Contents
- Ayutthaya
Oriental Hotel
Bangkok - Pat Pong
- Road
Cats of Thailand - Regent Resort, Chiang Mai
- David Thompson and Thai Food
- Siamese Fighting Fish
- Doi Tung
Snake - Show
Elephants - Thai Terracotta
- Jim Thompson’s House and Garden
Tropical Garden, Chiang - Mai
Ko Samui - Village Life
- Markets
- Visitor Details
- Orchids
- Wat Po
Ayutthaya
The capital of modern day Thailand is Bangkok but it wasn’t always the capital. From 1350 to 1767 the capital was on an island not all that far away from Bangkok called Ayutthaya. While in Bangkok Burke’s Backyard travelled north for a day trip to see the ancient capital. It is an extraordinary island about 5 or 6km across, surrounded all the way by three different rivers (Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak) and crisscrossed with man made canals. In its hey day, Ayutthaya was a well designed city and at its peak it would have rivalled Mexico City or Greece in the classical period for beautiful architecture and a thriving cosmopolitan city.
The other thing that is truly amazing about the old capital, which is still evident in Thailand to this very day, is that they were at ease with other cultures. They weren’t a rapacious culture that wanted to conquer the world. They loved other cultures and brought people in to learn from them. Within this island city and around it there were groups of people from other countries so not only could they learn from those people but also maintain intelligent and forward looking diplomacy.
During the 1600s to 1800s, Thailand held great significance in the world as a pivotal trading route between Japan, India, England and Europe for spices and rice. The Thais were also skilful enough in diplomacy to remain independent and free unlike their neighbouring South-East Asian countries that were all colonised at some stage by European powers.
Today
Today, the old city has been reconstructed and restored to how it would have appeared in the 1700s before it was sacked and then reclaimed by the jungle. The restoration reveals temples and palaces in bright colours, made from terracotta like bricks. The buildings were stuccoed and then painted or tiled with coloured glass in extraordinarily vivid colours that are striking and almost gaudy. There are Buddhas throughout the temples and stupas, which are like the Egyptian pyramids, where the ashes of the kings were buried. Over the 400 year period of Ayutthaya, 33 kings ruled over Thailand.
Visitor details
Location: Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand is approximately 86km north of Bangkok.
Getting there: Bus from Bangkok’s Northern Bus Terminal to the main terminal on Naresuan Road, Ayutthaya. Train from Hualamphong station, Bangkok to Ayutthaya, then walk or catch a ferry to the old city. Luxury cruise boats up the river can be arranged in Bangkok with one of the tourist boat companies.
Bangkok
Bangkok is a much maligned city. It’s variously described as being one of the most polluted hellholes on earth. First impressions of the city are often the pollution, smell and noise as you arrive at the airport and take a taxi to your hotel. There are some pretty ugly bits to Bangkok including some of the slums along the waterways. It is estimated about one million Bangkokians live in slum or squatter communities. The city used to be mostly canals and you got around by water, but as the city has spread they tend to fill a lot of those in and these days you are more likely to be stuck in the traffic jams.
However, there’s a lot that is really wonderful about Bangkok. It’s a city of six and a half million people so its population is almost equal to that of Sydney and Melbourne put together. There are some extraordinary modern buildings, particularly hotels, rising out of the older parts of the city. The fact is that tourism brings in more overseas currency to Thailand than anything else. There’s always something happening in Bangkok and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess why Bangkok is known as the Venice of the East. Canals and boats are a big part of life in Bangkok.
Cats of Thailand
Burke’s Backyard found four distinct breeds of cat in Thailand: Siamese, Korats, Thai Whites and Thai Copper cats. The first two cat breeds are well known in Australia, but the latter two are unheard of here. The Korats, coloured a blue/grey, are identical to the ones we already have in Australia.
Siamese Cats
Siamese cats are nowhere near as popular or important in Thailand as they are in the rest of the world. Thai ‘Siamese’ cats are small and nicely rounded, but they lack the long snout and gaunt features of our exhibition Siamese cats. As a lover of well-bred animals, Don Burke believes that the Thai Siamese cat (the real one) leaves Australian ones for dead. He says they are structurally a much better cat and do not show the excesses of modern show breeding (although kinked tails and white toes are accepted and common).
In Thailand, Siamese cats come in one shade only; seal point. The chocolate, blue or lilac points that exist in Australia are absent in Thailand. Also absent is the extreme, rasping voice of the Siamese cat. Theirs have a slightly harsh voice, but not the scratchy note of ours. And if you are wondering, the alley cats of Thailand are not of the Siamese type; they look much like alley cats from any other country in the world with one exception. Alley cats in Thailand often have grossly kinked tails – a feature that the Thai people select for. Apparently the belief is that something that is too beautiful or perfect is an affront to Buddha. Hence a kinked tail is a touch of imperfection that renders the animal more acceptable.
