Pattaya and the Sanctuary of Truth

August 28 update: Unfortunately, I screwed up the original post, completely eliminating its introductory ¶. I have scoured the ether, but the full story is nowhere to be found. Oh well ...

​Asian elephants are smaller than African, and tend towards pink faces.

OSHA would not approve of this fellow’s working conditions... or his bare feet.

You get some idea how vast the interior of this sanctuary is...

The workers weren’t protected, but the tourists were.

The Big Buddha, or Wat Phra Yai, was next and this was really impressive. Sitting atop a hill that overlooks all of Pattaya, the temple complex was built in the 1940’s, but the 60-foot-tall Buddha dates from 1977. A class of young novices (?) or students (?) were chanting, individuals were lighting incense and praying, leaving money stuck onto twigs and stems in bouquets in front of the statue. It is really a Big Buddha.

I cannot guess what this one’s about...

Shots of town. Great colors. Dangerous wiring. We surmised that if there’s an electrical problem, they can’t possible locate the culprit wire, so they must just string a whole new line and bundle it with all the old ones.

Last stop shopping. I managed to resist these... no room in the suitcases. Too bad — they’d look great on my stoop in West Newbury.

A few Vikings stayed in Pattaya and came back late. One commented that he walked down the beach and couldn’t believe how many fat, old white guys he saw with young Thai women. Thus reminding us all that despite its sanctuary of truth and all its Buddhas, Thailand is internationally known as a sextination.

Thai tidbits:

- Population of the country is 67 million

- They export pineapple, mangoes, sugar cane and tapioca

- They eat most of the rice they produce, but export the leftovers

- Thailand is known for its jasmine rice

- Migrant workers come to Thailand from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos #