First impressions of Thailand

After arriving late, I didn't get much sleep, as a booked tour started early in the morning. On the way to the meeting point, I noticed that everywhere – in squares, intersections, and in front of public buildings – there were these huge, ornately decorated photos of members of the royal family, or apparently high-ranking military officers. And many Buddhist symbols. Many buildings have small temples in front of them.

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The program includes a trip to Ayutthaya, where we will visit various temple complexes, but also more modern ones such as the large reclining Buddha statue, "Reclining Buddha".
Our guide doesn't speak very good English, but what's really annoying is that he tells seemingly incoherent stories that have nothing to do with what we're seeing. We arrive at the first temple, and naturally, we're all eager to see it, but he spends almost the entire time talking about some kind of royal couple. After five minutes, I'm the first to break the ice and leave the chattering guide to finally see the temple. Those who stayed until the end at least learned their lesson for the next temple: just ignore him. Why travel two hours to a temple if we don't have time to see it? Would we have stayed with the guide and listened to his irrelevant stories in front of the bus?

We notice that there are broken statues everywhere, but upon inquiry we learn that this is not due to the weather, but rather that there are specific historical reasons for it. One is that poor people apparently earn some extra money by sending wealthy foreigners, for example, a severed hand abroad for their private collection – because a whole statue would be too conspicuous.
Another event is that a treasure was apparently once found in a Buddha statue, and afterwards statues throughout the country were demolished in the hope of finding treasures there as well.
Much was also destroyed during the Burmese invasion of 1767.

Next, we look at the "Reclining Buddha." That's when I first notice something I'll observe again and again later: unlike the usual Christian depictions, the Buddha is often shown smiling, and overall, much of the temple decoration has a rather cheerful and festive feel.

At "Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit" we see a truly magnificent temple complex, impressive for its sheer size and, of course, for its ubiquitous, intricate decorations. There are also smaller statues depicting Buddha in his various mudras (hand gestures or body postures), and depending on one's wishes, one can make a donation or light an incense stick at the appropriate place.

Finally, we were taken to a restaurant that clearly caters to Western tourists. The spiciness was much milder. Unfortunately. But it was still delicious. Especially the Pad Krapao, which consists of minced meat, beans, and chili peppers.

This tree with the Buddha head inside seems to be the most photographed thing in Thailand, I have no idea why. Our guide is doing a good job here, shooing the others away and taking photos of us one after the other. It's important to make sure your feet aren't pointing towards the Buddha. There's also an official there who has to tell several tourists every minute to behave and follow the rules.

That concludes our excursion, and we're dropped off at a large shopping mall with a metro connection. With a dragon right in the middle. You know how it is... in a shopping mall.