Jing-reed's Musings from Thailand

'The Royal Plowing Ceremony' — การพืชมงคล

The contemporary science of agronomics and meterology seem to get lost in the swirling mists of time as Thailand continues to celebrate a ceremony that the oxen that do the ploughing for the rice production have all the answers.  It isn't even a Buddhist belief, but rather borrowed from the Hindu religion.

"In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and they plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky.

Depending on what the oxen eat, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest."

This is a Thai news report of the ceremony from 2010.  There is a fascinating homage to HM the King which begins at 04:11 and has subtitles in English.

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Khao soi - ข้าวซอย

Continuing with some of the outstanding food available here in the north of the country.  Khao soi [ ข้าวซอย ] is a Burmese-influenced dish served widely in northern Thailand.   One of my favorites for its smooth, yet robust flavor.

Northern Thai khao soi is closer to the present day Burmese 'on ne khauk swe', being a soup-like dish made with deep-fried crispy egg noodles, chicken in a curry-like sauce containing coconut milk and served with pickled cabbage, shallots, bean sprouts, cilantro, lime, and ground chillies. The curry is somewhat similar to that of yellow or massaman curry but of a thinner consistency. It is popular as a dish eaten by nearly everyone around Chiang Mai and in northern Thailand, allthough relatively unknown outside of this area.

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Som Tam [Spicy Green Papaya Salad] - ส้มตำ ไก่ย่าง

March is just around the corner, and as the temperatures continue to climb, a refreshing way to beat the heat is with Som Tam.

Som Tam, is a famous dish from Isaan, popular all over Thailand and also known as 'Green Papaya  Salad'.

I have encountered, and enjoyed, Som Tam in very posh restaurants and as a staple fare of street food.  It is always exciting, refreshing, and absolutely delicious, with as many minor variations as there are Thai cooks.  Of course I personally enjoy eating spicy dishes.   One minor complaint is when the flavor from the amount of chiles used so dominates this classic dish that the other ingredients cannot be discerned. 

Basic ingredients:
    chillies
    garlic   
    small dried shrimp
    unripe papaya  
    long beans   
    tamarind concentrate
    lime juice
    fish sauce
    palm sugar,
    cherry tomatoes,
    unsalted roasted peanuts
    cucumber garnish

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Thailand Flood Update

Thai Authorities Wage ‘Battle’ With Floodwaters to Save Bangkok

"Thai officials built more barriers around Bangkok as floodwaters edged closer to the city’s center, forcing new evacuations and the closure of one of the country’s biggest shopping malls.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said a 6-kilometer (3.7- mile) wall of sandbags being completed along a canal north of Bangkok will help ease flooding in eastern parts of the capital. Rising floodwaters in the city’s northern suburbs forced the closure of the Central Plaza Ladprao shopping mall, close to the city’s famous Chatuchak weekend market.

Bangkok officials are bolstering a network of dikes, canals and sandbag barriers to help divert a slow-moving mass of floodwater around the city center. The floods have claimed at least 442 506 lives since late July and shuttered 10,000 factories in provinces north of Bangkok, disrupting global supply chains for companies including Sony Corp. and Honda Motor Co. . . . . . "

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Thailand Flooding Update

 The Thai government has announced that Bangkok cannot be protected from the country's worst floods in decades.

Nearly nine million have been affected as floods hit one-third of Thailand's provinces.

Millions of others are bracing themselves for more damage.

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Flooding in Thailand Continues

BANGKOK, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- "Thai authorities on Thursday warned people in eastern Bangkok to prepare for possible flood as the water from northern flood-hit provinces would be release to east of the capital to the sea.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday said the inundation on eastern area of Bangkok might be about 20 to 30 centimeters as run-off would be drained into the sea via Bang Pakong River, about 70 kilometers from the fringe of the capital.

The water drainage would be expedited through canals to Bang Pakong River, the main rivers in the east, into the Gulf of Thailand to resolve the flood crisis in Thailand's central provinces, authority said. . . . . "

 

Fortunately here iin Chiang Mai province in the north we have been blessed with warm, sunny weather for the past few days and the previously flooded areas have already begun to dry out.

