‘A Grand Day Out’ in Nakhom Pathom,… Bangkok.

When Mrs. PoorCirculation suggested we have a fun day out in Nakhom Pathom, I initially thought I’d misheard her. Aside from studying for a degree at Nakhom Pathom’s Mahidol University, I couldn’t imagine anything there that could occupy anybody for a few hours, let alone a full day. And, was it even legal to use fun and Nakhom Pathom in the same sentence?

Nakhom Pathom is a satellite town of Bangkok, the kind of place you see mentioned on road signs on your way to somewhere slightly more interesting. I’d never actually been to Nakhom Pathom proper, only ever passing by, so perhaps I’d been judging it unkindly? But, when Mrs. Poor Circulation suggests an activity, well, it’s normally best to just smile and say “yes darling”.

An hour after leaving Bangkok we’d arrived in Nakhom Pathom where our niece Wan and nephew Opor had been waiting to meet us. To an Englishman like me, Thai families are amazingly complex and confusing, and although I’d known Wan and Opor for several years, I hadn’t realized they’d moved to Nakhom Pathom and would be joining us for our grand day out..

Then, when casting a scornful eye on our shitty-little-Nissan Wan had suggested that we should travel onwards in her car, I might have actually laughed. Was she even old enough to drive?

From the rear leather seat of her brand new Toyota SUV, I’d suggested that life as a student seemed very different from when I’d been at university, and after a moment of confused silence, they’d all burst into fits of laugher. I’d known that after studying mathematics at college our niece Wan had recently moved to university, and apparently I’d been half right. She had indeed been in the math department at college, and then moved to the university there in Nakhom Pathom, but clearly not as a student.

Our niece Wan, who I’d assumed was probably in her late teens, apparently has a PhD in Mathematics - Dr Wan - and is heading swiftly towards becoming head of faculty at her university - Professor Wan. Well, I’d only been ten years out on guessing her age.

After asking our nephew Opor what car he'd been driving these days, and he’d told me “durr, I’m only eleven years old, so I ride a Honda Wave to school”, ten silent minutes later we’d arrived at our destination. It was a strange yellow industrial building beside a busy highway that wasn’t quite in Nakhom Pathom, so possibly in a suburb called Salay, but to me, it had still felt like Nakhom Nowhere.

After walking beneath a blue VW Beetle that had been superglued to the ceiling, the receptionist had been waiting to greet us: “Welcome to UPside DOWN WORLD”.

I’m sure that UPside DOWN WORLD isn’t an original idea, but it certainly is a great deal of fun. It’s like walking into IKEA, where you travel from room to room in a given direction, although each room has obviously been turned on its head.

We actually stayed in there for a couple of hours, and broke all of the rules by travelling back and forth between rooms. But, as we were the only people in there, I don’t think anybody really minded.

I honestly don’t think UPside DOWN WORLD needs any more explanation, at least not in words. It’s a visual event, and although it’s not designed to set you off-balance, it certainly requires you to think your way through each room.

Sadly, as we’d switched vehicles I’d left my camera behind and the photographs here are all taken with a reasonably priced cell phone. But, I think you get the idea, and I hope that more people will visit and keep this place open. It actually is a great place to visit and have fun, in Nakhom Pathom.