I promised myself to get to Wat Prakaew (or better known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) which is located within the ground of the Grand Palace. I told myself to get there before the New Year as it’s our tradition to pay respect to sacred Buddha statues and pray for blessings during the New Year days. The temple would be usually very crowded during important religious days and special festivals. I had the incentive to get there before the Chinese guided tours would start arriving in Bangkok. When the Chinese tourists arrived, there would be standing space only inside the temple.
But it took me ages to get out to Sathorn pier for a boat ride to Thachang (elephant) pier by the Grand Palace. Luckily the Chinese ‘invasive’ tourists haven’t come back yet so the road in front of the main gate was still empty and very clean. I could enjoy my quiet tour of the temple without being crushed by the tourist crowds like over two years ago. I felt rather strange being back to this place where I thought would never be opened to the public again after the Covid plandemic ordeal. However I was glad to see how adaptable and flexible Thai people were in the face of sudden changes and unexpected challenges. The show must go on.
The temple officials seemed to be more stringent about rules of polite or proper clothing before entering the Temple ground. Shorts and sandals or flip flops were not allowed; ladies had to wear blouses with sleeves. I was stopped from getting inside by an official who told me that my trousers were too short as my white complexion legs could be seen. Had I put on my socks, there wouldn’t be a problem. This was crazy rules and logic. Then I pointed to some ladies wearing skirts with the length above their knees. The serious looking staff couldn’t argue with me but told me he just followed the rules.
There was a red tape on the wall where I could stand close by to see if my trousers would match the height of the red tape above the ground. I saw that I missed it by one inch only. So I told him to wait while I unbuttoned my trousers and pulled the rim down towards my hip. In this way I could comply with the dressing codes. I also told him it was a long journey for me and I would be very unhappy to be turned back just because of short trousers! He saw my effort to comply with the rules and I told him I didn’t want him getting into trouble with his superior. He did warn me that other officials might chase me out if they saw my hovering trousers showing my pale legs. I really missed my navy socks and regretted that I was too lazy to put them on at home.
My second obstacle came as a surprise to me as I was entering the gate for Thai people, for which we didn’t have to buy tickets. One staff pointed at me and asked if I was a Thai citizen. She asked to see my ID card. This was the first time ever that I was accused of being a foreigner pretending to be a Thai. I was pretty upset by this crazy incident so I walked up to another man complaining in Thai about this bad joke. He realised I could speak Thai fluently and was quite surprised that I hardly looked like a normal Thai. Finally I got inside the temple ground which is also the entrance for the Grand Palace.
I knew that my body language and my clothing have always been different to most Thai people’s norms. But I had no idea that I could make Thai people perceiving me as a foreign tourist. In the past I often had souvenirs’ vendors at old temples in other provinces talking to me in English. They thought I was either a Korean or Japanese tourist! Once I talked to them in Thai, all the vendors got the shock and run away from me. Because of my ‘foreign’ manner, I was the only one without a mask entering inside the main hall of the Temple. The gate keeper was a young soldier who was quite reluctant to speak English. He caught my attention and made a sign about mask wearing. I told him in low voice that I left my mask at home.
He was at his wits end as I continued towards the front of the designated area for praying to the Emerald Buddha. I closed my eyes and sat in meditation for thirty minutes, hoping that these Thai officials wouldn’t dare to approach me. Fortunately, they left me alone praying and meditating quietly. I hope they could get the serious vibes around me and let me be. On the other hand, I did notice several CCTV around the hall; I wouldn’t want the young soldier getting scolded by his superior for not throwing me out for not wearing a mask.
I had prepared all my reasons for not wearing a mask just in case I might be interrogated by an army officer or a Royal guard. I knew that at least two new laws had been enacted for allowing mask wearing to be voluntary and there are no longer legal punishments on non-compliance. I was willing to confront any high ranking officials or Royal guards for a serious discussion as I would like very much to educate them and free them from fear and indoctrination. My wish didn’t come true that day! I was even prepared for a confrontation with news reporters had this incident turned out badly. People are illogical and lack critical thinking to the point of willingly enslaving themselves to official lines. I noticed that all foreigners were given masks when they bought their entrance tickets!
I tried to calm myself down by walking slowing around the ground of the temple. Photography was quite easy as sunlight was bright enough for my old iPhone. But there’s a big renovation on the old building opposite the temple. I felt weird being able to walk freely without bumping into Chinese tourists. This time I could slowly observe my surroundings. I was glad to see European tourists started to visit Bangkok. The atmosphere in this temple has changed a lot over the years.
