House on Chao Praya River in Uthai Thani photo by Lee Porter 2010

  

House on Kwai Noi River photo by Chou Wen Cheng on tour 2009

    

    About 3 kilometers outside the city of Ubolratchathani is one of the most interesting temples in Isaan (Northeast) region of Thailand.  It is Wat Phra That Nong Bua. This temple was built around 1957 to commemorate the 2500 anniversary of the Lord Buddha. The rectangular chedi is approximately 55 meters high, 17 meters wide and is modeled after the Chedi Buddhakhaya of India.  This is a temple of the Bodh Gaya style and is very uncommon in Thailand.  On each of the four sides of the chedi are niches with a standing Buddha in each niche.  The relief work found on the outside of the chedi is called Jataka relief and is from the Pali literature of the previous births of the Buddha.  In Thai this is called Chadok and is very much a part of the canon of Theravada Buddhism.

Wat Phra That Nong Bua photo by Chou Wen Cheng on tour 2009

      You can enter the chedi on any of the four sides and stand face to face with the four sided altar. Each side is unique and it is worth taking a few moments to explore. All four sides of this altar offer multiple statues representing many poses of the Budda and statues of famous monks.  A smaller square chedi is in each corner of the wall that surrounds the main chedi as can be seen in the picture below.    

    While the Chedi is very old in appearance, the preaching hall, or wihan, is a very modern looking building.  It is bright and colorful where the chedi is very drab looking from the outside. When visiting this temple be sure to take the time to look at the wax candles from the Thai Buddhist lenten parade held each year in Ubolratchathani.  Unless you are lucky enough to be in Ubolratchathani for this annual parade in June, this is probably your only chance to see examples of this craft.   On a personal note, I have visited this temple several times but have never seen any monks present.  I have seen nuns caring, cleaning, placing flowers and incense. I have always missed seeing any of the resident monks.   We will visit this temple during the 2012 Isaan tour scheduled from January 29th to February 12th.                  

Wat Phra That Nong Bua photo By Chou Wen Cheng on tour 2009

 
        

Dancing elephant at Mae Sa Elephant Camp photo by Chou Wen Cheng on tour 2005

     One of everyone's favorite adventures while in Thailand is a visit to an elephant camp.  Of course once you get to a camp, it is only natural that you will want to ride one of these magnificent animals.   But why are their elephant camps?  Even though the majority of the people you see at these camps are foreigners, there always seem to be Thais in attendance too.  Why is this?  

      Thais have a love affair with the elephant going back many centuries.  The last hundred years has been one of drastic change for both the elephants and the Thai people.  In 1900 there were approximately 300,000 wild elephants and 100,000 domestic elephants in Thailand.  The domestic elephants were used for farming and forestry work. 

       Rain forests used to cover 90 percent of the land area of Thailand.  By the end of the 1900's less than 15 percent of the forests were left intact.  Throughout that century the habitant for the wild animals became so decimated that the number of wild elephants has now dwindled to an estimated 1000.  They are scattered throughout the country but primarily in national parks that are like green islands.  This has left the elephants in small unsustainable herds.  It is hoped that the future of these herds can be assured with protection from the various governent agencies and concerned private groups like the National Elephant Institute and the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang.  

       In 1989 or 1990, Thailand outlawed logging.  This was done to protect the remaining forests, but it was devastating to the thousands of domesticated animals which found themselves out of work.  Some mahouts fled to Myanmar with their elephants to continue logging, while many went to the cities to earn money enough to feed their elephants.   Even today one will occasionally see an elephant on the streets of Bangkok, but this is perhaps the most inhumane treatment of these magnificent animals.  Walking on the concrete and pavement, smelling the exhaust fumes of automobiles and buses is not good for animals. 

      A much more realistic venue for these intelligent creatures is the use in elephant camps to entertain and enlighten people on the beauty of these animals. They demonstrate work skills, play games, paint pictures and there is even one elephant band that has recorded a CD. These elephants are cared for by their mahouts and are fed well through the help of tourists and Thais alike.  An elephant can eat as much as 500 pounds of food a day and a mahout must find a way to provide this.  While this is not the most ideal situation, it is at least humane.  The idea of returning all the domesticated elephants to the wild is not feasible since the habitat could not support this increase in elephant population.    

         
   

Elephants at Mae Ping Elephant Camp photo by Chou Wen Cheng on tour 2009