A Visit To Mini Siam Park

Today it was off to one of Pattaya's most well-known tourist traps, Mini Siam... A large park filled with about 100 miniature recreations of world-famous places, and places from Thailand that are not so famous but might be worth knowing about.


Mini Siam has a collection of
miniature replicas of places from
around the world and around Thailand.For those of you who have never been to Pattaya, and have thus never driven by the monstrous Mini Siam sign on road into town, it is located on the East side of Sukhumvit Road, about 1 kilometer north of Pattaya North Road, across the way from Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.


Epril In Paris.Entry fee is 100 baht for brown-skinned people, 150 baht for white-skinned people who can produce a valid work permit, and 250 baht for white-skinned people who are just visiting. (Nice try on the "we're not discriminating too much" pricing structure... but it is still a 'fail'.)

This is my third visit to Mini Siam, and I can manage to enjoy the place for about 10 minutes. That is because the front half of the park where you start your tour is called "Mini Europe", and there are quite nicely-done miniatures of some of Europe's most famous buildings. Honey Mae and Epril got a very nice introduction to a lot of places that they never knew about, but should have. The workmanship here is quite excellent.


Now: If admission price was just 50 baht for Thais and foreigners, and all there was to see was "Mini Europe", this place would get high marks. Unfortunately, it keeps going.

(I have to apologize: My camera's batteries died at this point.)

The back half of the park is dedicated to miniatures of places in Thailand. It starts off sort of good (though hardly as good as out front) with some temple ruins in Buriram province, a miniature of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, The Golden Mount, the King's Palace, and a very interesting recreation of the destroyed old capital city of Ayudhya.

However, the folks who created Mini Siam still had another 2 or 3 acres to fill in, and soon you are walking past "The Women's Liberation Monument, Erected in 1984 in Pratchanburi Province", or "Channel 3 News Headquarters", or a not-even-close reproduction of Don Muang Airport (built to entertain the kids with its model 747 creaking around a chain-loop track), or a god-knows-why replica of a container port.

What is personally annoying to me is that these are the same old chipped and faded replicas, with the same old worn and scattered plastic toy blue Lambhorginis and grey Porsches sitting in the parking lots, and the same old illegible sun-bleached signs. Other than cutting the grass and trimming the hedges, not one scrap of maintenance or upkeep has been done on this place in the 5 year span between my first and this most recent visit.

I personally find it a little offensive that the owners of this place earn busloads of money from busloads of tourists every day of the year, and yet have not put a single baht back into the place to improve it or make it better. If I'm paying to see the Mona Lisa, that's a good thing. If I'm paying to walk by the tracks of a broken model railroad that hasn't seen a train in half a decade, that's not a good thing. (Heck: They are so cheap, they didn't even pay to keep their website up.)

Granted, for all the people who have never been to Mini Siam before, complaining that the place is always in the same (tired) condition each visit doesn't matter a lick. I suppose 30 years from now — barring the scourges of time and weather — Chinese tourists will still be enjoying their first visit, eagerly striking an arm-raised pose while standing next to the Statue of Liberty, and staring puzzled at the miniature gas station next to the Phra Kin Klao Bridge and wondering why something like that is so important as to merit a miniature replica of itself here in Mini Siam.

I'll still think it's rubbish... but then again I'll be thrilled that my kids or grandkids will get to see the Acropolis and the Arc de Triomphe. And as much as I bitch about it here, they'll probably go nuts at that same China Airways flight, still crawling slowly around the same tired rusty course outside of the same old airport. So yes, I'm sorry to say that I'll probably be back eventually.

A Visit To The Mercy Center Orphanage

The entrance to The Mercy Center.
Get directions here, or visit
their website here.

The front yard has been converted
to a beautiful playground.

Pattaya TV was there, intervieing
Steve's friends.

The large and well-stocked class
room and play room.

