Travel Blog: Life in Thailand

Thailand Posts

An American in Thailand
My son Sean fell in love with Thailand. He has been living here for almost 3 years. He is fluent in Thai, and is extremely happy to be here.

Sean invited me to come live with him in Thailand. Sounded like a great idea! We are sharing a 3 bedroom house in a small community directly outside of Chiang Mai. (more)

Care for Dogs
Some people are cat people, I happen to be a dog person. My heart melts when I see a puppy. When I see an abused, neglected, or starving dog my heart aches a bit.

Living in Thailand, I am afraid my heartstrings are tugged on more frequently. There are many street dogs in Chiang Mai, neglected, starving not only for food, but for human companionship and love. (more)

Go, Dog, Go!
When my children were little I read to them every night. One of my favorite books was Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman. My favorite part was towards the end, when all the dogs woke up in the morning and headed to the tree. “Where are they going?” the story asks. “To a dog party! A big dog party! Big dogs, little dogs, black dogs, white dogs, all going to a dog party!”

I recently attended a dog party, a BIG dog party! (more)

A Day Visit to the Night Safari
There is a bit of controversy around the Night Safari in Chiang Mai. Seems the government purloined national park land to build it on. This, and that there has yet to be published an environmental impact assessment has meant that the project is not well supported in Chiang Mai.

So I decided yesterday to go visit and see for myself what the Chiang Mai Night Safari is all about. (more)

Chiang Mai Flower Festival
I had the good fortune of attending part of the 32nd Annual Flower Festival in Chiang Mai on Saturday. The festival runs for three days, and includes a parade with he most beautiful, intricate and colorful floats I have ever seen.

Chiang Mai is centered around the Old City, which has a moat around it, and a main road around the moat. For the festival, part of the road was closed off, and booths were set up by vendors selling their wares. (more)

Tripping at the Chiang Mai Zoo
Monday I decided it was time to visit the Chiang Mai zoo. I left home and walked up to the main road, hailed a Tuk Tuk, and was off on my new adventure.

We arrived at the zoo, and I am very sad to say it was a real trip. Getting out of the Tuk Tuk my pant hem hung up on something, and instead of gracefully exiting from the Tuk Tuk, I lost my balance, and landed on my left knee. OUCH! Unfortunate for my knee, because it had to take the full impact as I juggled my camera to keep it from hitting the ground.

Off to a great start! The Chiang Mai zoo is spread out over a gazillion acres, most of it uphill. I limped up to the ticket window, and paid my 100 Baht to enter the zoo. (more)

Visit to a Bulb Farm, Dinner at Na’s
We were invited over to my son’s friend Na’s house for dinner the other evening. Na’s family owns a bulb farm. Before dinner we toured the property to see how the bulbs are grown. (more)

Getting High in Thailand
Yesterday morning we set out for a leisurely Sunday drive. Our destination was Doi Inthanon National Park, which boasts the highest mountain in all of Thailand. We packed the dogs in the back of the truck, and took off.

On the way there we passed a hillside that was covered with huge sculptures. We decided to take a detour and check it out. We turned off the highway, and climbed a windy road through a residential area towards the top of the hill. (more)

Koh Tao, Tropical Island
I just returned from a mini vacation with Sean and Pink, and now I am ready for a real vacation.

We decided, after much discussion of the many options of places to go and routes to take, on going to the Island of Koh Tao. Last year my son and I went to Koh Samed, and I had such a wonderful time snorkeling for the first time.

Since I knew we would be going to one of the islands again, I purchased a pair of underwater digital camera goggles, with 5 megapixels, which is the same size megapixel as my land camera. I was so excited about the possibility of getting some good underwater shots to show you just how amazing snorkeling is. I had envisioned a whole new section on my site dedicated to bright colorful underwater shots. (more)

Thailand Beaches, Koh Samed
Before I left Thailand I wanted to see for myself the Thailand beaches that I always hear so much about.

My son began a job in Bangkok a couple of weeks before I left Chiang Mai. My flight to back to America was from Bangkok, so we decided I would head for Bangkok a few days before my flight, and we would meet up in Bangkok and head to an island for a few days of fun and relaxation. (more)

Walking the Dogs
Yesterday afternoon we decided to take the dogs for a walk at our usual beautiful spot.

But before we took them for their walk, we decided to go past our spot and up the hill to a Wat that Sean had been telling me about. We drove through the most beautiful countryside, up a winding road to the top of the hill. We passed one spot on a steep curve that had about 6 or 7 spirit houses by the side of the road. Kind of a good indication to take it easy. (more)

Spirit Houses
I had first come to Thailand in 2005 with my sister to visit my son. We spent a week here, which was not nearly long enough, but I was thankful for the time anyways.

We arrived just in time for Songran festival, which is the Thai New Year, and a really big celebration. But that is a whole ‘nother blog.

When I was here in 2005, and I am sure it is true for every visitor to Thailand, I was amazed at all of the tiny little temple replicas all around town. I assumed they were tributes to Buddha. Now that I am living here, and learning more about the culture of Thailand, I have discovered how wrong that assumption was! (more)

The White Temple
Buddhist Temples are abundant in Thailand. Each temple, or Wat as they are called, is unique and has a style of their very own. I will be doing a series of blogs and galleries on the various Wats, and try to share with you the personality and uniqueness of Wats I visit.

The first up is the Chapel of Wat Rong Khun, also known as the White Temple. Located just south of Chiang Rai, this temple is noted for its brilliance and beauty. (more)

Wat Khao Lo (Monkey Mountain)
This weekend we drove to Kamphaeng Phet, about a 7 hour drive from Chiang Mai. My son and Pink officially became engaged in a traditional Thai Engagement Ceremony. How cool is that?

Her parents home was close to the Ping River, on Saturday we took stroll along the river. (more)