I used to be regular visitor here every Sunday when I was a kid. My uncle would bring me here on his old Italian Vespa. I was about four years old and a favourite among my uncles. This uncle knew the caretaker of the temple very well so they would have a long session of Chinese tea inside the temple. My uncle would take me around all the important shrines around the temple wall to make some offerings and do some prayers. The caretaker was also quite friendly to me; he told me some ghost stories and serious story about the two giants guarding the temple. Being a young and naive kid, I believe all his stories for years. Those were the good old days when there were no guards and no restrictions or silly rules. We could even have Chinese tea with the caretaker of the temple.
I still remember the day when my mother took us, four siblings, to this temple to pay respect to the Emerald Buddha on a bright sunny day. My mother walked very fast leaving four of us with very short legs trying to run after her. We were afraid of getting lost inside this big temple. It’s a pity we didn’t have a camera in those days. My mother still couldn’t drive a car, so we went there in a tuk-tuk. I suspected that my mother liked to play catching up game or she enjoyed seeing her children running in fear of getting lost or left behind. She knew she could walk a bit slower as I did shout to her to wait for me. But I never had the chance to ask her about the reason for always making us running after her!
This place always brought back memories of those old days of fun and anxiety. So I had to find my own relationship with this old temple; I would have new recollections and memories. My feelings were flowing fast and fuzzy as I could pick up so many historical vibes in the surroundings. I knew I had been here long time ago, over a hundred years, as someone in the Royal staff, perhaps I was a soldier. I had dreamed of being in a big ceremony with lots of commotions, noises, lines of crowds and flying decorations in the wind. But this time I felt like a stranger out of sync with the overall resonance. I wondered whether someone did something to change the flow of energies there. I told myself to let go and just live in the reality. Some questions would never find their answers.
I just walked around taking pictures with my eyes as well as with my iPhone. I wondered how this place would look like in a hundred years’ time. The Temple and Grand Palace were built by King Rama I as he established Bangkok as the capital of Siam. The Old Palace on the other side of the river was too small and located between two temples which meant that expansion of construction wouldn’t be viable. The Old Palace location also suffered from a two-sided attack from hostile war ships. So, the first reign of the monarchy of modern Siam was inaugurated in 1782 with new Grand Palace and Royal Temple with emerald Buddha on the shrine.
Renovations and new additions of buildings including statues had been undertaken by various kings over two hundred years. In the old days, Royal families actually lived and worked in the Grand Palace for almost two hundred years. During the reign of King Rama 9, a new palace was built some five kilometers away. The King needed more simple and practical accommodation as he was about to embark on hundreds of projects to improve rice quality, irrigation for drought areas and many scientific laboratories to improve agriculture practices in Thailand.
I used to see the lists of projects the King had initiated; they were more than 5000 projects in various parts of the country. These projects aimed at improving health, livelihood and quality of life of poor people in rural areas and hill tribe people. That’s why Thai people are very loyal and dedicated to the monarchy. The governments often hindered the King’s projects as these tended to be more effective than expensive government projects which raised the questions about corruption. I used to have friends working with some of the King’s projects and foundations. So, I had the opportunity to visit two projects in the coastal area and in the countryside several years ago.
Photography was not allowed inside the main hall of the temple. I had a calming and peaceful time meditating amidst the sacred vibes of all the old Buddha statues who had absorbed the vibrations of thousands of prayers by hundreds of monks during religious ceremonies. The Emerald Buddha was too far away for me to appreciate the deep green colour of emerald. This temple is the Monarchy private shrine room where Royalties would perform religious ceremonies among their families on special occasions. But the modern Kings and his families allow ordinary people to pray at their shrine hall. I just wish I could find some records or books on various old stories about the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace.
The older generations who kept old memories of the past had become too old and many had passed away. I could hardly find sources of hidden stories and unrecorded history as most elderly story keepers were all gone. Thai people are not in the habit of keeping records or diaries; they are story tellers. I do miss the old days when we could sit around the coffee table talking about past history and recalling the words of the king and queen during a military coup, how personal sacrifice had to be made to avoid the loss of lives. So many questions in my head remain unanswered. Perhaps I should learn to converse with the giant statues guarding the Palace for they should have heard many secrets and observed many incidents all these years.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
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