Thai Whites
The Thai Whites are called ‘Khaomanee’ in Thailand and they can have blue eyes, odd eyes (one blue and one green) or even a reddish-blue eye. The nearest cat to these in Australia would be the Foreign White which is a sort of white version of our Siamese cat. Again, the Thai Whites are not as gaunt and snouty as ours. Their faces are normal cat faces and their bodies are, again, normal.
Thai Copper Cats
It was the Thai Copper Cat that stole Don’s heart. Superficially they look a bit like a Burmese cat. They have an overall coppery colour but with noticeably darker points. They come in light copper or dark copper and the Thai name for the breed is ‘Sukpraluk’. They have a wonderful coppery glow and a subtlety to their colour that would make them an instant hit in Australia or the USA.
CareAnimals in Thailand do it tough. Most cats and dogs are feral, no-one owns them and they eke out a precarious living. The cats we filmed were owned by Major General Preeda Pengpreecha and they lived a more luxurious life. Nonetheless, these cats are not mollycoddled like our Australian moggies. Their diet consists mostly of rice, with just a hint of cat food thrown in. As a result, the cats are very small and show signs of malnutrition. They live their lives in raised cages about one cubic metre and do not get inside the house. Notwithstanding all of that, these cats seemed relatively friendly, if a little unaccustomed to human contact.
Cost
For the record, purebred cats in Thailand cost around 4,000 baht which is around $A200. A purebred pedigree system has only been in use for about six years. Prior to that, people merely bred as they wished. This is a lot of money for a Thai to pay and it means that purebred cats will remain in the hands of the wealthy for the foreseeable future.
David Thompson and Thai Food
When Burke’s Backyard visited the markets of Bangkok they took David Thompson of Sydney’s Darley Street Thai Restaurant along with them. David has an extensive knowledge of the Thai people, their history and language as well as Thai fruits, herbs and vegetables available. Don tried a sweetmeat which was a betel leaf wrapped around cubes of lime, red shallots, ginger, chillies, and roasted coconut in a sauce made from sugar. Other interesting foods included white tumeric which is eaten with relishes. It looks like ginger and tastes like tumeric powder and camphor but is not yet available in Australia. Chillies were introduced by the Portuguese around the 1500s to Thailand and range from mild to very hot. Unusual fruits included the Jak fruit and the delicious durian which tastes like custard but smells like something rotten and is also one of the world’s most expensive fruits.
Further information
To taste some of David Thompson’s Thai delights in Australia visit one of his restaurants in Sydney. Either Darley Street Thai, 30 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross, NSW, 2011, phone: (02) 9358 6530 or Sailor’s Thai, 106 George Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, phone: (02) 9251 2466.
Doi Tung
The royal family in Thailand is far more active in the community than in most other countries in the world. The Thai people also have an enormously deep and abiding respect for royalty and have faith in their abilities to help the people. This is evident in the project that began 10 years ago in the northern region at Doi Tung that Burke’s Backyard visited while in Chiang Rai. Once the hills around Chiang Rai were filled with opium poppies and the smell of smoke from the burning forests. The local hill tribes would eke out a subsistence living, slashing, burning, growing poppies then moving on. Some also sold their daughters to brothels in Bangkok for around $A400 to survive. The Thai people have now learnt to embrace their future and this project at Doi Tung Palace is the beginning of permanent improvements in the area.
Palace gardens
The Doi Tung Palace gardens are impressively situated on the mountainside and many of the plants are well known in Australia. There are some Australian native plants like bottlebrush and grass trees (Xanthorrhoea). There are also Salvias (Salvia splendens), Impatiens (Impatiens New Guinea hybrid), Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia x candida) and the blue-flowering climber, Petrea (Petrea volubilis).
The project
The aim of the Doi Tung project is to develop crops such as coffee and macadamia plantations, to ensure the local communities have a constant source of money. About ten years ago the royal family built Doi Tung palace and under the patronage of her royal highness the Princess mother, launched this project. The initial aim was to reforest the mountainous area. This was previously naked and barren land caused by the slash and burn method of farming, used by the hill tribes to grow poppies. When the project began only 28% of natural forest remained. Another project aim was to improve the standard of living for local people. Many locals were not making money from the opium trade and so improvements were needed to ensure a better income, education and health care.
At first local people were hired to grow forest trees and thus earn a regular income. They also learnt agricultural skills from experts including Australian macadamia nut growers, who work voluntarily maintaining the plantation and training locals. Once the locals acquired these skills, the agricultural crops were expanded to include growing plants like macadamias, Arabica coffee and Chinese chestnuts. Future stages include learning how to grow flowers. The locals will then make a living from selling products, and thus be self sufficient – another important aspect of the project. Tourism is also promoted and encouraged to bring more money into the local community.
