Thailand

Read this blog: The one where Robert prefers to watch Friday 5th April 2024 The day started well. A young boy came down for breakfast while we were eating and to amuse him, the receptionist turned on the overhead model railway, which was complete with scaled versions of the Bridge over the River Khwae. We think we were probably more excited about this than he was. Having travelled over the bridge over the River Khwae Yai yesterday on the train, Robert wanted to go to the bridge itself to watch a train pass. He firmly believes that watching the trains is a more satisfying experience than riding on them. There is a station on the south side of the river called the River Kwai Bridge Station [see below] surrounded by stalls selling all manner of souvenirs. We have been struggling to find a standardised spelling of Khwae/Kwai. It seems the former is usually used for the rivers the Khwae Yai and the Khwae Noi which meet in Kanchanaburi. But it also appears that the Thai’s are happy to use the Anglicised version popularised by the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai to make things easier for the tourists. […]

Read this blog: The one where we see a hundred grains of rice move two tons of rock Thursday 4th April 2024 Today combined two of Robert’s key interests: railways and WWII: its impact and legacy. As early as 1885 the British government had undertaken a survey to assess the feasibility of building a railway line linking Burma and Thailand. However, the route would have passed through steep jungle terrain and crossed many rivers. The project was judged to be too difficult and was abandoned. Over fifty years later towards the end of 1941, the Japanese invaded Thailand and then advanced into Burma in early 1942 in preparation for launching an attack on Singapore in February of the same year. The shipping route from Japan to Burma around the Malay Peninsula was 2,000 miles long [3,200 km] and was vulnerable to Allied submarine attack. An overland route was needed to ensure that supplies reached the Japanese Army in Burma. When Singapore fell, the Japanese took 110,000 Allied Prisoners of War [PoWs]. This was almost an alien concept for the Japanese who adopted the bushido warrior code which demanded death before surrender. Eventually it was decided that PoWs could be put to […]

Read this blog: The one where Matilda gives up luxury for monks Wednesday 3rd April 2024 The day started with a visit to the self service laundry. We may have tried to do too large a load as we had to run the drier twice which delayed our departure. Theoretically we now both have enough clean clothing to last the next fortnight until we return home. However, Matilda feels that going sleeveless is unwise in this climate and she should have packed more tops with short sleeves so may need to hand wash a few items to get her through. With clean laundry folded and packed we set off on the journey to Kanchanaburi. First we took the Skytrain. Then we had to walk a short distance to Thonburi Station where we bought tickets to Kanchanaburi. There are only a few trains each day and the majority of the journey is single track so sometimes the trains have to wait to pass each other at a station. Both Matilda and Robert tried to get on the carriage at the front of the train: it looked marginally more comfortable as the seats had slightly better upholstery. Unfortunately it was all reserved: […]

Read this blog: The one where we learn the correct way to queue Tuesday 2nd April 2024 We realised that a combination of the distances involved and the unseasonably hot weather meant we would need to use public transport in Bangkok rather than walking everywhere as we usually tend to do. Although it is normally hot in South East Asia in April, several locals have told us that it is significantly warmer here than expected for the time of year. This was not good news for Matilda, a pale skinned Western woman of a certain age more used to cold and rain than sunshine. Robert’s research had identified a water bus and we decided we would use this to get to the first of the cultural sights on Matilda’s list. The water bus proved to be a quick and easy way to get around. There is certainly no unspoken rule in Bangkok that boats will pass each other slowly or go at a speed which limits the wash and conserves the banks as there is, for example, on the Venetian laguna or the canal network in the UK. This is high speed transport. We got off and walked to Wat […]