Fred Doell, director of The Mercy
Center, shows off the fellowship
hall.This afternoon, I gathered together with all of Steve Blumenthal's friends on the anniversary of his death at The Mercy Center orphanage... Steve's favorite charity. The truth is that I had never been to an orphanage before, and I wasn't sure what the place would be like, and I obviously can't say based on having seen The Mercy Center how it may compare to any other orphanage; however, I can say that I found the place to be pretty, friendly, well-stocked, well-staffed, and well-managed.

The Mercy Center consists of a large main house with a lovely grass-covered playground in the front yard. In front of that is a large parking lot separated from the playground by a fence, and off to the side is a monstrous, low, one-story building that used to be a diamond-cutting factory, but has been converted by the founder and director, Fred Doell, and his wife Dianne (two Canadians... Calgary) into play rooms, a fellowship hall, a library, offices, and storage (with plenty of room left over to grow). The Mercy Center currently houses 20 children, all under the age of 10, who are supervised by four farang adult employees living full-time on the premises, at least as many Thai employees, and at least as many other daily farang and Thai volunteers. The ratio of adults to children here is very high.

The children are raised by the Doell's as Christian, who figure that the kids get more than enough Buddhist teachings from their Thai caretakers, the Thai public school they attend, as well as just being in Thailand.


I arrived at the orphanage to a rather odd sight: All of Steve's friends were chatting in the parking lot, while all the kids they were ostensibly there to visit were on the playground playing. I immediately headed for the playground and started entertaining the kids with plane rides, tickling, ball tossing, and generally acting like a big goof. (I had to accept the fact that some of these kids have had a rough time of life, and their first instinct when confronted by a new adult was to punch or kick or throw a rock... but they were 5 or 6 years old, and weren't dangerous.) Epril and Maid Lee and TQ2 manager Wood's girlfriend Poo, being girls, immediately joined me on the playground and started having fun. (The newborn infant was a major attraction, of course.) The guys still stood around outside though.

Eventually, I went out and reminded a few of the guys that (a) we were here because of Steve, and (b) we should try and do what Steve would do if he were here. Of course, with Steve having been the ultimate big kid, for whom nothing was more important than a child's happiness, the guys knew immediately what they needed to do, and one by one, all the old (or only moderately-old) farangs came in and sat down with the kids, and had some fun playing around. It was really nice to see. We could be certain that Steve was smiling down on this moment.

You know: Any time you would like, you yourself can stop by The Mercy Center and visit with Fred and Diane and the kids. Just showing up and saying hello, believe it or not, is immensely helpful: Once you've seen the place, met Fred and Diane, hugged a kid... then the rest is easy. You can help out if you want, check whether they need anything (they always do), or just see what the place is all about. A donation of your time is more than acceptable, as any charity will tell you, but whatever you can afford to dig out of your wallet is especially welcome.

The lease on The Mercy Center is going to be up in a while, and this wonderful place may go away soon. Fred and Diane are currently trying to raise the funds to purchase the property so that The Mercy Center can stay and care for Thailand's orphans at this pretty place for the rest of their days, and beyond. The Mercy Center, I'm told, needs 12 million baht to do this, and so far has saved up 2 million. If there are any benefactors out there who can help The Mercy Center achieve this goal, now would be a good time to step forward.

Anyway, at the end of this day, 20 little Thai kids had been fed, taught, and loved, and had their unfortunate lives vastly improved by the folks at The Mercy Center. It really did my heart some good to be able to stop by and be a part of that today.

---

By the way... I'm putting this blog entry down as "tourist stuff", mostly so that The Mercy Center will henceforth have it's own full-time place on my main page, but also because this is a place that people might want to consider visiting during a visit to Pattaya.

Daily Report: Three Kingdoms And Hot Air Balloons

Today, Epril and I joined Geoff and Honey Mae for a visit to the "Three Kingdoms Theme Park", a park built to showcase two things: (1) The epic tale of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, one of China's greatest semi-historical tellings, based on the unification of 3 nations in the second century A.D. into the modern nation of China; and (2) Mr. Kiarti Srifeungfung, a man who went from truly humble beginnings to becoming the founder of Bangkok Metropolitan Bank, one of the richest men in Thailand, and the man to whom the park is dedicated.

