Thread: Memory Lane (In my own language)

Back when I was a boy living in my grandparentsÂ’ big house. We had these giant clay jars stored the area.

There are 2 types. One has plain style as shown in this photo and the other is glazed with dragon patterns on the surface. The latter one is more expensive.

We used these jars to contain water brought by rains to keep as drink water. In the old days, the earth was still clean, clean enough to drink water from the rains. It tasted so refreshing and cool once stored in these clay jars.




Newsstand in the 60s (those are famous movies stars at that time)




Street fortune teller in the 50s (Note: we have all loved King Rama IX)




Street vendor in the 30s

She was chewing betel nut which was common seen in the 30s



Food peddlers in the 1930s and 1960s




This kind of fast food joint, we call "Kao Tom Kui" (1960s)

In the old days (this photo was taken in the 30s), this style of thatched houses was commonly found along the riverbanks. They were made of nipa palms' dried leaves.

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The Rama VI Bridge is a railway bridge. It is the first bridge that crosses the Chao Praya River in Bangkok. It connects the capital of Thailand, Krung Tep (or Bangkok in farang’s language) and the former capital of Thailand, Tonburi.




The construction from a French company started in December 1922 during the reign of King Wachirawut (King Rama VI) to link the Northern and Eastern rail lines with the southern rail lines which cost 2,714,113 baht. At that time, it took 5 francs to get 1 baht or 11 pounds to get 1 baht and that was why the British company which was the competitor lost the bidding. (And I am still dumbfounded why the value of our money at present is in reverse, very f--king much!).

The bridge was finally finished in the reign of King Prachatipok (King Rama VII) and was officially opened on 1 January 1927.




During WW II, the bridge was severely damaged and was repaired in 1950-1953 and officially reopened on 12 December 1953.






For a total length of 441 meters, the bridge is the longest railway bridge in Thailand, almost 120 meters longer than its nearest rival, the 323 meter River Kwai Bridge in Kanchanaburi Province.

Now, referring to its old age, the bridge is served only for trains and its sister Rama VII Bridge being constructed nearby in 1990 helps serving vehicles.

By courtesy of the book, Bangkok: Then And Now, by Steve Van Beek, which shows the city of Bangkok during a time of change.



Siam in the 1900s: In Sampeng Lane, a commercial center in the old city, residents of the gem quarter ply their trade, eager for custom on a relatively empty street.



The same scene in Sampeng Lane today shows a district thriving with tourists, snapping up handbags, sweets and souvenirs.



In 1863, Bangkok's first modern road, New Road or Charoen Krung Road, was built in Chinatown - four miles from the royal family's Grand Palace. A brave traffic policeman manned a kiosk in the middle of the road but this post was abandoned after being on the receiving end of one too many bad drivers.



The same road as it is today in the city which is now home to about 22 million people.



Cars were introduced to Bangkok in 1900 and by 1904, there were around 300 of them on the city's newly built roads. A car rally along the royal boulevard or Ratchadumnern Road past Sanam Luang, the royal cremation ground. Barely visible in the distance is Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.



Men from a car club sitting on the ground proudly displaying their vehicles in the early 1900s with the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the background.



The Temple of the Emerald Buddha as it is today



This giant swing was built in the early 19th century for an annual ritual to honor the god Siva. Teams would swing to great heights to grab a bag of gold. But by 1925, it was deemed too dangerous and was removed.



From 1900, reveals a floating dock, constructed for a royal rite of passage known as 'Teaching the prince how to swim', which symbolized his passage into adolescence. During the ceremony, the prince would climb down into the river while Brahman priests chanted.



An ornate twin-elephant gate, erected in 1908 in front of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The passage welcomed the return of King Chulalongkorn (King Rama V) from a state visit to Europe. The elephants symbolize independence and power.



A mother tends to the hair of her daughter in the palace of a high noble.



A princess of the royal court in the reign of King Chulalongkorn.



Mourners seen at the funeral of the king. They were dressed in 17th century costumes of Ayutthaya, Siam's former capital.



