This morning Oceana left and Erfan arrived. Erfan seems like a really nice guy and I think we'll get along well.
In the afternoon I went swimming with some of the junior youth on my soi. We had a lot of fun splashing around and passing a ball around.
After the swimming party I met up with my friends OH and Phan and we went to the Impact exhibition hall to see the display about the King. It was amazing. The people who make interpretive centres in Canada should take a page out of the Thai display book. Mind out this must have cost bucket loads of money, but it was beautiful and Educational. I learned so much about the King! I would have learned more were I able to read Thai but at least I was there with Thai friends and they were able to translate for me and tell me about the way the people feel about the King. It's pretty amazing the way the citizens of Thailand adore their King, I couldn't give a toss about the British Queen even though she is sort of my Queen too. The display about the King went through his childhood, his education, the romance between him and Queen Sirikit, the conservation and economic development work he instigated as well as his art, photography, and his music (playing and composing). He has done a lot! The jazz he composed is very nice too. He is very smart and also designed a boat and a few machines as well as developed the express way in Bangkok and new farming methods in Thailand. The things the King has done for this county are wonderful and he has done them while maintaining a honest, respectful, fair and accepting policy and attitude. There was even a whole section about how the King encourages religious tolerance and it featured pictures of him a different religious ceremonies even though he himself is Buddhist. The section about his environmental conservation projects was also good and really beautifully set up. I really can see why this country loves the King so much, I have a lot of respect for him. It's really different for me as well because I have never seen a country love one person this much, his picture is on buildings and billboards and there are songs about him that make people cry because it's about what he's done for their country and they think it's so moving how much he has cared for his people. My friend Phan told me that he was like the country's father and they all loved him like a father. I swear no one in Canada has been that publicly loved, it's something else for sure. The King's art is also very interesting some are classic portraits and some very abstract but it's very sweet because 99% of them are of his wife and it really shows how much he adores her. The King is a very good leader and I think that this country has been very blessed with their Kings. I'm glad I could be in Thailand for this historical event, it has certainly been an education.
Here is a picture of a mural at the Impact, in two of the three pictures there he has his camera around his neck. I was told that he almost always has his camera, a map and a notepad and pencil with him so that he can remember what he sees for his next plan of development. His photographs are very interesting.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home