The park is a little bit difficult to find without good directions, which unfortunately can only be found here on Jil In Pattaya: Drive out Soi Siam Country Club past Mapbrachan Reservoir. Drive under the first archway over the road which is for the temple on your right. Drive under the second archway, which is a "Welcome to Soi Siam Country Club" archway. About 200 feet past that arch, you will see a right turn. Drive down that road about 2 kilometers, and you will see the back entrance to Soi Siam Country Club "Old Course" on your left. About 100 meters past that, branching off on the right you will see the entrance to the Three Kingdoms Theme Park. The 10-story-tall pagoda out in the middle of nowhere should guide you the rest of the way. Geographically, the Three Kingdoms Theme Park is directly behind Horseshoe Point. In fact, the wall to the park and the wall to the resort's pool are the same. However, going to Horseshoe Point and trying to find the place wouldn't be my recommendation.

The entrance admission to the park is 150 baht per person, regardless of skin color, and is a little bit high for what you get: About a 90-minute wander through the grounds if you really take your time.

The park is divided into two groups of objects. The first is a 50-panel mural that tells the story of The Three Kingdoms. (It reads from left to right.) It takes about 40 minutes to read the whole thing, and is a bit confusing. I'm sure that the 800,000 word original tale (wikipedia entry, and a brief synopsis, similar to what can be read at the Three Kingdoms park can be found here) was much more engaging and easier to follow than the quick 1-paragraph summary of each chapter that the panels offered. However, reading the panels was tedious and not particularly fun. (I will admit that the English translations were fantastic though, which is rare for a tourist attraction in Thailand.)

The second group of objects is 3 pagodas: One dedicated to Guan Im, often called "the female Buddha" and goddess of Mercy, housing a gorgeous white marble avatar of the goddess; one is dedicated to Guan Yu, the Chinese god of Honesty. In the center is a main pavilion dedicated to Khun Kiarti, the various characters of The Three Kingdoms story, and at the top is a small temple. You can climb the tall center pagoda, and get very good views out over the surrounding countryside. There are other bits and pieces around: Some sculptures and a collection of petrified wood.

Overall, it wasn't a very worthwhile trip. It was a bit interesting, but I wouldn't have paid 300 baht ($9) per couple to see it. If you are out at Horseshoe Point or the Thailand Polo Club, or are finishing up a round of golf, and you are driving by and have some time to waste, then I suppose it would be worth a visit.

Oh: Learning experience. It's often impossible to figure out when you don't know something before finding out otherwise. After the park, we drove out around the Thailand Polo Club, and came across a field of low lying bushes. Now, in my mind it never occurred to me otherwise, and I had never seen evidence to inform me differently: There are pine trees; there are apple trees. Ergo: What should pineapples grow on? Yeah... quite quite wrong. Somehow, I had gone through my entire life never having seen (or wondered) where and how pineapples grow. For those of you who have not seen pineapples growing before, they grow pretty much at ground level.

Fortunately, the Three Kingdoms Theme Park was not the only reason we were out in that neck of the woods. Epril and I also went to see the 2007 Pattaya International Balloon Fiesta with a few dozen hot air balloons. Unfortunately, we messed up our arrival time: My friend Matt had told me that the whole party started at 5:00. I figured that meant they started filling the balloons with hot air at 5:00, and would take off at 6:00. However, at 5:15 as we were getting ready to go see the hot air balloons, I saw off in the distance that they were already up in the sky... and far too scattered about to make for any good photos. When we got to the field they were alighting from, only one giant elephant (which never actually flew) and one other balloon remained. Fortunately, the twilight photography of the flame-lit balloon did make for a very nice picture, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
After seeing the balloons, Epril and I went to a restaurant on the side of Mapbrachan Reservoir called Khun John's Lakeside Restaurant, which was a nice and inexpensive place to have a meal (although the live music was pretty poor... but thankfully not loud at all). Then, we went back home to watch "Night At the Museum" on DVD.

Daily Report: Temples, Museum, and Mountain

Today it was off to Wat Yansangwararam, Pattaya's most important temple complex, and the only temple in the area under royal patronage. The temple is dedicated to one of Thailand's former top monks, Somdej Phra Yansangworn, and commemorates King Naresuan the Great (17th century), and King Taksin (18th century), both of whom liberated Thailand from Burmese control.

