Blog posts about Thailand.

During our one full day in Chiang Rai we had a whirlwind tour to see some of the highlights in the area. We visited Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple), Wat Rong Seur Ten (Blue Temple), Baan Dam Museum (the Black House), House of Opium, Chui Fong Tea Plantation, Golden Triangle and a Padaung Village (the Karen Longneck). It was quite a lot in one day but it was great to get a taste of everything.

How to review a city? Should I review cities? I’m toying with the idea and this is my first attempt. I really don’t want to be negative about any place since it’s all going to be so subjective so I’m trying to come up with a specific set of categories to try and make it a little more objective, but also to highlight why my overall experience may be a “me” problem, and not something everyone visiting would feel or experience.

The official currency in Thailand is the Thai baht (THB). The symbol for Thai Bhat is ฿. Cash is used quite regularly in the Kingdom of Thailand, but they are modernizing and digitizing quickly. You’ll see QR codes and digital payment options all over the place.

One of the risks of visiting a new congregation, even in the U.S., is that you are not in the loop. What I mean is that if something is going on that disrupts their ordinary published schedule, no one is going to think to tell you about it, even if you’ve been in contact with them ahead of time.

One of the most popular things to do in northern Thailand is to visit an elephant sanctuary. For some reason, it just didn’t interest me that much. I like animals as much as the next person, I think, but I’m not a big fan of zoos and artificial environments.

Our stay in Thailand began with a week in Bangkok, then a week on the island of Koh Samui, and now a month in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. The only real book collection I’ve encountered at any of the places we’ve stayed was at the house on Koh Samui, but the owner of that house is German, and so were all of her books.

This isn’t the first time I’ve spent Christmas outside the US, but it still took me a little bit off guard this year.

The only remotely tricky part of sending postcards from Thailand was the drive to the post office, everything else was a breeze.

I don’t know what I expected but… other places we’ve visited in Asia, China, India, Japan…those visits did not prepare us for Bangkok.