The Temples of Sukhothal

We’re heading further north this morning and the country side is turning green with rice farms. Thailand is still an agrarian society I’m not seeing the new factories and high-rise apartments that we saw in China. I find myself comparing what I’m seeing in Thailand to what I saw in China and I feel that Thailand is not making the economic advancements that China is achieving. It appears that this can be a result of different governmental policies.

We stopped at a local farmer’s home who has been recognized as one of the best farmers of the region, his main crop is rice but he also raises bananas and catfish. Unlike most farmers he employs others and produces more then what his family needs. He serves on the local farm cooperative where he teaches other farmers to efficiently use their land, as a part of the Thai government’s program to teach its citizens to achieve self sufficiency. Most farmers carry large debt resulting from the purchase of their land. The average farmer earns 50,000 baht per year while the average family income in Thailand is 150,000 baht per year. ($4500)

As we drive through a city we see road-side retail, consisting of a shop of restaurant in front of the family home. Every city has a bustling market filled with daily food needs, clothing, and hardware. Refrigeration is a luxury thus the people go to the market to buy what they need each day. Food preparation on the road side is common, 75% of the housing would be considered poverty level living in the United States. If you see an attractive building it is either a Buddhist temple, a governmental building or the home of a governmental official. Our guide, who I assume has an above average income told us that she lived in a 450sq ft condo in Bangkok. She does have running water and a bathroom but she cooks over charcoal.

Our next stop was in Sukhothai the location of over 200 Buddhist Temples built in the 12th and 13th centuries. This was the original capital of the Khmer civilization, which included what is now Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. The temples originally reflected the Hindu faith but as the Hindu religion declined in the area most of the Hindu icons were replaced with Buddhist icons. Because of the common Khmer influence there are many similarities to those that we saw in Cambodia although the Cambodia temples are 100 to 200 years older.

Before getting on a tram to see the temples Michael, Jerry and I each purchased a straw gentleman’s hat (Everyone’s talking about the sharp dressed man –ZZ Top) that cost 50 Baht ($1.50). They look line something that we’ll be able to wear the balance of the trip not like Nita’s Birkenstocks knock-offs that smell like elephant dung. The Buda statues are magnificent and I had a bright blue sky to use as a backdrop for many of my photos. The temperature is cooler here, in the low 90's which still leaves us exhausted at days end.

We had lunch at a community house sponsored by OAT, our travel company. Being in northern Thailand the sticky rice, pork and vegetable are eaten by hand, no utensils. All the food was wrapped in palm leaves stitched together with small small sticks. For desert we had rice flour balls filled with palm sugar and coconut, very sweet but good, I could only eat one of the two offered.

After lunch we went across the street to meet the brother of our host for lunch. He ran a rice mill; the local farmers brought him their rice and he ran it through his mill. The first time through the rice husks are removed from the rice grain the second time through any small rice is separated from the marketable rice. The mill owner does this for the local farmers for free in exchange for the rice hulls and the small rice which he keeps and feds to his pigs along with banana peels. It seemed like a win-win arrangement.

Next we went to the local school which was built by the parent company of our tour company, Grand Circle. They've build eight similar schools in Thailand as well as schools in the other countries where they run extensive tours. As we got off the bus at the school we were greeted by a 10 or 11 year old child who acted as our escort for the next hour and a half as we toured the school and allowed them to practice their English. I’ll allow my pictures to tell the story of that hour and a half.

We were told that our hotel this evening was not up to OAT standards but Nita and I found it clean and comfortable; the hotel food is beginning to all look and taste alike. Curry chicken, fried pork, egg rice and vegetables, and oh-yes watermelon….”where’s the beef?"

We’re heading further north tomorrow and will have a day trip into Myanmar in several days, we’re all looking forward to that, and maybe they eat beef.