Utkarsh Rai

We first landed in Phuket and it was bustling with tourists. In the evening, we went to watch the FantaSea show. It was spread in a large area and the complex was beautifully decorated and with many fun activities. We went to watch the show and were totally enthralled by the show. However, after watching the trained elephants and other animals in the show we thought that the Animal rights’ groups would have banned such shows in India.

Next day we went on the day long Island shopping boat ride. Many movies were shot in these islands, which was famous for steep rock emerging out from the quiet Andaman Sea. Snorkling, some caves etc. We visited a couple of them and they were picturesque.

We landed in Bangkok and decided to explore it later but first visit places outside Bangkok. We took a day trip to Kanchanbuari. We moved to the famous and historical “Bridge over the River Kwai”. The movie with the similar name made this sit even more famous. The Japanese used POWs of allied forces to build this strategic rail route to support their troops in Burma. Many of these prisoners died due to heavy workload. We walked on this bridge. Nearby this bridge, stood Kanchanbuari War Memorial. It is a cemetery having a plaque bearing the names of many including Indians who died building this bridge. This cemetery is still visited by relatives of those who died. Allied forces destroyed this railway link during WW II, to stop the Japanese advance towards India.

We had heard a lot about the so-called Tiger temple, and proceed to visit that temple. We were advised against wearing red coloured clothes while going near to the Tigers. This is a unique temple where monks have kept Tigers as pets. We assembled and slowly Tigers started coming out with the escorts. We lined up walked next to Tigers for few hundred meters. We reached a spot where Tigers were asked to sit and each one of us were accompanied with a trainer near the Tiger.  However, the irony was that we found them chained and sleepy just to allow tourists to touch them for a photo shoot. On return we stopped by a Floating market and were amazed to see the commercialization of the once village markets for tourists. It was a good picture opportunity and nothing more. We came back to Bangkok.

Next day we went for another daylong trip to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand that was named after our Ayodhya. We first stopped at “Bang Pa In” Summer palace, which is just at the outskirts of Bangkok. This complex is some three hundred years old and have impressive building of Thai, Gothic and Chinese architecture. It is now used to receive country’s state guest. After spending a couple of hours, we moved to Ayutthaya. This city was formed some seven hundred years and stayed as capital for four hundred years. We reached and saw the ruins of the once impressive city. There are a good number of temples, which are still in a good shape. Sleeping Buddha statue in an open field was very impressive. Once there was a temple over it, which is no more. Then at the centre of the ruins one could find three different styles of Buddhist temple, Sri Lanka, Cambodia etc.  Nearby stood Buddha’s face covered with tree’s stems. We climb up the Lighthouse to see the complex. Burma forces have captured this city some two hundred years back.

In Bangkok, we realized the deep cultural and religious linkage between India and Thailand. Most of the beliefs and ceremonies were rooted in Hinduism. The Thai kings have kept their titles after the name of Lord Rama and the current King is known as King Rama IX. Though the major religion is Buddhism, they worship Lord Ganesha & Brahma also. There are impressive Buddhist temples with Buddha statutes made of precious stones and metals. We came to Bangkok and took the cruise on the Cho Phrya River, which provided a panoramic view of Bangkok’s ancient and modern architecture and wondered when we could have a similar cruise on the Yamuna in Delhi. Our trip would not be complete without the shopping and its lure forced my vegetarian wife to control her nausea from the roadside seafood joints near the shopping mall to add an extra suitcase to our check-in baggage.