Thai Money
Thai money
The basic Thai currency in circulation is the Baht. While any sales receipt or bill may show a fraction of a Baht (satong), I have not seen any satongs in use in many years. The fraction is simply rounded up to the nearest whole Baht and that is what you pay. Coins are in one, two, five and ten Baht denominations, while paper currency is in Twenty, Fifty, One hundred, Five hundred and One Thousand denominations.
The newer one and two Baht coins are now circulating and might confuse a person who is not familiar with the coinage. However, each coin is marked with an Arabic numeral as well as the Thai numeral. Five Baht coins are larger than the one and two Bahts coins. The Ten Baht coin has a gold colored center in a silver ring and it is easily identifiable. Each denomination of the paper currency has a different color and size. The Twenty Baht note is green, Fifty Baht note is blue, One Hundred Baht note is Red, Five Hundred Baht note is purple and the One Thousand Baht note is beige. However for a person who is not used to the various colors, one must take care to check each note when in a hurry. It is easy to confuse the twenty with a fifty note and the one hundred and the five hundred notes can be very difficult to distinuguish especially in poor lighting.
 Buddhist Monk using ATM |
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Past and Future Tours
The November 2010 tour has come to a close and truly was an enjoyable tour. These circle land tours are more taxing and tiring than the more general leisure tours that concentrate on just three or four cities. However, when you have travel companions like those that were on this tour, it is a wonderful experience and very enjoyable. Because of the floods in the central plains, we were unable to do the Grand Pearl Cruise or use the auto ferry in Uthan Thani. However, we were able to do many things that were not originally scheduled but somehow just seemed to happen. A couple of the unexpected things that happened was a visit to a crocodile farm where we got to hold a baby crocodile. We also visited the Opium Museum at the Golden Triange, and visited a tea plantation. The participants on this tour really experienced a variety of methods of transportation. While most of the tour was in an air conditioned van, we still worked in a couple of train rides, several different boat excursions, an ox cart ride, a horse and buggy ride, samlor and Tuk Tuk rides, a cable car ride across a river, a bamboo raft ride and, of course, the elephant ride that is pretty standard in all my tours. Yes, the travelers spent one night on the Jungle Rafts Flotel which was covered in a earlier newsletter.
I am very sorry to say I have had to postpone the Isaan tour until Feb 2012. I am still in hopes of offering this tour but I must have at least eight people in order to make it a go. As of this writing I have only three confirmed persons. While there are more people that have indicated a desire to go, the registrations were not forthcoming soon enough.
I am looking very forward to the January tour. It will be a very relaxing and leisurely tour that just gives an overview of Thailand. The weather should be perfect and the beaches of Kho Samui sound so good instead of shoveling show!
I am offering a summer tour for the first time. Again, it will be a more leisurely overview type trip with a few days in Bangkok, a few in the mountains and then on to the beach.
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The final tour of 2010 came to an end while I was writing this newsletter. It was a wonderful tour, of course I am prejudice. While I only had 3 persons besides myself, they were all great to travel with. In fact because of their attitude and wonderful sense of adventure, we were able to do many more things than were listed in the daily itinerary. The visit to the crocodile farm was not scheduled but it proved to be fun and it was a new experience for everyone to actually hold a baby crocodile.
Thank you for all the feedback on the previous newsletter. The article on the telephones and on the Thai alphabet generated the most comments of all the articles I have written. It was refreshing to receive your input and hear the stories concerning the Thai telephones. However, I can promise you, they are so much better now than they were 45 years ago. For those of you that were intrigued by the article on the Thai alphabet, I thank all of you your positive comments.
There has been a lot of interest in the Isaan tour, but as of this writing, I only have three confirmed seats sold. I will not be able to make it happen without a minimum of eight people. You can always check the web site for the projected dates and costs. Also for complete information and the itinerary for this tour, go to daily itinerary .
Also, by request, I am going to try a tour in July. It will be a relaxing and overview type tour and not one of the special circle tours that have been so successful. The circle tours beyond Bangkok are really fun and always full of unscheduled events but they are also tiring. You really need to plan for 18 to 20 days so you can spend time relaxing in Bangkok or at the beach after one of them. |
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Songkhla's Lak Phra Festival
Photo by Bill Shaw begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Every October there is a festival in Songkhla to mark the end of the "rains retreat". Traditionally in Buddhism there is a three month period commonly referred to as the "rains retreat" or Buddhist Lent. It begins in July and ends in October with the actual dates being determined by the lunar calendar. During this period monks remain at their temple and should refrain from traveling to other temples.
In Songkhla the end of the rains retreat is marked by several activities. Early in the morning of the day marking the end of the rains retreat a procession of hundreds of monks come down from Tang Kuan Hill to receive their alms offerings given by the townspeople. Then there is a parade of beautifully decorated floats.
These floats are built by individual temples and convey a common theme; the Buddha descends giving his teachings about heaven, the earth and hell. At the lower level on the floats are representations of the creatures that inhabit this region. Occasionally representations of corrupt politicians are included on the lower level and this draws great interest from the audience.
The floats are a cacophony of colors and Thai style artwork reflecting Buddhist themes. They use Styrofoam and each panel on the float is individually painted; an extremely time consuming process. The competition for the best float is intense since the first prize is 100,000 Baht, about $3,200.
