Chachoengsao, Min Buri, and Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan

Chachoengsao, Min Buri, and Wat Lung Phor So Phom

We went with Juke and his family to visit a Buddhist temple. We left at 7:00 and drove to Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan. It is in the Chachoengsao area. We then drove to Min Buri and then south around Bangkok to the Rama IX bridge. I observed many things on the trip. My curious eyes were very busy.

There are many weird buses with English slogans and phrases and bright primary color cartoons. Some of the buses are to carry passengers to and from work and others are tourist buses. I think they are all privately owned because I see them parked in many places. I even see people working on their buses in the yard. They must be expensive to buy. The painting, cartoons, and slogans are an art form. Some of them are also pretty funny. I do not have many pictures, but I will try to get some.

I also spent some time watching old Isuzu trucks , maybe 60's or 70's, with no doors. They have tin decoration, studs, bright silver patterns and some very bright colors painted on them. Some modern Isuzu trucks also have very bright outlines and filled in design on the body and trailer of the trucks. They really look nice, almost like a Navajo pattern on the truck. I do not have photographs of either the bus or either version of the Isuzu trucks, but I will eventually get them. I love the trucks and buses they show improvisation, innovation, decoration, and celebration. They are cool.

Driving to the temple I saw many things. I could see Assumption University as we drove past. I must say, even if it is judgmental, that the architecture at Assumption University is just strange. It is like a person who wears too many gold chains. The design is beyond bad taste it is absurd. The symbol for the school is a gold nugget, AU is the chemical sign for gold, but I believe that it is symbolic of the depth and thought that is going into the mission of the school. Assumption University is simply too much. When I visited there is was like a surrealistic painting, the scale was all wrong, and the light was very harsh.

Coincidentally the Wat we visited, Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan, approached Assumption University in ambition. The temple was Gothic in scope and scale. The temple is huge with marble and gilt, but it is the scale that is beyond comprehension. The floor inside the temple though is beautiful. The pattern is very flowing with many unbelievable sea animals, an elephant fish for example. I am serious I think the floor is beautiful and I would love to have the pattern on a poster. The temple is not done, but it felt weird there are no ceremonies inside. The temple is also infested with pigeons.

I know that Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan has a significant purpose, but so does Assumption University. It is just that the architecture is more about human ambition and pretention then about education and belief.

The making of offerings and the praying at the temple is next door in a large shed. It was very busy and almost overwhelmed with people. People were blessing eggs and pig heads as well as the normal flowers, candles, and gold leaf. There were many opportunities to buy things also. The experience was as far as I could imagine from Buddhism, but so are the large mega-churches in the United States far from Christianity. I think sometimes large churches and temples, especially recently built ones, are reflection of the hopes and wishes of popular culture. Maybe in 100 years the temple will have character, but now, except for the floor, it is just pretentious and materialistic. I think Assumption University and Wat at Chachoengsao are cousins.

For a less jaded view of the Wat visit this site http://www.thaibuddhist.com/wat_sothorn.htm

As we were leaving the temple a motor bike had to stop for us, on the riders t-shirt it said World Santa.

On the way south of Bangkok and on the way to Chachoengsao we passed through a very flat semi-industrial area. I saw, in addition to Assumption University, a large empty Mercedes Benz dealership, blank billboards, or bill boards with only the structure left, a large metal 747 replica being built out of steel in an engineering firm, many empty or abandoned building. Abandoned sub-divisions that can be recognized by large pretentious gateways that are overgrown, a C123 used as a billboard in front of a group of stores. We took a wrong turn and I saw many of the colorful buses parked under a bridge. Seeing the buses parked under the bridge is when I realized that they were used for carrying workers to and from work. Once we got off the road to Pattaya the area become less depressing. It was still semi-industrial, but it was not as abandoned looking and shabby. I think I am seeing remains of the 1997 economic crash.

After leaving the temple we had a wonderful seafood lunch at Chachoengsao. The barge was on the river. The food was excellent. We then drove to Min Buri to visit Jit's aunt on her mother's side. Jit's Aunt is in her early 70's. When I saw her I realized that many of the older women that I see are bent over and use a cane to walk. Some of the men also are bent over and need canes. Sometimes it takes a single person to make a pattern become clear. The result of loosing bone density is really crippling.

As we were driving to Jit's aunts house I saw a man working on an auto engine in his front yard. He had it in parts on the ground. He also had an engine lift. He looked like he knew what he was doing.

We also passed many shop houses, some of the projects were abandoned or half built and others were brand new. Shop houses are multi story houses with the first floor open as a shop or repair place with people living on the two or three floors above. Shop houses are Thailand's strip malls. They are everywhere.

We also drove down some very narrow streets with mini-houses on one side and three floor, very narrow, condominiums on the other. I would guess they were 10 to 15 years old and each of the houses and condominiums had started to take on unique personalities. It looks like the houses were on about a quarter lot and that the condominiums were maybe 30 feet wide at the front. The houses looked comfortable, just small and packed together. Jit's aunt lived in a combination of two of the houses. There were many relatives living in the house. It was a comfortable place. Jit's cousin sold us some DVD's. She is 40, and unmarried, as Jit told me. She is still living with her mother. I had bugged Jit for not bargaining and she said she wanted to support her cousin by purchasing the DVD's. Jit's cousin was fun to talk to, she would normally sell the DVD's in the market. I learned a lot on this visit. It was good to see.

On the hood of an old Volvo in the yard at Jit's aunt's house was a sign Digital Turbo.

When we drove back we listened to a Credence Clearwater album for awhile. Nearing Bangkok I saw what looked like a Wat, it had the same shape and color of the roof, but when I looked closely it had a cross on the front. I just like noticing incongruities.

The traffic was stuck because of a stalled truck near the Klong Toey slum. I could see the houses packed together around petroleum storage tanks and shipping areas. I can not imagine how hot and unhealthy a place could be to live, not to mention freeway pollution.

Today was educational and thought provoking. Except for visiting Jit's family, Juke and his family, and the meal, many of the things I saw were depressing. There were many wrecked and abandoned dreams. Many people in Thailand have very hard lives.

Pictures when I get the film developed. I have the CD of the community activities ready to print also. Hopefully tomorrow we will drop the film and CD by to get developed and printed.