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Floodiing In Thailand

Thailand Evacuates Hospital as Flooding Threatens Bangkok

"Thai emergency workers have evacuated more than 300 patients from a hospital north of Bangkok, as flood waters from weeks of torrential rains forced hundreds of nearby factories to close and threatened the capital with its worst flooding in decades.

The evacuations by boat in the ancient temple city of Ayutthaya began late Saturday after sandbags failed and the hospital was swamped with 2.2 meters of floodwater. Television footage showed local residents piling their pets and their belongings onto boats and seeking shelter. ....."

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Flooding Chiang Mai Night Bazaar Sept 2011

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Chamras Saewataporn

One of the joys of living here in Thailand is the abundance of lovely music.  And none more beautiful than that which comes from Chamras Saewataporn, a well known composer and his recording company "Green Music".  Surprised and pleased to discover that Mr. Saewataporn has joined that vast YouTube musical family with a representative selection of his recordings.  Soothing, restful melodies, and bordering on what can only be called other worldly.

Green Music.org which has a complete listing of all CDs.

"Chamras Saewataporn, a musician and a composer who was born in Thailand by the bank of the great Chao Phraya River and Wat Prayoon Wongsawas temple on December 1955. Born of hard working principled immigrant parents from China, Chamras learned to appreciate the value of work and the satisfaction of achievements. His parents have settled in Thailand 20-30 years before his birth. His father was an expert engineer and accepted well by people at that time. He was trained to be an engineer-as his three other brothers were-but he was more inspired by music."

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However a personal favorite which still has not found its way to YouTube is the magical, melancholic  'Missing You':  

      [Γρηγόριος -  μου λείπει ακόμα.]

07-Missing You.mp3

 

Sukhothai — สุโขทัย

Sukhothai  [ สุโขทัย ] — The first capital of Thailand

It is now more than a decade since my first  visit to the ancient capitol of Sukhothai ["Dawn of Happiness"], which is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage historical park. One of the most beautiful, and enchanting, sites I have ever had the privilidge of exploring.  It is breath taking at every turn.   I have lost track of how many times I have visited there, alone or with friends. 

 


The Sukhothai Kingdom was an early kingdom in the area around the city Sukhothai, in north central Thailand. The Kingdom existed from 1238 till 1438 at which time the capitol, for political reasons, was moved further south to Ayyutaya. But Sukhothai, and Sukhothai alone, embodies the tranquility, peace, and spirit of ancient 'Siam'.



 

With each visit I have encountered new treasures, and a different means of appreciating the glories of the past and the beauty of the present.





And in my estimation there is nothing in the enormous complex more beautiful, and characteristic of the period, than the statue of the 'Walking Buddha', which embodies a grace and elegance rarely encountered in relgious artifacts.

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Thailand's First Woman Prime Minister

Tough weekend ahead for Yingluck

"It was a rosy campaign, a sweet victory and a warm public reception. And today Yingluck Shinawatra prepares to be the first woman to be confirmed by Parliament to the position of the nation's prime minister.

Throughout the past month since the election on July 3, Ms Yingluck has been keeping her cool, knowing full well that her political enemies are watching every step and are ready to derail her premiership if she fumbles. As long as the full power of the office of the prime minister is not secured, Ms Yingluck wisely appeared compromising with all, including the political factions within her own Pheu Thai Party.  That will change once she becomes prime minister. Not that she will turn wicked or anything. I am sure publicly she will keep her image as the photogenic, friendly businesswoman. But at the same time the pressure of the office will require her to take on and demonstrate more leadership.

First, Ms Yingluck will have to prove to the general public that without any extended assistance from her brother Thaksin, she can sit at the head of the cabinet and control the game on her own.

Second, Ms Yingluck must muster all her forces to be able to deflect the attacks on the parliament floor from the Democrat Party which, throughout history, has established itself at being best while in the opposition.

Third, the elite establishment remains deeply distrustful of Thaksin and Pheu Thai, but for now is willing to appear accommodating due to the large margin of Pheu Thai's electoral votes and strong popularity.

Ms Yingluck will have to work out a delicate balance in regaining a basis of trust for reconciliation while keeping the more hostile elements at bay. ......"

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