Two of the places we visited in Chiang Rai: the White Temple and the Black House. Both designed by Artists. The White Temple is Thailand’s Wat Rong Khun. Chalermchai Kositpipat, a devout Buddhist, refurbished the Wat...spending $40 Million Baht (which comes out to $1,212,121.00 U.S.) of his own money in the process. The temple is the artist's surreal vision of the Buddha teachings. It's a magnificent piece of work...no joke.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Baan Dam or the Black House designed by Thawan Duchanee....believe it or not a former student of Kositpipat. It is part architecture, part museum, part art, part taxidermy show, part sculpture. Duchanee designed and built 40 buildings...large and small....all dark colored. There is an element of death in all the darkness, but there is also an aspect of community and ceremony within each building. It is also magnificent...but definitely a 180 from the lightness of the White Temple.
That's all from Chiang Rai. I will miss the Saturday Walking Market. We sat next to a Thai couple at the market. The husband told us that many of the towns people go to this market every week to socialize and sort of a Family night-out-on-the-town kind of thing. I like that.
Ed out.
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