Reclining Buddha & A Disappearing American

It’s not every day that you see a gold plated 150 foot long, 50 foot tall Buddha, so that’s why we went to the Wat Pho (Wat means temple) to see the “reclining Buddha.” The reclining position represents the Buddha’s peaceful passing from this world to nirvana.

The Buddha was so large, and since it’s enclosed in a building, it couldn’t fit in a single picture. Here’s a snapshot to give you an idea of its size:

Wat Pho is 20 acres in area and was constructed 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. It is the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok. The grounds contain more than 1000 Buddha images, most of which are from the ruins of Thailand’s former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. Here are some of the many, many gold Buddhas:

Next up was a trip to the Jim Thompson House. Interestingly, Jim Thompson is an American that I’d never heard of until our first trip to Thailand.

Thompson first came to Thailand at the end of World War II, after serving in the Army to take over the US Office of Strategic Services (later the US CIA). He loved Thailand and decided to stay…and later became famous for reinvigorating the Thai silk industry during the 50s and 60s. He is credited for inventing the bright jewel tones that Thai silk is known for as well as bringing thousands of the poorest people out of poverty by training them in the silk making trade. Now there are Jim Thompson retail outlets all over Asia – it’s big business.

Thompson gained further renown with his collection of Thai arts and the construction of his unusual house, which combined six traditional Thai houses together - inside out; he liked the look of the exterior walls so much that he wanted them to be in the interior. While the house is still standing, it has become a museum for people to it and Thompson’s many collections. The grounds of the home are beautiful and felt really isolated, even though it was wedged in between other developments and busy streets:

Disappointingly, it was hard to capture the exterior and interior of the house.

The Jim Thompson story becomes a bit more intriguing, however, because he disappeared without a trace in 1967. He went on a hike in Malaysia and never came back. There are many conspiracy theories about what happened to this ex-spy/wealthy businessman…but there have been no clues as to what happened to him in the ensuing 40+ years. It was an American mystery that we’d never heard!

Finally, we wrapped up our day with a trip to the pool on a rooftop at our hotel, then had a delicious Thai meal at a place called The Mango Tree. Those last two activities were the best in Lydia’s book (and, she was carrying a notebook, taking notes on what she ate and how she rated them!). The next day was much more to her liking…and it didn’t even involve a swimming pool!