Photos and the Reasons Why

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Taken on January 16, 2010
Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Location and Musings:
This was one of the many symbols and statues that surround the big buddha on the hill in Pattaya. It is representative of the mixed bag of religion that appears here, as this is not a buddhist statue. I think it might be a hindu statue that has been absorbed into the new buddhist religion much in the way that judaism was absorbed into Christianity.

The markings on the hands are probably in some way related to the chi. Chi is a Chinese concept, so perhaps this statue is of Chinese origin and a much more modern addition to the thai belief structure. There wasn’t anything next to the statue to explain what it was, but I’m posting this image as brief explanation of what sorts of non-Buddhist imagery you can find in Thailand.

Technical Thoughts:
I’m happy with the soft shadows, despite the harsh midday light. I like the imposing size of the statue, but I’m not such a fan of the nasal upshot or the weird branch in the top left.

Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 800

This man was found in the back corner of a little market on an island just north of Bangkok. Koh Kret used to be a cape jutting out into Chao Phraya, but some enterprising people decided they wanted a shortcut and built a canal past the thinnest part of the cape creating a little artificial Island. As the canal widened, the Island became more isolated.

The island is populated by the Mon. The Mon people were the first to inhabit Southeast asia and were largely responsible for the spread of the kind of Buddhism worshiped in Thailand, Therevada Buddhism. The Mon people have largely assimilated into Thai, but Koh Kret is one of the few remaining places where the people struggle to retain their culture. The Mon are more populous and less assimilated in Burma/Myanmar to the west and near the Malaysian border to the south.

The Mon that live on the Island, and the cape before that, were always well known for their pottery. Elsewhere on the island there is a small building with a few pots and a couple other artifacts laying haphazardly about in what passes for a museum. Outside the museum is a large pot bearing a sign that claims that it is the World’s Largest Pot of its kind.

The Island is also home to a unique type of ginger that only grows only there. I couldn’t tell the difference between it and any other ginger.

Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 640

This is the worlds most intrinsically valuable sacred artifact although it used to be thought of as nearly useless.
Years ago, in the old capital of Ayutthya, armies were invading and the shiny Buddha you can see in this picture was quickly covered in plaster.
Eventually, long after anyone knew about the subterfuge, the buddha was relocated to Chinatown.
At the time, it was just a 10 foot 5 ton rather ugly representation of Buddha.

Eventually a new temple was built and a pulley system was devised to lift the buddha up to the top. In the pouring rain, the system broken, letting the Buddha crash into the mud.

This was thought to be a bad tiding and everyone ran home. That night, a monk had a image in his sleep that there was a light inside his statue.

Upon waking, he went to the statue and found that some plaster had chipped off. Underneath the plaster was proof that this was not 5 tons of plaster and rigging, but 5 tons of solid 12 carat gold.

The Buddha now sits atop a rather beautiful 3 story temple. The second floor is a museum showing the path the Chinese immigrants to arrive in Bangkok. It was really well made and the scenery changed smoothly from room to room. You began in a field in China then walked into the hold of a wooden sailboat with videos playing in such a way that it looked like you could see immigrants when you looked up through the hatches. You left the boat onto the docks, then over a bridge into a night scene with a scale model of what the city looked like back at the time.

The entire thing would have been overwhelmingly beautiful if the accompanying information said anything other than saccharine sweet portrayal of how everything was always great for poor immigrants once they left miserable old China and came to beautiful plentiful Thailand where no one ever goes hungry.

Camera: Nikon D300S
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 1600

The Chao Praya River runs directly through Bangkok. Temples and other important buildings line the banks creating a series of beautiful sights.

When night falls, the lights change these temples into even more exotic views.

This temple is Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn. The intricate layers are indicative of it’s Khmer (Cambodian) style, which is fairly unusual in the area.

The central spire is representative of the Hindu mythological Mount Meru. The hindu’s believe that Mount Meru is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it.

Mt. Meru is hidden in the center of the earth and is 1.082 million km tall. It’s hidden well.