Richard Dillon Dillon, CC Liu (editor), Wisdom Quarterly
Golden Buddha reclining into final nirvana, riverside Bangkok (Dennison Uy/flickr.com) |
Four-faced Brahma (asianform.com) |
[Theravada] Buddhism
is the key religion in Thailand. Thus, it is easy to spot Buddha
statues all over the country and not only in Phuket [pronounced, pooh-khet].
Its
capital city,
Bangkok [the full name of which is roughly the equivalent of the full
name of Los Angeles, both meaning something akin to the City of Angels,
and not in an ironic way, as decadent and hedonistic as the
megalopolises are], has the famous four-faced Buddha. [This famous statue is not actually the Buddha at all, but a golden Brahma in an intersection.]
Bangkok, Hua-Lamphong train station, Thailand's main train station (Gift-of-Light/flickr) |
Heavenly temple, Chiang Mai (Swissrock/flickr) |
It attracts many tourists
from all over the world. For history enthusiasts who are always looking
for educational tours, Thailand is the perfect country to explore. [Not only is it tourist-friendly, one of the most welcoming places in the world, it is also ancient, vibrant, the third or fourth most vibrant economy in Asia behind China and Japan, and maybe Singapore, it is also very "Buddhist."]
Temple murals (fredMin/flickr) |
Koh Phi Phi Island (Karpalain tsunami video) |
(Lagoon the_nomad_soul/flickr) |
It may not be the best country, but it certainly has to be one of the top three travel destinations.
The south has even more surprises with full moon beach parties, incredible water bound land masses (kohs), remote beaches made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio, and secret lagoons like the one the castaways enjoyed on Gilligan's Island.
"The Beach" - Leo in search of adventures in Southeast Asia
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