Thai Textiles
I’m sure it’s the decades spent with Dorothy, but of all the craft traditions, textiles seem like the deepest expression of a society’s culture. There may be a shared vocabulary of design motifs across the…
I’d Like To Speak To Your Manager…
Everyone else on my day trip visited a hill village and some temples, but not me. My tour featured an ethical tourism dilemma and wrestling questions of art and authenticity into submission. And they didn’t…
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is considered Chiang Mai’s most important temple, founded in 1383 by the Lanna kingdom. Hang on, because its origin story is… special. The official story is that a monk named…
Thai Crafts
With a few exceptions, I haven’t been seduced by the Thai crafts. There are several potential explanations for this. ① It’s not that impressive a craft culture. ② We just shopped our way through six…
Temples of Doom!
There isn’t actually a ton of difference between inside the Old City and outside. There are old buildings and new buildings on both sides of the moat. The biggest distinction is that the Old City…
CNX
In a quirk of local terminology, both Chiang Mai and Bangkok refer to themselves by their airport codes, CNX and BKK. I can’t think of another place that does that. I mean, if a business…
Jungleland
I had fun swimming in the falls in the jungle outside Bangkok, so it was easy to sign up for a similar tour from Krabi. This location was distinguished by the fact that the waterfalls…
The Elephants In The Room
Who asked for a deeply unsettling emotional experience? I just wanted to see elephants. I know that everyone’s calling themselves an “ethical” elephant sanctuary these days, but I also know that the devil is in…
Muay Thai
I have never once been tempted to view or attend a boxing match. It is savage and uncivilized, and watching people hurt one another for entertainment seems degrading to all parties, participants and spectators alike.…
Welcome To The Jungle
The last of my tour-based day trips around Bangkok took me to Erawan National Park, home to Erawan Falls, seven delicious tiers of waterfalls and pools. This was truly a day trip: I left home…