Chiang Mai history Archives - Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy

A Sea Gypsy in Chiang Mai

Godfree Roberts — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 03:12:30 +0000

Meet A Sea Gypsy in Chiang Mai

One of the things I like most about Chiang Mai is its menagerie of expats, but a Sea Gypsy in Chiang Mai blew me away. I’ve met Slovakians, Slovenians, Ukrainians. I’ve even met President Putin’s TV producer (she says he’s got a great sense of humor and has no plans to invade the USA). Travel is broadening and, since Chiang Mai is such a tourist destination, travelers come to me. On Sunday mornings I have breakfast in Chiang Mai with a Tanka Sea Gypsy. Tanka Sea Gypsies were nomadic hunter-gatherers who, instead of hunting on land, hunted fish and gathered shells and moved with the tides and seasons around the rich Chinese seas. They’d been doing that for a thousand years before the idea of ‘nationality’ was even thought of. My friend Richard (as we call him) started earning his keep in 1950 at age 5, diving for sea shells which his older sister would clean and polish and sell to a dealer for pennies.

The Independence movements of the ’50s made citizenships important, and nations began demanding passports from everyone, even Sea Gypsies. Richard’s little family boat was moored in Kowloon, Hong Kong, when a HK Immigration officer showed up and offered the family Hong Kong citizenship! Passports were issued and the HK Government insisted that Richard and his sister receive an education. A few years later Richard won a scholarship to Edinburgh university, went into the financial sector and, eventually, became chief investment officer for one of the world’s largest banks.

Richard’s literal rags-to-riches odyssey is a classic

The Independence movements of the 1950s made citizenship important and nations began demanding passports from everyone, including Sea Gypsies. Richard’s little family boat was moored in Kowloon, Hong Kong, when a HK Government Immigration officer showed up and offered them citizenship. Passports were issued, the family was offered a tiny plot of land and the government insisted that Richard and his sister receive an education. A few years later Richard won a scholarship with air conditioning repair poway to Edinburgh university, graduated and went into the financial sector and, eventually, became chief investment officer for one of the world’s largest banks. He retired at 50, saying that he realized he was doing no good for anyone, and moved to Chiang Mai.

He married a ‘tribal’ girl (the Thai term for people who live independently – usually in the hills – from mainstream Thai culture) and lived, very comfortably, in the village with her while they raised their daughter. He bought a plot of land (“No titles, of course!” he laughs) and built a modest home for his family and became a patron of the village. Then, yearning for urban life again, he moved to Chiang Mai. He sees his daughter, now 14, every week: something he looks forward to eagerly, as she visits on Sundays. He has always given her what, in local terms, is a generous allowance but noticed that she had never even bought a smart phone. He recently asked her mother what she does with her money. The mother explained that she spends all of it on the local tribal girls at the orphanage at the local wat (temple). It had never occurred to the monks, the mother explained, that teenage girls need tampons, for example. Richard, naturally generous, was delighted and proud that his daughter had been doing this for years without mentioning it.

Richard’s literal rags-to-riches odyssey, his return to his tribal roots, and pride in his daughter’s life choices inspired me. If you move to Chiang Mai you’ll find lots of wonderful people like Richard – and lots of opportunities to make a difference in the lives of children here. Having breakfast with a Sea Gypsy in Chiang Mai sounds exotic, I know, but such encounters are part of everyday life here – which is why I love it.

The post A Sea Gypsy in Chiang Mai appeared first on Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy.

Chiang Mai UNESCO Site?

Godfree Roberts — Sat, 19 May 2018 03:22:12 +0000

Chiang Mai a UNESCO Site?

Chiang Mai’s 800-year-old, moated Old City has begun to consider applying for UNESCO World Heritage listing as a registered UNESCO Site.

Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Fine Arts will host a seminar “Chiang Mai and the Road to UNESCO World Heritage Listing ” in Bangkok on 13 September to share opinions and develop contingency plans for the city of Chiang Mai if it were on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The forum, at the Wang Na Theatre in Bangkok, will brainstorm a bid to include the Chiang Mai city area (‘old town’) on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Anek Sihamart, Director-General of the Fine Arts Department, said the the proposal, “Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna” would be submitted to UNESCO after the department conducted a study on the provincial government’s readiness and the local people’s enthusiasm for the changes that would be required.

Old Chiang Mai eassily meets UNESCO’s four selection criteria

town-planning,
diversity,
important interchange of human values and
exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition.

If Chiang Mai is approved by UNESCO as a Heritage site, it will be the fourth UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site in Thailand.

Here’s another Thai UNESCO site you might consider visiting…

Understanding Thai Temples

Godfree Roberts — Fri, 18 May 2018 00:52:59 +0000

If you want to understand Thai Temples, here are some easily recognized features to get you started:

The Thai word for temple is wat. When you are giving or receiving directions, Thais usually refer to the nearest wat since the neighborhood wat’s location will be familiar to everyone. That’s how central they are to Thai life.

Temples usually consist of several buildings: large buildings, shrines (big and small) and monuments enclosed–all by a wall. There are thousands of temples in Thailand, and every town and village has at least one. In Chiang Mai, where I live, some city blocks have four!

The word “wat” (วัด) means school, as the temples were the only place where formal education took place for centuries. To this day, poorer families send their children to the temple school. Buddhist wats usually consists of:

Bot: The prayer or meditation room. It’s usually open only to monks. Architecturally similar to the viharn (below), but more heavily decorated. It is also called the “ordination hall” and it is where the monks take their vows.
Viharn: The busiest structure in a wat, where the temple’s main Buddha image is displayed and where people come to make offerings. It is open to all.
Chedi or stupa: A tall bell-shaped structure that generally houses relics of the Buddha.
Prang: A tall, slender spire (of Khmer and Ayutthayan origin) that serves the same devotional purpose as a chedi.
Mondop: A square, open-sided building with four arches and a pyramidal roof often where religious texts or objects are displayed for veneration.
Sala: An open-sided pavilion that is used for relaxation, as a meeting place, for larger crowds to hear the dharma read, and a rain shelter.
Chofah (‘sky tassel’): Bird-like decorations on the end of temple roofs. They represent Garuda, a mythical creature that is half bird and half man.

Now, here’s a video about understanding local, Chiang Mai Thailand temples:

http://youtu.be/2DDEel8pwfs

And Some More Reading to Help Your Understanding of Thai Temples

President Obama’s First Stop in Asia Is in Thailand | The White House – Though his stop to the country lasted for less than one full day, the President visited a Buddhist temple at the Wat Pho monastery, met with Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, held a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister …
Speak More Chinese, Ambassador Tells Thais – NYTimes.com – Recently, there was much embarrassment at home after a teenage boy from Nanjing scrawled “Ding Jinhao was here” on a stone relief in Egypt’s 3,500-old Luxor Temple. There are reports about “cashed-up” Chinese tourists …
Thai temples – page 1/7 – Thai World View – THAI TEMPLES. A Thai Buddhist temple (“WAT” – วัด) is a complex comprising several distinct religious buildings. Major Buddhist ceremonies happen in temples. Some ceremonies (wedding, death, building consecration) are done by monks …
Thai temples – page 5/7 – The Buddhist flag is yellow-orange. The Dharma wheel is drawn on it. The Thai flag (“THONG TRAI RONG” – ธงไตรรงค์) symbolises the monarchy (blue color), the nation (red color) and the Buddhism (white color). Buddhist and Thai flags …

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