IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME...

Last July, I posted about a Thai Beatles tribute band called "The Beaters." Since then, I've seen the band several times and have become friends with the guy who plays "John" (I still don't know his real name though, I just call him John). Well John also plays in another Beatles tribute, this one is called "The Better" (no, not "The Betters," simply "The Better"). I've also seen them a few times, most recently the other day at a fair promoting products that are good for the environment.

I actually like "The Better" a bit better, mainly because their "George" has some kind of midi-hookup on his guitar that allows him to play certain parts for songs like "A Day in the Life," "Penny Lane," and "I Am The Walrus" that sound almost exactly the way they were originally recorded. When you throw in a few other favorites like "Please Please Me," "Yesterday," "Hey Jude," "Octopus's Garden" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand," you have a pretty entertaining show.

The Better play every Friday night at O'Reilley's Irish Pub on Silom Road, so if you're ever in the area, check them out.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF BLATANT BANGKOK COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Like many places in Asia, Bangkok is a hotbed of pirated goods: CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, designer handbags, software...

You name it, if it can be copied cheaply and sold at a profit, it's probably available in Bangkok. And the stuff is not hard to find. One can barely walk down the sidewalk without running into a vendor hawking a copy of something and there are even entire malls dedicated to bootleg merchandise.

Here's an example of a well-known brand identity that has been appropriated for another purpose: the KISS Go-Go bar in Patpong.


Before we relocated here in June 2006, I was a lifelong resident of Detroit Rock City and have been a card-carrying member of the KISS Army since the age of 8. Somehow, I have a feeling that Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and the rest of the Knights In Satan's Service have nothing to do with this place.

And based on it's location in seedy Patpong (otherwise known as the armpit of the Universe), I'm willing to bet that there's a lot more being served up in the KISS bar than a little Cold Gin...


Rock and Roll All Nite (and Party Everyday) indeed!

OUTSIDE BANGKOK: VISITING THE HILLTRIBES OF NORTHERN THAILAND - AM I AN IRRESPONSIBLE TOURIST?

Since we were in Northern Thailand, I felt it was important to see some of the indigenous people of the region, and there are certainly opportunities to do just that, but afterwards I had rather mixed feelings about the whole experience.

What I really wanted to check out were the famous "Long Neck" women of the Karen tribe. I think everyone has seen pictures of these ladies in publications like National Geographic or on the Discovery Channel, but how many people can actually say they saw them in person? To me that chance was too good to pass up, despite the protests from my wife who had read that the villages are nothing more than tourist traps, these people are basically exploited, treated like sideshow attractions and held against their will. I'm not sure how much of this is true, but after the visit I feel it's probably a strong possibility.

The day before, we visited the Hilltribe Museum and Education Center in downtown Chiang Rai (no photos were allowed) and they also claim that everything my wife was saying was correct and one could learn more there than if they actually visited the villages. Still, I was determined to see for myself...

We arrived at the village and paid our 300 baht (around $10) apiece to enter. The first thing that is unusual about the village is that it gathers several hilltribes together. I don't think these people really live like this. The first woman we saw was from the Palong tribe, famous for their large earrings.

The Akha tribe wears distinctive headdresses and clothing. They originate from China and throughout history have worked in rice fields. The houses they live in are on situated on stilts.

The Lu Mien-Yao tribe also hails from China (Tibet), but have immigrated to places like Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. They have their own unique clothing and headdresses that distinguish them from the Akha tribe.

The Lahu-Muser tribe are known to be experts in herbal medicine as well as hunting and trapping. When we visited them, they treated us to an ethnic dance and music performance.

The Karen tribe comes from Myanmar (originally known as Burma) and their distinguishing characteristic is only far too obvious. I'm not sure what the reason for their neck rings are, but the handout at the village claims they help the women maintain individual and tribal identity while at the same time protecting them from tiger bites. They also wear the rings around their wrists and ankles and the whole getup has to be terribly uncomfortable for them.

The women start to wear the rings at an early age (and many youngsters at the village were already sporting them). From what I've read, the practice does not actually stretch their necks, but rather collapses their shoulders resulting in disfigurement. It's an odd practice, that's for sure.

The rings themselves are quite heavy. As you can see, this one weighs about 5.5 kilos, which is just over 12 pounds. I can't imagine how that must feel.