The temple complex is quite nice and well-kept, and consists of over two dozen temples from tiny little structures to the massive and towering main temple itself. There are lots of different architectural styles from around the Buddhist world: Khmer, Burmese, Lao, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and of course, traditional Thai and modern Thai. There is also a temple up on top of a very tall hill for those of you looking to get a workout while you worship.

There are also shrines to King Rama VII and his wife, a wax museum of 20 of Thailand's most important monks, a reproduction of Buddha's footprint, some lovely gardens, playground, lakes, and some wildlife.

When you visit the temples, make sure you dress properly. That means primarily no bare shoulders (tank tops) and no legs bare knees (too-short shorts or skirts). Epril had to borrow a shirt (on offer at the entrance to each temple in exchange for a small donation) for each temple we went into. Be aware that photos are not allowed inside of most temples either.

The temple area was very nice to visit, but unfortunately the only English you will see are those signs telling you to stay off the grass, or not to take photos. All of the information regarding the temples, their contents, or their stories, is written in Thai... which I personally think is done on purpose: This place really isn't a tourist attraction, and is a place of worship built for and by Thai people. Visitors coming to gawk and giggle are tolerated, but not much more. Admission is free.



After Wat Yansangwararam, we went around the large nearby lake to Anek Kusala Sala, also known as Viharnra Sien, which is a large museum built by Thailand's Chinese community. It houses all manner of Chinese artifacts, religious icons, and ojects d'art from the modern to the ancient. I am happy to say that for the first time, I attended a tourist attraction in the vicinity of Pattaya that charges the same price for brown skinned people and white skinned people: 50 baht per head.

There is a vast collection of bronze statuary contained on the three floors of the massive structure, a fine collection of Han dynasty sculptures, and some rather nice replicas of the famous terra cotta warrior statues as found in the tomb of Emperor Chin. Also, there is a white jade carving of Guan Im which is roughly the same size as the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok.

On the second floor is an open-air promenade with a collection of statues of Shaolin monks in various martial arts poses, two buildings holding a collection of Thai craftsmanship, including some really gorgeous wood carvings and antique puppets. The third floor houses a Buddhist shrine, and gives a very nice view out over the surrounding fields, back to the temples across the lake, and over to nearby Buddha mountain.
After finishing with the museum (my only complaint being that you have to go through the place barefoot, which is slightly uncomfortable on the arches), we had a bite to eat at a streetside food vendor, and then drove another 3 miles or so down the road to Buddha Mountain (also known as Khao Chee Chan)... the largest image of Buddha on earth. It is 130 meters tall and 70 meters wide, and has been inlaid with $5 million in gold. It was constructed to celebrate the King of Thailand's 50th anniversary on the throne.

After the walk through the museum, everyone in the car was really a bit too tired to get out and walk, but having visited before, I can say that the grounds at the foot of the mountain are quite pleasant, with a large system of waterfalls and fountains with pleasant gardens and topiaries. Admission to the grounds is free, and is a nice enough addition to a visit to the temples and museum, but not enough of an attraction to warrant it's own separate trip.



This set of three sites really comprises one of Pattaya's nicest tourist attractions... second only to Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens a few miles further down Sukhimvit Road. To find Wat Yansangwararam, Anek Kusala Sala, and Khao Chee Chan, you drive south from Pattaya on Sukhumvit Road, past the Ambassador Hotel. After another one or two traffic lights, start keeping an eye out for signs on the left side of the road, and make a left turn when you see the sign that reads "Wat Yansangwararam" and drive back from the highway about 3 or 4 miles to arrive at the temple complex.

