Buddha Statue at Wat Phanan Choeng in Ayutthaya, Thailand
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Tag Archives: photos
Thailand children during Loy Krathong
Koh Tao and Koh Yang Nuan, Thailand
Koh Tao, Thailand
Koh Yang Nuan
Koh Tao and Koh Yang Nuan are islands were you can do some diving and snorkeling in the Gulf of Thailand. If you’re trying to get to these islands, your best option is to take a trip from the island of Koh Samui to get there. Koh Tao is one of the areas in Thailand where you can possibly see whale sharks (and regular ones!), and you will see lots of brightly colored tropical fish in the shallower snorkeling areas.
Given the recent announcement that the Thai government is considering restricting access to Koh Surin and The Similan Islands, it will be interesting to see if similar steps are taken to protect the coral for human development and other environmental pressures in other aquatic marine parks.
Orchid in Singapore: Singapore Botanic Gardens
Young Orangutan at Rasa Ria Nature Reserve (Borneo, Malaysia)
Elephant on the beach in Koh Samui, Thailand
My first trip to Thailand included trips to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui. When I was staying at the Amari on Chaweng Beach, I looked out and saw the trainer taking this young elephant out for an afternoon dip at the beach (if you end up going to nearly any of the high-end resorts in Thailand, it is quite likely that the hotel will have a resident elephant to entertain the guests during certain times of the day).
One of the reasons elephants are so involved in the tourist trade in Thailand, for better or worse, is that logging activities in Thailand have been greatly diminished to help preserve the little rainforest that is left. As the elephants and trainers still need to eat and work, you will find numerous places where you can take the elephant out for a jungle trek (the best jungle trek I’ve done has been in Chiang Mai).
Orchid in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Kind of bored today, with not too much to say about this particular picture. I will just say it is another stunning example of one of the many species of orchid that can be found in Southeast Asia;-)
Orchid in Sukhothai, Thailand
This picture of an orchid was taken in Sukhothai, Thailand before visiting my wife’s family. While probably far from my best picture of an orchid, I do like the colors of the orchid very much. Before visiting SouthEast Asia for the first time years ago, I didn’t know that there are more than 20,000 types of orchids that are widely accepted.
You will find no shortage of orchid farms in Thailand, so I highly recommend visiting the many you will find in all of the major tourist areas. I’ve been to ones in Chiang Mai, Nong Khai & Phuket that were very cool to go to, and they are definitely great places for accomplished macrophotographers to take some pictures of these amazing flowers.
Note: Sukhothai is still one of my favorite places to take pictures in Thailand. While the temples don’t have quite the same splendor as the temples of Angkor Wat, you could spend a few quality days checking out one of the original kingdoms of Thailand during your stay.
Simon Cabaret Queen
No, I am not using the word “Queen” in a derogatory sense. The Simon Cabaret in Phuket is generally considered one of the Top Ten activities in Phuket, at least for older visitors (not recommended for children), and the costumes worn by the kathoeys are quite spectacular.
The Simon Cabaret itself, while located in Patong, is a little ways out from the main drag around Soi Bang La. If you’re going to catch the show, your hotel can arrange for pickup and transfer to/from the show; you can also catch a taxi or tuk-tuk to get to the show that you will have to negotiate a price with the driver. Depending on location, a tuk-tuk will probably cost at least 150 baht up, whereas a taxi driver will probably be at least 300 baht (taxis are not cheap in Phuket, and you can pretty much forget about any of them using the meter).
I would consider catching the first showing at Simon Cabaret, which will give you time to get back to Soi Bang La for a night of partying. You will also see most of the performers from the show later in the night dancing around Soi Kathoey.
White Tiger Relaxing: Singapore Zoo
One of the interesting things about having your pictures hosted at Flickr is that some of the pictures you may personally not like that much tend to be very popular with general viewers. I personally don’t think that this picture of a white tiger is very spectacular, but this picture is one of my most viewed items at my Flickr account.
The Singapore Zoo is the best zoo I’ve been to during my infrequent travels, so I would highly recommend it to any visitors to Southeast Asia. The animal enclosures are fantastic, the zoo is fairly large, and I feel very comfortable visiting animals that probably aren’t too thrilled to be “in a zoo”.
Related articles
- Four White Tiger Cubs = Quadruple Cuteness (Video) (treehugger.com)
- Big Caturday (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
