The Grand Palace

We have 2 days worth of adventures to tell you all about. Yesterday we went to the SWU Ongarak campus to give a lecture for grad students & faculty on recreation in the U.S. After the lecture we went to see the “big fish”. I thought this was going to be a big fish in a fish tank. It was nothing like that. We picked up this man from the Thailand Tourism Office who escorted us to a wealthy politician’s house. We went through a security gate onto his property to see the fish. It was all very covert. The pond had about 2000 giant catfish in it. They averaged about 175 pounds and were up to 5 feet long. They eat about 300 pounds of food a day & it costs $28,000 a month to feed them. It was a feeding frenzy when they started feeding them. Look at the mouth of the fish at the bottom of the pic on the left. We were probably 5 feet from the fish. This was a private tour that was arranged because we were guests of the university. Few Thais have seen these fish. A couple of people on the trip asked why this guy would spend so much money on these fish. Basically it comes down to the fact that he likes them & it is his leisure. Granted he has a caretaker for the fish, but he likes to come out and watch them.

We also visited the dam. On Saturdays the dam is opened to flood a river that runs through the city. A lot of rafting and canoeing take place here. It is an artificial river built for recreation purposes. We are doing some of this in the U.S. as well.

Today we visited the Grand Palace. This is the number one attraction in Bangkok. The University got us VIP passes so we were admitted free and had our own English speaking guide. What we didn’t know was that we would be allowed into places that the general public was not. The rooms we were in were places where heads of state and royalty are received. President Clinton visited there several years ago and stayed on the grounds in the guest mansion.

Our next stop was to the giant reclining Buddha. It was huge! This entire country is very spiritual as 95% of the population is Buddhist. Many of the temples are considered tourist attractions and find ways to generate revenue such as selling clay shingles for the roof. For 20 baht (less than a dollar) Dr. Klitzing & I sponsored a shingle for a temple.

The traffic here is unbelievable. It makes Chicago rush hour look like an early morning drive down Main Street in Normal. While in traffic we see a lot of things. Because land is so scarce, children find the most creative places to play. One popular place is the land under the overpasses. You will find courts and soccer fields there as well as makeshift play areas that were created by those living there. You will also see a lot of children playing on construction sites, mainly those with sand. It is interesting to say the least!