Daily Report: Loy Krathong Celebrations

Epril and I in our traditional
Thai outfits during Loy Krathong.Today was Loy Krathong, my favorite holiday in Thailand. The day is one part Valentines day (you go down to the water's edge with your lover and launch a little floating gimcrack of flowers, candles, and incense coupled with prayers and hopes for good fortune over the next year, and riddance of the bad fortune from the past), Halloween (you get dressed up in traditional Thai costumes, with girls wearing spangled dresses and exotic bouffants adorned with flowers and crowns), and the Fourth of July (as down at the beach, the yobs are loaded down with Mekhong rum and rockets, while those more grounded in the tradition step onto the sand in order to launch flying votive candle-powered hot-air balloons into the night sky).

My day started off with a bit of work, and then it was out with Epril to stop at the costume store to pick up Epril's dress and jewelry for the evening, then a quick stop for lunch, and then back home for a holiday afternoon with no work. At 3:30, I sent Epril with Maid Go out to the stylist for Epril's 4:00 makeup and hair appointment. Unfortunately, the stylist was severely backed up, and Epril didn't return back home until 6:00... 30 minutes late for cocktails at Chris's house with Geoff and his crowd.


A little kid's costume contest out
at Mabprachan lake was adorable to
watch.Fortunately, there was still time to join everyone at Mabprachan lake at sunset to float our Kratong (and our wishes... and a shiny 5-baht coin as an offering) out onto the water. Epril and I bought a large boat-shaped Krathong covered with pretty flowers, which we sailed from a dock. Honey Mae and Miss Lucky joined us, and also floated their Krathongs.



Epril enjoying the show at the
Marriott's Loy Krathong party.Then, Epril and I rode (slowly, so as not to ruin Epril's hair) on my motorcycle back 10 miles to Pattaya, to attend our 8:00 reservation at the Marriott's Loy Krathong celebration. The event was held out in the sculpted gardens under the light of giant gas-powered torch towers and beautiful statuary, and more tropical foliage than you could appreciate in a lifetime, surrounding a central grand pool beautifully lit with a giant Krathong floating in the middle.


Traditional dancing during the
Loy Krathong celebration.The entertainment was spectacular, with traditional Thai dancing from a troupe that was easily the best I had ever seen. They performed four different dances, representing the south, central, north, and east of Thailand. (I think the girls are either double-jointed or mutilated at an early age in order for the fingers on their hands to quite literally bend backwards at the joints in a most fascinating/grotesque fashion.)

The food for the evening was buffet style, and you walked through the gardens to discover the various food pavilions, each serving Thai food from a different region of the country... South, Central, North, or East. The food was spectacular, and I spent most of my time at the Southern stand, loading up on lobster.

The Marriott puts on this same show every year, and it really is lovely. However, with a food bill of 3,900 baht, and a drink bill of 700 baht for 4 drinks — a total of 4,600 baht ($140) for 2 people — I really can't recommend it.After dinner, it was out to Jeff's apartment at the Royal Cliff condos overlooking Pattaya Bay, where we sat and had drinks, and watched the fireworks exploding up and down Pattaya Bay, from the Dusit Resort in the north, to Bali Hai pier in the south. It was patently obvious from not only the complete lack of traffic I experienced driving from the Marriott to Jeff's, but also a sky generally empty of fireworks and flying krathongs that this year's Loy Krathong was generally not well-attended by the Thai folks... who are the source of most of the Loy Krathong paraphernalia in the sky.


The band at Zab is awesome, and play
mostly oldies, with Elvis making a
cameo appearance.From there, it was off to a Walking Street jam-packed with tourists, where Epril and I stopped by Champion for a drink with Stan and Jew, and then rejoined Jeff and his lady friend Lee for a stroll down Walking Street to the old mainstay of the promenade, Zab, where we watched the same Elvis impersonator as we saw at the Boat House lead one of Pattaya's best live bands, including 2 of the cutest and most talented Thai girls you are going to come across in Pattaya.

It was 1:30 when we finally decided to call it a night, and just as well: In Pattaya, far too many people become far too stupid after midnight for the average person like myself to tolerate. So, by 2:00, Epril and I were home, Epril washed off the thick layers of makeup, while I sussed out how to undo the feat of engineering that was keeping Epril's hair in place. We then climbed into bed, quite happy and exhausted from a wonderful day.