Commuters on a tram traveling across the city which was just beginning to flourish at the turn of the century.



Dancers perform Lakhon, a Thai genre of theatre. It depicts an episode from the Sanskrit classic dance-drama, the Ramakhien - the ancient saga of Rama and Sita.



Hanuman, the sacred white monkey guardian of Rama and Sita, threatens a group of demons in a Khon, masked dance performance

Originally Posted by panama hat

No, I was four/five when we left for Lebanon . . . but wouldn't it be great to have those cars now . . .


And thank you again, very much, for the effort you put into this thread.

Another member here, Rural Surin/Jeff/Huang Lau is also an avid historical Thailand lover and had a very nice photo thread as well.

Wow... You have been a traveler. I love to travel as well but not until I turned 30. My parents said "Wanna travel? Start saving your money. It won't make you proud if you use ours". So, I did.

Here are some small glimpses of my big collection...



And thank you for you kind consideration. It is really an effort creating one topic. Got to use a process to make one which consumes time. That's why I can't post very often.

The most traumatic event in the history of modern Thailand.

The mysterious death of King Rama VIII.

King Rama VIII (King Ananda;1925-1946) the eighth King of the Chakri Dynasty of Siam was only 10 years old and a schoolboy in Switzerland when he succeeded his uncle, King Prachatipok (King Rama VII), in 1935. WW II prevented his return to Thailand to assume his constitutional duties until 1946.

On June 9^th 1946, the King was found dead of a gunshot wound in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall (a modern residential palace located in the Grand Palace), only four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in law at the University of Lausanne.

He was only 20 years old when the incident happened and had not been crowned on the coronation day as the King yet. After his death, King Rama IX (King Bhumibol Adulyadej, his younger brother) posthumously renamed him to elevate his title equal to a crowned king.

The details of the events on June 9^th, 1946:

Keith Simpson, the pathologist to the British Home Office and founding chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Guy's Hospital in London, performed a forensic analysis of the King's death and recounted the following sequence of events on the morning of June 9^th, 1946:

06:00: King Ananda was awakened by his mother.

07:30: His page, But Patthamasarin, came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the King's dressing room.

08:30: But Patthamasarin saw the King standing in his dressing room. He brought the King his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the King had gone back to bed and refused the juice.

08:45: The King's other page, Chit Singhaseni appeared saying he had been called to measure the King's medals and decorations on behalf of a jeweler who was making a case for them.

09:00: Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej visited King Ananda. He said afterwards that he had found the King dozing in his bed.

09:20: A single shot rang out from the King's bedroom. Chit Singhaseni ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the King's mother, crying "The King's shot himself!" The King's mother followed Chit Singhaseni into the King's bedroom and found the King lying face up in bed, bloodied from a wound in the head.

After investigating, he found it highly unlikely that the death was due to suicide, noting that:

- The pistol was found by the King's left hand, but he was right-handed.
- The direction of bullet fired was not inward towards the center of the head.
- The wound, over the left eye, was not in one of the elective sites, nor a "contact" discharge.

The King was killed while lying flat on his back. Simpson noted that in twenty years' experience he had never known of any suicide shooting while lying flat on the back.


(Duplicated scene)



The King’s bed


After the trial, three men (the King’s secretary and two trusted pages) were arrested. Their petitions for clemency were rejected. They were executed by firing squad the next day.

Although it has been widely spoken that those 3 victims were but scapegoats, the mysterious circumstances surrounding the King's death have been the subject of much controversy. Now, since the incident happened long time ago, everyone involved have already died so, the truth is sealed.







King Rama VIII (Ananda Mahidol) and his beloved brother, Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej (later King Rama IX).



The King’s last appearance at Kasetsart University 4 days before the tragic day.



Three scapegoats??

King Rama VIII's funeral
















The Cremation

Just a change of air.

Let’s visit the realm you might never know exists until you explore it.

Dark arts in Thailand is generally divided into 4 categories.