Visitor details
Location: About halfway between Mae Chan and Mae Sai on highway 1149.
Open: The palace is not open but the garden is open to the public.
Admission: Charge to visit the garden.Getting there: Buses from Mae Chan or Mae Sai to the turn off and then a songthaew (small ute) from Ban Huay Khrai to Doi Tung.
Elephants
While we were in Chiang Rai we travelled about 30km upriver to a hill tribe village, where the main commercial activity is elephant rides. Long ago elephants were used as war machines, like tanks carrying the soldiers around. Or they would have worked in the forests carting timber. Because so many forests have been decimated, the Thai government has now put a total ban on all logging, so instead of carting timber the elephants now carry tourists.
Elephant rides
Now that the elephants only have the tourists to carry around, they actually live a lot longer, to an age of about 90 years. To purchase an elephant costs about $A4000, so generally the elephants in the villages are owned by a family or group of people or by the whole village as a good business investment earning money from the tourists. Elephants eat a lot of green material like sugar cane and other foliage and they eat about 150kg (331lb) of food every day.
Taking an elephant ride involves taking a few risks and being prepared for a few shocks. Firstly you are sitting a huge distance above the ground and enduring a rather painful ride along a track. But it is a wonderful way to see the spectacular scenery of the northern region of Thailand. Elephants also love water, so elephants riders should be prepared to get wet and muddy on any trip as the elephants frequently enjoy walking through rivers and spraying their riders with jets of murky water.
Visitor details
Hire a longtail boat in Chiang Rai and go up river about 30km to the hill tribe village by the side of the river where elephant rides are available.
Jim Thompson’s House and Garden
While in Bangkok Burke’s Backyard visited Jim Thompson’s domestic museum. His house is one of the best-preserved traditional Thai houses in Bangkok, surrounded by a shady tropical garden filled with water jars and sculptures. Jim Thompson was an American who became internationally famous for the revival of the Thai silk weaving industry. He also had a keen interest in Thai architecture, collecting antiquities and artworks of South-East Asia that span 14 centuries and in tropical gardening. He mysteriously disappeared in 1967 while walking in northern Malaysia and his house is now a museum of all his interests.
Silk
All the fabrics used in the house; cushions and bed spreads are of Thai silk. There had always been silk made in Thailand but it had never been an industry and it was almost dead because of imported fabrics when Jim Thompson revived it after World War II and made it a great export. He introduced modern dyes and new designs and set standards of production. Silk became a luxury item throughout the world and Jim Thompson was awarded the Order of the White Elephant by the Thai Government in 1962 for making silk the most famous single product to come out of Thailand. Today the silk company Jim founded still operates and many Thais are employed in the silk business.
House and garden
Jim Thompson’s house is traditionally Thai made from teak that dates from around the 1800s. The complete house is actually six houses assembled together. No nails were used in putting the house together, only wooden pegs hold the house together. Thai houses were prefabricated so that they could be taken down and moved if necessary, when assembled they hang on columns. The original garden was planted by Jim to complement the lines of the old Thai structures using tropical plants. This was later restored by Bill Bensley (landscape architect) in 1994-95 and further by Bill Warren, a garden expert. The tropical climate means that the garden grows quickly and needs continuous maintenance which is carried out by the Jim Thompson foundation that also maintains the house. The lush tropical garden is shady providing relief from the heat of Bangkok and has some subtle foliage colours throughout it. Plants include a rain tree (Samanea saman), flame trees (Delonix regia), varieties of palms, Cordylines, Baeckeas and other foliage plants. The irony of the tropical Thai garden is that the majority of Thai people wouldn’t feel comfortable in it as they prefer neat, well kept gardens with lots of lawn. However, Jim Thompson’s garden is a triumph of textures and greens that provide a lush, restful oasis in the centre of the city.
Visitor details
Location: Jim Thompson’s House museum, 6 Soi Kasem San 2, Rama I Road, Bangkok. Opposite the National Stadium.
Open: Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
Admission: Charge for the house but the gardens are free.
Ko Samui
Southern Thailand is known for its white sandy beaches fringed with palm leaves and Ko Samui, Thailand’s third largest island (about 25km long), where we relaxed for a few days before flying back to Australia, is the ultimate dream island resort. It is a quiet island with beautiful white beaches and clear blue-green water and is located 84km off the coast of Surat Thani on the mainland, about 560km south of Bangkok. The islands are popular for relaxing beachside tropical holidays as well as scuba diving to see amazing marine life. Ko Samui boasts coconut palms and rice paddies and the cultivation of coconuts is the traditional and principal source of livelihood for the islanders. Monkeys are trained to climb up the palms to get the coconuts and there are monkey shows full of tricks including diving into water.
