Travelling from Khon Kaen to Nan

Stones in balance - Thailand
Stones in balance
While living in Khon Kaen In traveled with a friend from Khon Kaen to Nan via the road less traveled. The route through Loei province and along the Thai-Lao border. My favourite route to do by motorbike, but this time by car.

Sunrise over the Mekong River in Chiang Khan - Thailand
Sunrise over the Mekong River in Chiang Khan - Thailand
Head of a long-boat in Nan town, North Thailand
Bamboo rafts for lunch on a lake in Loei province, North-East Thailand
Jungle market at Ban Luang, Nan province.

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Visiting the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok

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The Jim Thompson House in Bangkok is the home and Asian art collection of the late James H.W. Thompson, also known as the “Thai Silk King”. It is an old Thai style teak wooden house in a tropical garden in the middle of hectic Bangkok, a oase of tranquility. When living in Bangkok I would visit this place many times. All photos were taken in 2002. But who is Jim Thompson? The short story : he was an American working for the OSS and stationed in Thailand in 1945. He reinvented the famous Thai silk and created the famous Thompson Thai Silk company on Surawong road in Bangkok. A part of his fortune he did spend on a diverse collection of Thai art (one could consider that some actually would belong in a temple) and in 1950 his House on the Klong (now Jim Thompson House) was build. In 1967 he mysteriously diapered in the highlands of Malaysia. For more detailed information see Jim's Story. For more information about the House on the Klong see Jim Thompson House.






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Visiting the former royal city Luang Prabang in Laos

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Although I did make some postings about Luang Prabang, I saw that I actually not made postings from my latest trip to Luang Prabang in 2008. Yes some years ago already. The first time I was in Luang Prabang was in 1997 when we had planned to stay 2 or 3 days but stayed for about 1 week at the then brand new Say Nam Khan River View Hotel (and it is still there). The next time I did return I was on a tour of duty in 2004. The next time and last time (until 2020) was in 2008 when we stayed at the lovely Lotus Villa in the historical quarter. Luang Prabang is the former capital and former royal city of the former "Kingdom of Laos" and still the capital city of Luang Prabang province. Located at the confluence of the Mekong River and Kan River, about 300 km north of Vientiane. And it is world famous as 'Unesco World Heritage Site" with beautiful old temples and French colonial style houses. Following are all photos from 2008.











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Koyaanisqatsi

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Following is just a personal rant and is not specially related to Thailand or traveling. On the day of writing 6 May 2020 (75 years after the end of world war 2) we are still in the middle of the Corona Crisis, although because the curves of statistics are flattening (less people are confirmed to have the Corona virus and less people die of the Corona virus) some people seem to think that it is almost over. Mind you we actually do not know much of this virus, history could have learned us that a virus not just disappears. But never mind people just want to go back to the old normal from the pre-corona era. Back to normal?

Really? Back to normal? Back to being a consumer in a global world where a small elite of people make more money as the all rest of the world? Back to a normal where we rape & destroy the world just to benefit that elite? Where we fight wars & kille people for natural resources? Where a small part of the world population can live in absurd prosperity while t…
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Week 6 of Voluntary Self Isolation at StayHome

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As there will not be any traveling in the next few months I will update you about living in Social Distance at StayHome during the Corona Crisis in Thailand. I started this StayHome thread on 22 March 2020 but actually since 15 March 2020 we are in a kind of self chosen isolation, we only go to town for shopping. This is week 6 at 2 May 2020. As usual I will start with the air pollution. According to Air Visual we now have a US AQI of 65 (moderate) with an pm2.5 of 18.1 µg/m3. Photo above was taken at 5:45am from our garden, just before I did ride to Viewpoint 1715 along route 1256 in the mountains of Doi Phu Kha. For that see the photos below.

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I did write about traveling to Sangkhlaburi already a few times so you might have seen some of the photos shown here. This photos are from visiting Sangkhlaburi in 2005. The previous posting is about photos from 2004. In 2005 I tried to make some photos of the same location, what makes a nice comparison. Sangkhlaburi is famous for its location along Khao Laem Lake (Vajiralongkorn Lake) in the Songaria River, about 230 km west of Bangkok. It is famous for its sunken temple in the lake, the longest wooden bridge of Thailand and the Wat Wang Wiwekarn. And Sangkhlaburi is a popular weekend destination for people from Bangkok. It is also the gate-way to Myanmar at the famous Tree Pagoda Pass. In 2005 the water level of the lake was low and the lake was transformed back to the Songaria River. And the sunken temple was not sunken anymore. But we could still rent a house boat to spend a day on the water. Following are more photos of Sangkhlaburi.






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Goooooood morning Pua

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Reposting from 2017 but it must have been about 2014 that I was the last time at Phi Mai Historical Park. The historical park is located right in the middle of the modern town of Phi Mai and it is about 60 km north of Nakhon Ratchasima. Prasat Hin Phi Mai is part of the many ancient temples in Thailand and Cambodia that were build during the time of the Greater Khmer Kingdom. Prasat Hin Phi Mai is build in the 11th - 12th century. As said the historical park is located in the modern town and opposite the entrance is a nice air conditioned coffee-shop and of course some souvenirs shops. When you enter the park you see the entrance with the Naga bridge on your left hand side and on your right hand side toilets. Walking to the rear side of the park you will have a beautiful view over the complex and see the main Prang surrounded by the smaller Prang's. The complex is build in perfect symmetry which gives you a beautiful view when looking trough the doors. Of course the Buddha image …
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Reposting from a trip in Cambodia in 2013, I would love to be traveling again upcountry in Cambodia. I was staying in Ratanakhiri (Ban Lung) and rented a scooter to explore the area and took the road (route 78A) north of Ban Lung to Voeune Sai along the Tongle San River. Voeune Sai is a simple village with dusty dirt roads and of course a market and a ferry crossing the Tongle San River. And while sitting near the riverside market in I saw this mother and her baby a little but further away. I took this snapshot with with full zoom of the telelens with my Olympus SP550 camera. A bit lucky shot without tripod.

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