Truly a Thai experience

Sandasen MARASINGHE

In the article last week, we discussed our visit to the Golden Buddha Temple, the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the visit to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

After enjoying the delicacies, we bid farewell to the Riverside Restaurant and got into the beautifully decorated ferry to cross the Chao Phraya which is the 'vein' of Bangkok. If it hadn't been for the Chao Phraya here, the City of Bangkok would not have raised high like it is today. For a city of the size of Bangkok, a river of the size of Chao Phraya is essential.

When I saw Chao Phraya I thought she might have seen the fleeing Thai people throwing invaluable solid gold treasures, solid gold Buddha statues and many other masterpieces into her womb during the times of the invaders and the rise of the Thailand again.

"Still people during the period of low tide, people find valuable treasures from the river near the ruined city Ayuththaya," intimate friend Tim raises her voice and tells.

City of Ayuththaya

Vimanmek Teak wood Mansion

Royal Barge at Arts of Kingdom

Well experienced guide Tim of the newly established Absolutely Fantastic Holidays Co Ltd skimmed down the itinerary and directed the driver towards the Vimanmek Palace or the Vimanmek Teakwood Mansion which is a reflection of various aspects of Thai heritage and culture.

"Queen Sirikit in 1982 initiated the project of opening the Vimanmek Palace to the public in the form of a museum with 31 display halls dedicated to Rama V which was remained unused for many years after the death of Rama VI," Tim explain while introducing the Palace. Fabricated entirely of golden teak, the Vimanmek Palace on Ratchawithi Road is the largest golden teakwood mansion in the world built by King Rama V in the year 1897.

Ceramics, glassware, ivory items, antique furniture, old photographs and royal memorabilia form a major part of the various exhibits. The Abhisek Dusit Hall displays Queen Sirikit's private collection of handicrafts made by rural people.

A large haul of rusted swords with broken handles remains as one of the most fascinating item of all the exhibits in the museum. "Those swords collection makes a part of the swords used by the Thai soldiers against the enemies who came to invade the country," Tim adds. Those handles were broken by the soldiers after the battles were over to release the spirits of the enemies who were killed with those swords and to proclaim that those swords are not used again for any other purpose other than to protect the country.

We left the Vimanmek Mansion to visit the craftsmanship of the Thai people. We entered the Arts of the Kingdom in Bangkok. Footprints of the Lord Buddha in gold nielloware, the embroidered Sabokkoranee lotus pond screen, the carved screen of Sabokkoranee Lotus Pond, Sivikakarn or Covered Palanquin, a model of the Sri Suphannahongse Royal Barge, a wood-carved screen with the legend of "Bejaratana", a carved wood Half-Dragon Half-Horse Creature, an Octagonal - shaped room decorated with beetle wings are just a few of the feast to the eye at Arts of the Kingdom.

I was lingering near many masterpieces thinking how long ago these masterpieces were made in solid gold and genuine diamonds and rubies with intricate designs. To quench your thirst one such masterpiece is the golden "howdah", a seat kept on the Royal Elephant for the king when he goes to the war. It seems about three feet long, two feet wide with a height of two feet. "It was completed in August 12, 2004 by 76 artists," Tim told to our surprise "They took 18 months to make these intricate designs."

The Queen would meet with villagers to informally chat and listen to their opinions and problems, while inspecting their latest handiworks and meet with new talents, who would later be sent to be trained to cultivate higher skills in handling more intricate designs, from weaving to complicated wooden carvings.

I was impressed to see a quarter page photograph of the Kelaniya Dagoba in the the Bangkok Post Newspaper which was delivered to me in the Rembrandt hotel room on March 29 morning. I skimmed the newspaper and it was a pleasure to read a three page article about the cultural sites in Sri Lanka written by Pichaya Svasti and decorated with colourful pictures.

The very same day we attended the Official Inauguration of Miracle Year of Amazing Thailand 2012 presided by the Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawathra.

Later in the evening we departed for Ayutthaya just 80 kilometers away in the North of Bangkok to visit tourist sites. It reminded me of the ruins in the ancient cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. The temples and palaces stood ruined but strong in the sun and the rain for many centuries.

The city of Ayutthaya became Thailand's capitol in the mid-14th Century and remained the capital until the late18th Century.

We had our dinner at Pae Kiung Kao Restaurant - a floating restaurant where we were served with large number of Thai dishes which were appealing to my Sri Lankan taste buds.

The morning after we visited Madame Tussaud Wax Museum where one can meet a large number of leading figures in history including Mahathma Ghandi, Albert Einstein, Barack Obama to Britney Spears. When we were watching the life size images of these world famous figures Sugatha Menon could not help posing for a photograph with her hands round Pablo Pikaso.

"She is really photogenic," it was the voice of Ivan Alwis, who was with two other jounalists Executive Editor of Jade Sugatha Menon and freelancer Kiran who came along ith us. If you love to see the beauty of ocean beds and creatures across the regions, the Siam Ocean World one of the largest in Southeast Asia is a place to see. The aquatic wonderland underneath the Siam Paragon shopping mall, in the size of three Olympic swimming pools will dazzle you with innovative world-class exhibits and over 30,000 curious looking creatures from various depths and aquatic regions across the globe.

sandasen@ymail.com