1. Casting a spell to drive something into the victim’s stomach.

This is the lowest class of all. It is considered to be the most effective on tonsure day; the day before the new moon/full moon. Something to cast the spell on is, for example, an old coin taken from a mouth of a dead person in the coffin, pieces of burial shroud, nails taken from a coffin’s lid and etc.

The most popular one is a piece of buffalo’s hide which originally is required as a tiny size of a matchbox. After being cast a spell on and driven away, the thing will get inside the victim’s stomach and expand the size. The symptoms are such as not being able to eat, being absent minded, not being able to sleep and etc.

During the incident, the victims never know what happens to them. Strangely, even scientific devices such as x-ray cannot reveal it. The only way to solve this kind of dark arts is to fight back with ‘bright’ arts such as holy water or Buddhist chants.

Once, the bright arts being performed and the victims throw up, they will know what is inside their stomachs. From one nail or a coin being cast, several ones will come out. From a tiny piece of animal’s hide, a much bigger one will come out.

This kind of dark arts is severe, causing death if rescue cannot be reached on time.






2. Controlling

This is mid-level black arts. Some of them are such as a voodoo doll with the victim's name carved on it or a photo of the victim including the name. Incantation is recited on them first then bury them in some places that could create strong atmosphere such as in a graveyard or a T junction.

A voodoo doll is kind of more special and also powerfully effective. It has to be made of clay dug up from a cursed atmospheric place i.e. graveyard.



Another way that can produce effective result is to place both (a voodoo doll or a photo of the victim) against a small pot filled with rice grain and lit incense sticks. A set of incantation is recited then followed by calling the name of that victim over and over with no rush but constantly.

When the victim finally get hallucinated or delusional which means the spell is effective now, it is time to do something bad to the victim. A certain kind of needle such as sack needles are commonly used to pierce into the victim's voodoo doll or hit repeatedly on the victim's photo. The victim will suffer tremendously.

Love potion or love wax are another alternatives to be used. Mostly they are made of dust ground from a certain piece of bone, preferably a skull, of a person who faces suffering death then mixed with incantation recited water or wax. Anyone who drinks or applies it on the skin will be hit by this love spell head over heel.




3. Protective Dark Arts

Talismanic cloth, talismanic tatoos, 'ta-krud' (tiny rolled metal or animal's hide amulet inscribed with magic words), 'lek-lai' (metal charm believed to melt when exposed to fire) are included in this category. Each is said to be able to protect one who wears it from weapons. They were very popular among soldiers in the ancient time.

'Lek-lai' is more special. It is said to make one who puts it in the mouth invisible!!








4. Attacking

The most popular ones are Wua/Kwai tanu and hoon-payon.

Wua (cow)/Kwai (buffalo) Tanu (arrow)

Wua/Kwai Tanu is a type of superstitious amulet being famous in every part of Thailand except in Bangkok. They are made of various kinds of material such as bamboo barks or clay or wax.

Some who want strong performance must find cursed metals such as nails from coffins or metal rods found in the coffins and etc. then melt them together to form a figure of a cow (wua) or a buffalo (kwai).

When all is done, a black magic ritual will be performed.

Wua/Kwai Tanu has to be kept well in a proper place. Food such as hay, water must be provided regularly like you are feeding real cattle. If all goes well they can be extremely powerful in making the owner safe from any harmful things. They can watch over the owner’s house and also keep away bad or evil spirits. If negligence happens they can be so harmful to the owner.

Because they are a result from dark magic, they can also perform evil things when ordered such as killing.




Hoon-payon, roughly means in English as an effigy enlivened by magic, is made of hay or holy thread or pieces of corpse's sheet formed into human being. After incantation recited, this thing will be active. It will look like a zombie and will do whatever its master commands to do.

Apart from attacking, it can protect the owner from another black magic and also can be used to guard the house. The owner will tie this thing outside the house, to a pole or something. Passerby will catch a glimpse of someone walking inside or around the house.




More will come in due time!