Many of the women in the camp smiled for photos, but most seemed bored and apathetic. Perhaps they are tired of tourists and being asked to pose all the time and maybe they are being held their against their will, and if they are, why isn't anyone in the Thai government doing anything about it? And that begs the question, am I an irresponsible tourist for wanting to visit this village?

It can be argued that our visit didn't help exploit the situation any more than the bus loads of tourists whom were already there and if we decided not to go on principle, it wouldn't have done any good overall either.

Is this place like a human zoo? In a way, I think the answer is yes. We paid money just to look and take picture of people living in a habitat that is close, but not exactly like their real home. Of course, there are people in Bangkok paying money to look at women every night. Is this kind of exploitation the same thing?

But are these people really worse off now than they would be if they weren't there? Doesn't sitting around posing for pictures and selling trinkets and souvenirs seem like a much easier way of life than toiling in a rice field all day with a baby strapped to your back? I'm willing to bet they probably make more money at the village than doing that...

These are the questions that caused me to have mixed feelings about this excursion. I'm glad I went. I got some interesting photos and memories, but I also felt odd about it and at the same time, thankful for the way my life has turned out so far.

OUTSIDE BANKGOK: HOUSES OF THE HOLY IN CHIANG RAI AND THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

Wat Phra Kaew

Located in the heart of downtown Chiang Ria, Wat Phra Kaew is the city's most famous wat, mainly because it was the original home of the Emerald Buddha, which now resides at a wat with the same name at the Grand Palace in Bangkok (see related post from July 11, 2006).


This wat also is associated with a local legend. Rather than retype the whole thing in my own words, you can read about it below:

While we were there, we chatted with a few monks. The one on the right wanted to know if we were excited to have Hillary Clinton be our next Prime Minister.

Wat Phra That Doi Wao

Situated on a steep hill in Mae Sai near the Myanmar border, this wat is said to have been built in memory of several thousand Burmese soldiers who died fighting there in 1965. We were too lazy to climb to the top, so we hired motorcycles to take us there for 10 baht apiece.

Once atop the summit, we had a nice view of Myanmar.


If you look closely, you can see another wat just across the border (it's the building with the steeple).

I'm not sure what the significance of this scorpion statue is (the sign was in Thai).

Wat Chedi Luang

The province of Chiang Saen (near the Mekong River) is home to many ancient wats and the whole area has a similar feel to the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya (see related blog entry from January 21, 2007). I personally like these kinds of places because the experience of visiting them is like taking a step back in time.

Wat Chedi Luang dates back to sometime between the 12th and 14th Centuries. They just don't have things that old in the US.


Wat Pa Sak

This impressive wat also dates back to the 14th Century and is made up of seven monuments. I found the ruins to be surprisingly well-preserved for their age.

Wat Athi Ton Kaew

In some instances, it seems as if parts of the city were actually built up around the ruins. As you can see here, Wat Athi Ton Kaew is located right next to someones house (what you can't see is that it is also in front of a plantation of banana trees).

The most interesting thing about this wat is that it is evidence of the practice of building a brick stupa over an older existing one.

The brick stupa dates back to 1515. The date of the one underneath is unknown.

Wat Luang

Located in Chiang Khong near the Laos border, Wat Luang is one of the most colorful wats I can recall visiting, both inside and out.

The paintings in the interior reminded me a lot of the ones you'd find in an old Italian church, not because of their style, but the fact that there were so many of them and they all seemed to be telling different parts of a religious story.

Beyond the bowls of rice and the Mekong River is Laos. Hopefully we'll visit there someday.

OUTSIDE BANGKOK: A SWEET RETREAT: DOI TUNG ROYAL VILLA

One thing that the Golden Triangle region is most famous (or infamous for) is the production of opium. In an effort to help cut down on the this practice and all of the illicit activities that go with it, Princess Mother Srinagarindra (the mother of Bhumipol Adulyadej, the current King of Thailand) dedicated the last years of her life to helping the Doi Tung region clean up its act. She was instrumental in many programs designed to stop opium production and eventually built a house there.

The place is called the Doi Tung Royal Villa and it is still used by the Royal Family today as a retreat. The Princess Mother had spent some time in Switzerland and Villa was inspired by mountain homes in both Europe and Thailand.

Photos were forbidden inside the Villa. It was nice, but kind of subdued and not as majestic as one would think a Royal home would be. Visitors to the Villa were not allowed to wear shorts there, so we were required to put on the baggy jeans before entering.