Although constructed on motorized vehicles the floats are usually pulled by the people from the respective temple as a way of making merit. After judging the floats proceed to a public park where followers can make offerings and receive blessings from the monks.
All in all it's a great way to spend a morning in October. Soon after the northeast monsoon arrives in Songkhla and the rains begin. .  Photo by Bill Shaw This article was written by Bill Shaw. Bill was a member of the same Peace Corps group (Thailand XII) that I was fortunate enough to be in. Bill and his wife Wannee have returned to Songkla, Thailand. Both are active in the community there. |
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English speaking Thai's
Street vendor at temple in Uthai Thani
Photo by Lee Porter on tour in 2010
With few exceptions, most people who are planning their first trip to Thailand, want to know, "Do most Thai's speak English?". The answer to this question is not easily answered.
Many professional Thai's speak excellent English and have little or no problem carrying on a conversation with any native English speaking person. The number of Thai professionals that have been educated in western universities is quite substantial. There are many English language schools in Thailand that have native English speaking teachers. Most of these language schools are in the major cities. The quality of the education in these schools ranges from excellent to poor. In the secondary schools and universities, English is many times a required subject. I have met Thai's that speak fluent English that have never left their country. Throughout the Kingdom, you will find people who speak English who were taught by Peace Corps Volunteers or missionaries. The development of a curriculum of English language training has been steadily improving for several decades. It is now, not uncommon, to find native English speaking teachers in even the remotest areas.
In the areas frequented by tourists, finding an English speaking person is not hard at all. Most hotels, restaurants, and shops speak enough English to be understood. Many times this is more "Tinglish" (Thai-English) than English but with concentration and good listening skills you can usually understand. Many Thai's in the lower economic status have had no chance to formally learn English but often have picked up a phrase or sentence from someone who has been patient enough to help them. Street vendors and taxi drivers may not speak English, but do not assume that they do not understand English. I have found many Thai's who speak very good English, but only after I have started a conversation with them in their language. The persons whose pictures appear in this article are just two examples. The lady was a vendor at a temple in Uthai Thani. She was selling sweets and chili peppers. She asked me in Thai if I would care for a sweet and I replied no thank you in her language. She smiled, sat down beside me and in very good English told me I looked like Santa Claus and then went on to chat in English for fifteen or twenty minutes. She had an excellent English vocabulary for various spices, fruits, vegetables, and ways of preparing food. It was a delightful way for me to pass the time while waiting for the tour group to visit the local temple. The second picture is of a monk at a train depot in Ayuthaya. When I set down on a bench facing him he smiled and nodded for me to sit. I asked him, in Thai, if he was waiting for the train to Lopburi. He stated in English that no, he was going to Bangkok. We then had a nice conversation in which I learned that he had recently resigned from his government job as an immigration officer at the airport, to become a monk.
 Buddhist Monk at Train Depot
Photo taken by Lee Porter on tour in 2010 |
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Wat Nivet Thamaprawat
Belfry of Wat Nivet Thamaprawat
Photo by Lee Porter on tour in 2010
One of the rarely visited temples of Thailand is Wat Nivet Thamaprawat (also transliterated in English as Wat Niwet ThammaPrawat). It is close to the summer palace of Bang-Pa-In near the ancient city of Ayuthaya. The temple is located on an outer island from Bang-Pa-In and is reached by a trolley like cable car that is operated by the monks. Passage on the cable car is free but a donation is welcome. The temple was built during the reign of Rama V (King Chulalongkorn) and was constructed in the style of a gothic Christian church. The monastery has been called a Buddhist temple masquerading as a Christian church. The grounds of this temple gives one the feeling that they are walking in a well manicured garden of an English church. The belfry, buttresses and stained glass windows of the main building add to perception that one is visiting a Christian monastery. There is even a rose window in the building.
What a surprise when one enters the doorway to this building. There are no rows of pews with aisles leading to the alter, but instead it is a totally open area with a main Buddhist altar in the front and some smaller yet important Buddhist shrines on either side of the main altar. One of the stained glass windows shows the image of King Chulalongkorn.
This totally unique temple is well worth the effort to visit. Most English language travel guides completely ignore this temple. The few guides that do mention it give it a one or two sentence description as an afterthought to the write-up of Bang-Pa-In.
 View of interior at Wat Nivet Thamaprawat
Photo by Lee Porter on tour in 2010 |
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I certainly hope you have enjoyed this short newsletter. I really want to thank Bill Shaw for the article on Songkla and the end of the rains retreat. It is great to have articles about the south of Thailand, but alas, I have no experience or first hand knowledge of that area. Bill you are welcome to write future articles if you would like too. I would be very happy to include more articles from you.
Once again, I thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. I am sure my wife Donna and my niece Kim will catch many of my errors and misspelled words. Writing while on tour and without benefit of my home library is really challenging and once again I thank them for their generous giving of time and talent to proof read these short little notes. While I realize not everyone can travel to Thailand, I hope that these short articles will make you more familiar with the Thai culture and its people.
I would like to welcome new readers to this newsletter. The idea is to share information about Thailand, including, but not limited to it's culture, history, people and food. I try to have a newsletter every other month and I honestly try to pick topics I think you will enjoy. I welcome ideas of interest from you and hope you understand that these are my impressions and thoughts and should be treated as such.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to others who you think might be interested. |
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Sincerely,
Lee Porter
H2T3 Tours, LLC
571-244-4363
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