Daily Report: Annual Longboat Races

This is the small 30-man boat.

This is the large 55-man boat.Today, Geoff and Honey Mae, Mike and Riza, and Riza's Filipina friend Beth, and two of Beth's Filipina friends joined Epril and me out at Mabprachan reservoir to watch the annual longboat races.

According to Thanapol Chadchaidee, writing in the book, "Essays On Thailand":

"Traditionally, long-boat racing is held as an annual event by provinces with a major waterway flowing through. It is not restricted to any particular region. At present, long-boat racing is considered as a national sport, its history can be traced back to Ayutthaya period some 600 years ago. However, boat racing in those days was just only a means to keep boat men physically and mentally fit for national defence.

"Usually racing boats are made from dugout tree trunks and can accommodate up to 60 oarsmen sitting in a double row. The oarsmen usually dress in the same colour. The festive event draws several hundreds of local and foreign spectators who watch the race along both sides of the riverbank enthusiastically. At the end, trophies and prizes are given to the winning teams."

The boats really are amazing to see because of their astounding length, and incredibly lanky width. I find it hard to believe that these boats don't tip over.

It was a bit of a cloudy day, which was nice because it kept the heat down. There were thousands of people lining the 1-kilometer course, with several pavillions set up by sponsors in which to sit (if you arrived early enough to get a seat). We started off sitting on the embankment right in front of the finish line, but after 30 minutes on the hard bumpy ground, our backsides couldn't take it anymore, and we went off for a wander down the length of the course, and stood for the rest of the afternoon, which was fine.

The other thing that was fun about these longboat races were the commentators: There were 5 of them in total. The first guy would start off by taking a deep breath, and then in a voice that indicated that this was a man on the verge of losing his sanity, launched into a shouted machine-gun delivery (in absolutely undecipherable Thai) about the race. As soon as he ran out of breath, the second commentator (even more insane-sounding than the first) would start shouting, then a third, fourth, and fifth commentator (who literally screamed like a banshee), and back to the first again until the race was over. (I put video below so you can see the races and hear these guys. It's terribly funny.)

Anyway, we stuck around for about 2½ hours before leaving. Since there was no commentary in English, it got a little repetitive after a while. Still though, next year if you are around, I would highly recommend stopping by to check out the longboat races. They were fun.

A Visit to The Bangsaen Institute of Marine Science

Today, Epril and I joined Geoff and Honey Mae for a visit to the Institute of Marine Science located in Bangsaen on the campus of Burapha University. This is a really great aquarium located about 30 kilometers north of Pattaya, on the far side of the town of Sri Racha. The aquarium was originally opened in 1969, and was expanded in 1980 with the help of a large grant from the government of Japan. The aquarium was built as an educational center, and houses 180 species of fish.

The cost to get into the aquarium is 100 baht for foreigners and 30 baht for Thai residents. I am quite happy to say that for the first time, I have attended a tourist attraction in Thailand that does not charge based on skin color: If you have a Thai driver's license, than no matter what color your skin is, you pay the Thai resident's price.

Of course, the immediate question that comes to mind is a comparison with "Underwater World", Pattaya's aquarium (400 baht for white skin, 200 baht for brown skin). The truth is that once you get past the gimmick of walking through a glass tunnel past the fish in Underwater World, the Burapha University aquarium is better. The species of fish on display are more varied, and the quality of the displays and aquariums and flora is on a level much better than the "cementscape" that passes for a marine environment at Underwater World. Here at Burapha, you can see real coral reefs, and real seaweed growing in real sand.

I really can't say too much more about the place. It simply has hundreds of different kind of interesting and pretty fish to look at. If that is something that interests you, then I can highly recommend the Bangsaen Institute of Marine Science of Burapha Univeristy (and it's more equitable admission fees) over Underwater World. Take Sukhimvit Road north through Sri Racha, and then pass through the next smaller downtown area called Nongmon Market, and then turn left at the first traffic light immediately after that. Go down the road about 3 kilometers until you see the entrance for Burapha University on your left. The left turn about 20 meters past the university's main entrance is the entrance to the aquarium parking lot.