Adjacent to the Villa, the Princess Mother also built the Mae Fah Luang Garden, a shrine to beautiful landscaping techniques and a peaceful place for a stroll.

OUTSIDE BANGKOK: FLEETING IMAGES OF CHIANG RAI & THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

Chiang Rai is one of the northernmost provinces in Thailand and most well-known as being the gateway to the Golden Triangle, the place where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.

They city of Chiang Rai is an OK place to spend a day or two, but not too exciting. Like many other Thai cities, the streets and sidewalks are congested with cars, motorbikes and street vendors, but it lacks things like huge shopping centers, towering skyscrapers and a full-fledged red light district that are part of the personality of Bangkok. It did have a few decent restaurants, a night market and a place to get a good, cheap foot rub, so we were content.

Once you get out of the city, you can start to explore the region a bit. Many people visit Chiang Rai to go trekking, but we just rented a car and hired a driver to explore. There are some mountainous areas that offer nice views and unique insights into how people in other parts of the country live.

Mae Sai is the northernmost point in Thailand and the location of the Thai-Myanmar border. It's not too exciting, just a lot of shops selling the same kind of crap you can buy most anywhere else, but at least we got to look across the border and see "the country formerly known as Burma."

Sop Ruak is the official Golden Triangle spot. In the picture below, Myanmar is just behind my right shoulder and Laos is just behind me left.

They have a pavilion set up with all sorts Buddha images, elephant statues and other similar images just so you know that you're at a special place.

Once you climb up the steps and go behind the giant golden Buddha in the picture above, there's a slide of sorts where you can roll coins into the stomach of the white Buddha below. Every time someone did it, a recording would play with a Thai message followed by "Ha ha ha! Happy Buddha! Ha ha ha!" It got kind of old after the first 20 or so times of hearing it.

Chiang Khong is another border town. It backs up to the Mekong River and just beyond that is Laos.

OUTSIDE BANGKOK: TYPICAL THAI TOURIST TRAP: THE FLOATING MARKET

The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is located in the Ratchaburi province, and it's a good hour or so drive outside of Bangkok. But is it worth the journey and hassle to get there? If you ask me, not really...

The concept of getting in boats and floating down a klong to shop dates back to ancient times in Thailand and is the old-fashioned and traditional way for people to buy fruits, vegetables and other goods. These days, floating markets still exist, but most are tourist destinations and their authenticity is questionable.

When we arrived at Damnoen Saduak, the parking lot was already filled with giant tour buses and the concourse was packed with people. When we finally figured out what was going on, we were told that it would cost us 600 Baht (over $20) per person to get into a boat and experience this this ancient tradition (with no discounts for children). When we rolled our eyes in disgust and started to walk away, the price magically dropped to 200 Baht per person, but we just got in the car and drove another 30 seconds to the actual market. We didn't ride in a boat, but we walked around and discovered that all the stuff for sale was basically the same stuff that you can find on the streets of Bangkok on any given day. We didn't need any t-shirts, trinkets or knick knacks, so we just hung around for a bit and took these photos.

Basically, I was not very impressed with the Floating Market concept and would only recommend it to someone who is Hell-bent on checking out.

OUTSIDE BANGKOK: HANGIN' WITH THE CHANGS AT THE TAWEECHAI ELEPHANT CAMP

The novelty of seeing an elephant (or chang) around Bangkok wore off after the first week or so of living here. On any given night, you can spot one on the sidewalks with its owners selling photo opportunities. They are still impressive to see in person, but not actually what I'd call a rare occurence.

The kids have ridden elephants a few times at various zoos and resorts since we relocated to Thailand, but Joanna and I haven't. A few weeks ago we had some friends visiting from out of town, so we made a trip to the Taweechai Elephant Camp in Kanchanaburi (see related blog entries from March, 2007) to cross this experience off of our list.

At first, the elephant handlers take you through a sparsely wooded area and up some hills and other inclines. If you've never ridden an elephant, prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.

Then we went through a small river (the staff at the camp were nice enough to take most of photos for us).


The elephant that Max and I got to ride on was a bit on the small side...

Afterwards, we got to hang around with this baby elephant. I wonder how long it will be before he (or she) has to start carting people around...

For the most part, this was a nice way to spend an afternoon and it was nice to get away from crazy, congested and smoggy Bangkok for a few hours (please note the brand of beer I'm drinking: Chang!)