists represented here today and would like credit or the images of your work taken down simply email me at the address to the right and I'll be happy to comply.  Please let me know something to identify your ownership.

The building itself is a work of art. If you didn't see the examples yesterday, take a look.

The Bangkok Art And Cultural Centre

The Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre from a spot by the National Stadium BTS station. It's linked to by walkway to the 3rd floor entrance

Sitting in the midst of as frantic a commercial shopping area a tourist is ever likely to visit in Bangkok is a spot where you can escape both the crowds and the heat of the day: the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center, located across from the MBK and Siam Discovery shopping malls at the large Pathumwan intersection.

It's open every day but Monday from 10:00am to 9:00pm and - other than the occasional special event or concert - admission and all of the exhibits are free. I owe a good friend a tip of the hat for this one, as he was the first person I knew to talk about it. I've been there a few different trips, and since the exhibits are displayed on a rotating basis there's always a lot to see.

With its simple artistic rounded front and gracefully curved interior that reminded me somewhat of the Guggenheim museum in New York City it looked a little out of place amid the rest of the massive commercial gorillas that surround (and loom over) it, but as I paused to gaze out of the windows while wandering the halls there that seemed like a good thing, really; it reminded me of the calm you hear about that occurs in the eye of a hurricane, where all around you is raging out of control and yet you're able to stand unaffected.

A different view of the "MBK Intersection" from the June 18th post last year

I don't remember how many levels there are to explore at the center (seven, I think - and pardon my dropping back to the Western spelling) but there's plenty of exhibit space.  At least one level had spaces partitioned by glass walls to separate the works but still allow an open and spacious feel to the area, and there were a couple of larger exhibit halls, too.

Looking down the open central area from a higher floor

As I'd usually hope a museum or gallery to be, it was quiet throughout.  No piped music or informational recorded loops going to distract from the tranquility of the place.  There are a number of spots to sit and discuss the works, and people were sitting and talking quietly among themselves.  One man appeared to be deep in thought - or perhaps just waiting for someone he'd arrived with - but he was seated in the same chair the entire time I was visiting one afternoon. In fact, I've just noticed - if you look closely to the left in the panorama shot above you can see him, too.

The center is easy to get to, as well.  As I mentioned above it's right at the National Stadium BTS station, but it's also accessable by bus (their web site says you can use the 15, 16, 21, 25, 29, 34, 36, 40, 47, 48, 50, 54, 73, 79, 93, 141, 159, 204 and the air-con 508 lines) and if you're a canal boat traveler you can get off at the Sapan Hua-Chang landing and be about a football field away from the front doors.

If you've been shopping in the malls in Bangkok you're likely to have seen the buildings, but maybe never gone in. I wouldn't want to drag a double handful of shopping bags along with me, but I highly recommend you make a stop there to visit some time. It's a fantastic way to miss the heat of mid-day. Go shopping afterwards.

Next time: pictures of some of the exhibits.

BACC: Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center

Bangkok City View: The Big Picture vs The Details

A slice of Bangkok  - from 80+ floors to a single one.

From a vantage point above street level it's easier to see the vast differences in building structures in Bangkok, ranging from the 80+ floors of the taller Baiyoke tower to everyday businesses and homes on ground level. I was perhaps 10 floors up when I took the three photos above that are blended into one.

Naturally, landowners there inevitably have the final say on who or what inhabits the dirt they hold claim to, and because of that there are occasionally displacements of homes and businesses as a larger fish comes along to snap up the smaller ones. I don't recall what was sitting where the construction is going on in these pictures; maybe smaller shops, maybe houses.

My guess is that the building codes in Thailand fall somewhere to the left of "anything goes," but it's often interesting to see the juxtaposition of modern buildings and much simpler buildings. I suppose the phrase "money talks" has a lot to do with it.

It's always interesting to take time and explore the area you're visiting and notice how folks there live - at least, I think it's interesting. I'm well aware that there are visitors to Thailand who see nothing before dusk when they go on the prowl, but that's their loss. Give me a room with a view, a good zoom lens or compact set of binoculars and - with luck - a relatively clean window any day.

Take as an example the photo above. It's the lower right-hand corner of the larger stitched photo up top, but if you look closely you can see a microcosm of city life in Bangkok. It has almost everything but a 7-Eleven. Along with an oddly-angled city block crowned by a saffron-colored shopfront you have buildings with residences of varying stripes.

Rooftop gardens, clothes hanging outside of upper floor windows or enclosed in chain-link fenced areas that turn open-air space into living space, some of the ubiquitous silvery metal rooftop tanks - up where the sun can help heat the water held inside, and down on the street a bus and a small pick-up truck out making their rounds.

If you look closer you'll notice a man standing in the doorway of a shop, and to his left is what I believe is a casual restaurant on the corner.

Bangkok sidewalks being the grossly under-maintained horror show they often are you have to look where you're stepping, so if you're on the street walking you'd miss this insight to the area. It's for this reason alone that I encourage you to take time to really look out of the window in your room, wherever it is you stay. Not just at the view overall, but the detail within it.

[By the way, in addition to the somewhat odd angle the blending software gave to the green-screened construction in the top image there's something unusual in one of today's pictures; something I added myself that wasn't in the original image.  Clicking on the images to enlarge them will probably help.  Can you spot it?]

Answer: In the middle (vertical) photo there's a guy leaning on a post on the 4th floor from the top, next to the red vertical metalwork - and the identical man on the 5th floor from the top, and another on the 6th from the top, and still another one on the 7th from the top. Looks like Where's Waldo has nothing on me!

Bangkok's Nightlight On The 84th Floor

Vertical unlit LED panels encircle the 84th floor of Baiyoke II tower

The term "nightlight" usually refers to a small plug-in device that provides a glow in the dark to illuminate a hallway or bathroom, but I've come to call the large LED display atop Baiyoke II (Thailand's tallest building) one, too - the highest one in the Kingdom, anyway.

The LED display at dusk

Above the 83rd floor - which holds the revolving outdoor observation deck - a collar of vertical strip panels encircle the 84th floor at the top of the structure. You get a good view of it in the top photo, but I've not seen it from that vantage point myself (evidently from another nearby building) so I borrowed the unrestricted image from Wikimedia.

The "collar" encircling the 84th floor area doesn't move - you move around the display as you stand on the observation deck, and during the daytime hours there's not much to observe, to be honest.

Each of the vertical panels holds somewhere around 40 round of the round, sealed LED panels, each containing 45 LEDs; 15 red, green and blue lights in each display.

I don't know the wattage or lumens put out by each display, but they're clearly visible for a great distance from the ground - and that's saying something with the haze that often blankets the Big Mango.

Below is what you'd see looking up from the observation deck in the daytime hours, and below that is a close-up look at an individual round LED unit.

Vertical panels of LED units

Detail of one of the LED units

Because these three colors are what are used in creating many visual display units (think your boxy old color TV picture tube, for example) most anything can be splashed around the "screen" around the top of Baiyoke II: advertisements, photos, graphics, moving images, etc.- and so it does, far into the night.

It's a safe bet I've got more photos of the display in action at night, but I'll post those another day after I've found them.

We'll re-visit the tower itself again soon, too...there's a lot more to it than the "nightlight" perched on top of it.