Bangkok and Muay Thai

Sawatdee Kah! We have only been in Thailand for six days, but we have had many great adventures so far with the wonderful Mahidol students that have helped us adjust to life here. We are having a great time here learning about Thai language and culture and getting involved on campus in various activities with Mahidol students. After class on Friday, a small group of us and a student we met here at Mahidol decided to take up some Muay Thai (Thai boxing) training at a gym near campus. We were very intimidated when we first arrived because there were really good boxers training in a real boxing ring. But there were incredible trainers there that helped us out a lot and taught us the basic moves.


On Saturday, we embarked on our first trip to Bangkok by splitting into three groups led by Mahidol students. My group went to Ko Kret, a small, beautiful island near Bangkok known for its hand-crafted pottery. We spent most of the day on the island exploring and admiring the pottery, but we also learned a lot about the transportation in Bangkok by taking trains, boats, taxis and buses to reach our destinations. At the end of the day, all of the groups met at Siam Paragon which is one of the largest shopping malls in Southeast Asia.





After an all-day excursion in busy Bangkok on Saturday, we had a shorter and more relaxed trip on Sunday to the Mahasawat canal. We rode a small boat along the canal, visited a lotus farm and bought locally made snacks, such as rice cakes with pork floss and dried jackfruit. We ate lunch at the Don Wai Riverside Market, which allowed us to experience a typical busy food market in Thailand. All of the food I have had in Thailand has been delicious and the wide variety of fresh produce available amazed me because there is always something new and exciting to try here.

Today, we had classes and had a picnic at Buddhamonthon park, one of the largest sacred places of Buddhism in Thailand with a huge Buddha statue in the center. Tomorrow, we have another exciting day because we are visiting the Thailand Burma Border Consortium to learn about refugees in Thailand, an issue we will be discussing in our class with Dr. Steiner.



There are so many friendly dogs wandering around freely in Thailand!

- Laura