Long Live the King

We are told that the vast majority of Thais have great affection and respect for their 79 year old king and for the royal family. This is the beginning of his 60th year on the throne and, in the lead up to his 80th birthday, the country is staging many special events over the year in honour of the king; we have had the good fortune to attend a few of these this week in Chang Mai. The Royal International Flora Exhibition was an eye popper; 80 hectares of gardens set among rolling hills, lakes, fountains, and pavilions. The stunning floral displays included 2200 species and 4 million plants. We spent much of the day in the huge orchid pavilion, the feature being the competition amongst growers for the best displays and individual plants. No hallucinogens needed to appreciate the effects of these fantastic plants.

Last night we attended the Royal International Jazz Festival, a six hour, five band show featuring American and international stars. Most of the 5000 strong audience were young Thais and they seemed a bit bewildered by the some of the spacier early acts. But the Dizzie Gillespie all star big band got them going and Kenny G brought down the house with a totally non traditional power fusion assault to close the show. Kenny may not be the best sax player in the world, but he is a showman and he really knows how to work the crowd. He spoke at least five minutes in the Thai language (with no notes), praising Thailand, Chang Mai and the King. And then he played two of the King's compositions. (The King is apparently an accomplished musician). We'll be back at the outdoor venue at the University tonight for the final show.

Tomorrow we head to the small town of Pai to relax and to explore the jungle mountains and villages northwest of here for five or six days and, after picking up our stored gear at Gerry's condo in Pattaya on Dec 22, we will take the train to Koh Lanta in southern Thailand to enjoy some the the Andaman Sea beaches (including some that were hit by the tsunami a few years ago). Our Thai visitors permits expire Jan 1 and we will cross into Malaysia then, and a week later (Jan 8) fly from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, to Bali in Indonesia. Tourism on that island is still recovering from the effects of the terror bombing a few years ago, but we will avoid the tourist build ups and, from our reading and discussion, we feel assured it is a very safe (and cheap!) place to travel.

Speaking of tsunamis, there was a 5.1 earthquake here in Chang Mai two days ago. It woke us up rumbling the building and rattling the windows, but no real damage or injuries in the area. It was the largest tremor on record in this area.