Monks

Thailand has over 200,000 monks. As well there are 85,000 novice monks. Any male can become a monk at age 20. How long you remain so is up to the individual. Most remain monks for an average of 3 months. Some choose to remain monks the rest of their lives. Novice monks can be of any age and can leave at any time.

Monks arise at 4am then have meditation and chanting for 2 hours. This is followed by a bare foot walk throughout the neighbourhood when locals make merit by offering them food. At 8am they start having a communal breakfast and sometimes a light lunch. After 12 noon they are forbidden to eat solid food until after sunrise the next day. At 1pm they have Buddhist teaching classes. At 6 pm they have 2 hours of meditation and prayer. At 8pm they retire to do homework.

The bright saffron robes certainly catch your eye. Below, monks gather just before the morning meal. 

A trip to Royal Garden

Today it rained. This is the first day we have had some rain. I went to Royal Garden, a medium-sized mall instead of the beach. It is home to Ripley's Believe It Or Not as well as many medium to high end shops.

And look who I ran into ......

Massage

Pattaya must have thousands of massage places. As well there are hundreds who do massage at the beach. Standard rates at the beach are $10 for one hour. Most are officially licenced blue-coat-wearing  and trained masseurs and masseuses. 

Thai massage, oil massage, scented oil massage and many other massage types are available. Most of the massage shops that are off the beach do offer a legitimate massage but many offer "extra" service as well. Price for one hour is $8.50 to $12.00. The least expensive are massage shops with blind masseurs.

On the busy walking street, the girls shout "Dahk Ling" to male passersby. Most males respond with a smile or grin and believe the girls are just saying "darling". In reality "Dahk Ling" means monkey's butt.

One of the most ornate doors I have seen...

Jomtien Beach

As part of my daily routine I go to the beach just before midday. Jomtien Beach goes for miles along a somewhat mediocre beach with hundreds of beach concessions and thousands of chairs and loungers. Why this beach is so busy and attracts thousands of visitors each day is a bit of a mystery. Maybe because of the massive hotel and condo developments which front the beach or maybe because it is Pattaya, but regardless, it is popular.

Each concession is owned by someone, usually a lady. Consisting of nearly 200 places to sit, a counter area, umbrellas, coolers, mixers and assorted equipment. Each beach umbrella is anchored in the sand. You pay about $1 to sit in a chair for the day. Loungers are about $3.50. Usually a staff of about 5 wait on customers, providing drinks and food which is ordered from a nearby restaurant.

Invariably "regulars" occupy the same chairs each day with others who come and go each day. Vendors selling everything from sandwiches, fried food, DVDs, packaged fruit, eggs, hats, shirts, bedding, jewelry, medications, souvenirs, massages, manicures, pastries, toys and novelties ply the beach continuously. 

The beach on a rare day with some rain...

A lady enjoying a bottle of liquor and sharing her bottle with one of the lads working at the concession.

Hand feeding one of the pet squirrels...

An old St Bernard who sleeps beside one of the beach washrooms. In the background, someone is having a massage on the beach my a blue shirt masseur.

Beach figurine

Some of the packaged fruit offerings ...

Happy Makha Bucha Day and Happy Valentines Day

By chance both Valentine's Day and Makha Bucha Day fall on February 14th. As a result most of the restaurants and all of the bars are closed. 

Bangsaray revisited

I had an opportunity to revisit this small fishing village so I went again to the pier and managed a trip to the temple as well. What follows is a few temple pictures and the pier area.

The wildlife ...

To date I have not seen any real wildlife here except for the occasional tourist having too much to drink.  A few different birds than at home but citified and I am still on the lookout. What follows is some of what I have seen so far.

City birds ...

A white squirrel ...

A very large moth at the beach 

Temple dogs and cats are essentially feral and live and depend on the generosity of devotees at the temple. What a life they have!