Skip to main content

The rain, the catfish and the chedi


Rain. I associate it with a weekend spent with friends frolicking with an army of tame fish in a national park. I remember it because that was when I learned that to deliberately stand in the rain just for the fun of it is sheer joy. The other reason was these delightful swish-swooshing catfish 


They sense it when people approach. They come near as if they know dinner is served.  We fed them string beans. What a greedy bunch!


Further up a slope as we continued to hike we found this moss-covered chedi made from laterite. It was built to commemorate King Rama and Queen Sunantha's visit to the park in 1876. Queen Sunantha drowned when the royal boat capsized in the Chao Phrya river. 

A Wikipedia entry describes the drowning, "despite the presence of many onlookers they were forbidden on pain of death to touch the queen - not even to save her life."  Nearby is a sign that forbids anyone to come near if they are not properly dressed. I took this shot using my phone from a distance. Perfect thing to do after the rain has stopped.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. WendyJuly 13, 2013 at 12:33 AM

    Catfish - yuck. Can't stand those "whiskers" and big mouths!

    And how sad for the queen. Too important to be touched by the lowly citizens?? Or would saving her be seen as interfering with "God's plan"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hazel CeejJuly 13, 2013 at 6:45 PM

      There must be some answers to your questions somewhere.

      Delete
  2. Brett PayneJuly 13, 2013 at 6:54 AM

    That seems extraordinary, that death would preferable to being touched by a commoner. I like the idea of feeding string beans to catfish, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hazel CeejJuly 13, 2013 at 6:49 PM

      I think so too. Someone said, 'I wonder what was the queen thinking while she was drowning.

      Delete
  3. Alan BurnettJuly 13, 2013 at 5:53 PM

    Fascinating photographs. The would seem to capture the time and place so well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Carol L McKennaJuly 13, 2013 at 8:03 PM

    Love the 'vintage' looking photos and delightful memories ~ Happy Weekend to you and thanks for the comments ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  5. PostcardyJuly 13, 2013 at 8:50 PM

    I thought the string beans sounded strange at first, but maybe they resemble water plants that fish eat.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KathyJuly 13, 2013 at 11:34 PM

    Great photographs and interesting stories to go with them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. barbara and nancyJuly 14, 2013 at 2:30 AM

    Catfish and string beans. What a wonderful dinner!
    That story about the queen is too weird. But the monument to her is beautiful. Maybe that makes it all worthwhile.
    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Little NellJuly 15, 2013 at 5:08 AM

    How strange that a monarch should die rather than be saved, due to some antiquated protocol.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bob ScotneyJuly 15, 2013 at 9:27 PM

    I've caught a catfish or two but not on string beans. They did like sweetcorn thought. Fine monument.

    ReplyDelete
  10. tonyJuly 18, 2013 at 10:25 PM

    Being Regal Is Sometime,I Guess?, A Mixed Blessing......

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That time of year

Musical Monday: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, EHSS Scroll down for Monday Mayhem Right. Good-looking. Talented. Cute. And I'm supposed to believe life is fair? *Kidding* Take note of the final score - powerful thoracic diaphragms belting on. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Amanda @ Bloggin with Amanda hosts Musical Monday XmasDolly of XmasDolly , Lori of Shewbridges of Central Florida , Larry of Cakeblast , and Callie of JAmerican Spice host Monday's Music Moves Me Denise @ Run DMT hosts Music Monday Blog Hop ************************ Monday Mayhem: The Return of Lola's Holiday Meme 1. What is your favorite holiday show/animated show? I know there are so many out there, but my life is riddled with work right now. It also is no help that this country I am in does not recognize Christmas except for commercial purposes. 2. What holiday character do you think you're most like? - pass- 3. What holiday character does your spouse think yo...
12 comments
Read more

Unknown reasons

What spirit is so empty and blind that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed? - Michelangelo  Why is the Mom in this family picture smiling? Oh, I know. The Dad is wearing shoes. Old Photo Album But my mother was also smiling in our family photo. All three of us look about the same age as this family. Mama said she explicitly told Papa that day long ago that we would sit for a family portrait so we were to don something formal. But lo and behold Papa came in flip flops! Mama wasn't very happy about it. She still placed our picture neatly in the family album though. Family is family, slippers or stilettos. What is unknown to me, besides the identity of this family, is how Father (rest in peace, Pap) ended up in the photo studio wearing slippers when he wore shoes virtually all the time. In fact we only saw him wearing slippers during his retirement. Ah well, so much for shoes. I have ...
14 comments
Read more

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

Tacloban . It's where I spent two months of great adventure with college buddies at about the same age as the young adult artists in this video  We Are The World for Philippines ( Cover by Filipino Artsts ) This is the church where I served as piano accompanist for the 1990 summer student choir, and some of the services. According to reports it was filled with dead bodies when this shot was taken. Photo Courtesy: AUP Network on FB On Saturday, November 24th, Central World management (the former WTC Bangkok) lent space for a Haiyan fundraiser without charge. I'd like to commemorate the highlights:   One Voice: Help Haiyan Victims was a serendipity. Organizing events is something I had to pay money to study in grad school. But it was live learning right there that night and observing the process was free. Skywatch : Mission Tacloban The Bangkok Charity Orchestra   reflected tranquility in their music. Poor typhoon victims would...
30 comments
Read more