Southeast Asia Part 2 — Thailand

We continued our Circle Pacific Cruise with two ports in Thailand, our first visit to the country.  Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by Europeans.

Our first port was the island of Ko Samui. There is archaeological evidence of inhabitants there more than 2000 years ago.  It may have been founded by fisherman from the Malay peninsula; it appeared on Chinese maps in the 1600s.

It is the second largest island in Thailand and today is visited annually by nearly 3 million tourists.

This was a tender port, meaning our ship anchored in the bay and we needed to take another boat in.  Usually, these boats are from our ship, but in this case, there were several local boats that provided the service in addition to some from our ship.  The one we were on was made of beautiful wood.

We were anchored off of the only real town on the island, Na Thon.

We walked around the town and then did a little shopping.  We saw one of the restaurant managers from our ship in one of the restaurants; this is usually a good sign, because they know good food, and also because they have a good network of information about what to do in town through all of the ship staff.  We decided to eat lunch at the restaurant she was eating in, Mumthong.  The food was good and we were able to order it without spice.  We used to eat in Thai restaurants frequently in the US but have shied away from them recently because Kevin can no longer tolerate spicy food.  It was great to be able to have some Thai food in its place of origin, even if it was not exactly how they normally serve it.

Our second stop in Thailand was the port of Laem Chabang.  This is the closest commercial port to Bangkok.  It is 2-3 hours each way to Bangkok, so the ship stayed overnight so that those who wanted could visit the city, either on a long daytrip, or overnight.  We chose not to do that, both because of the long drive and because we don’t feel a need to visit most large cities.

The first day we were there I did a shore excursion through the cruise line.  First, we visited an amazing temple called the “Sanctuary of Truth.”  It is made entirely of wood and is a modern temple, started in 1981.  It is still a work in progress, so we needed to wear hard hats to enter.  It will always be under construction to some extent, because being of wood it will need to be repaired over time.  The temple was designed and funded by a wealthy businessman and is themed on Thai, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs.  The 6 truths that are the theme of the various sculptures and design of the temple are:

1. “Who are we? Where are we from?” and represents the concept of human equality.
2. “How do we survive?” dealing with how our life cycle depends on nature.
3. “The End of Life” represents the concept that “we are born to die.”
4. “Samples of Civilization” provides examples of great individuals who have left a profound impact on the world.
5. “What is the purpose of life?” provides several guidelines for behaviors to follow (and not) in finding this out for yourself.
6. “Society is a Two-sided Coin” provides pairs of contrasting characteristics of society that are positive and negative (such as generosity vs. selfishness).

The temple was amazing and thought-provoking.  I would highly recommend it to anyone ever in the area.  Pictures of course cannot possibly do it justice.

After the temple, we drove to the nearby tourist city of Pattaya, very popular with people from Bangkok but also other tourists.  We drove around the city a bit and then went to a mall.  I found a great restaurant in the mall and was able to have my favorite Thai dish, green curry, along with a refreshing iced lemongrass tea.  My curry was a bit spicy, but I was able to eat it.  It was similar to what I have had in Thai restaurants in the past, but the vegetables were more crunchy and bitter, providing a contrasting flavor that is typical of their cuisine (usually including some salty, sweet, bitter and spicy elements).

On our final day in Thailand (still in port Laem Chabang), both Kevin and I had a Thai Massage in the cruise terminal building.  It is a unique massage technique that is included on the UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.  It includes assisted stretching in addition to the typical kneading of muscles, and you are generally clothed while receiving the massage.

I enjoyed my time in Thailand and feel like I had a good variety of experiences and foods unique to their culture in my short visit to the country.