We had the opportunity to visit Sukhothai Historical Park in Sukhothai which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The temple ruins date back 1000 years; it's amazing to see such massive ruins and to think that the structures were created without modern tools. I'll post more pictures when I return, but Google the site if you can. One of the things that I found interesting was that Hindu and Buddhist structures were remained next to each other even as the new dynasties adopted Buddhism. I need to do more research on the site, but I really enjoyed walking throughout the park.
We're spending a lot of time on the bus today. Apparently there were more protests by farmers demanding to be paid the money they were owed bythe government for their rice. The road we were supposed to go on was blocked so we had to take another route to our next destination. I haven't had a chance to connect with the news so it's hard to really know how serious the situation is. If you come across any info, post a comment. Hopefully things will run smoothly here on out.
I'm not sure the size of these Buddhas come out in the pictures, but they were huge.
It is thought to bring good luck if one touches the trunk of this elephant statue and makes a wish. My wish for a safe and happy journey came true!
Hi Ann Marie!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are having a great time in Thailand! I did some research on the protest by farmers and it sounds as though it was a pretty large protest! One news article I read said there were more than 1,000 farmers from different Thai provinces headed to Bangkok in order to increase pressure on the Prime Minister to make overdue payments under the government's rice-pledging scheme. It said that on the way to Bangkok, protesters planned to stage a rally at the Commerce Ministry in Nonthaburi Province. The protest then moved in front of the Shinawatra building in Northern Bangkok, which is owned by Yingluck's family forcing several companies in the building to close early. The protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, is trying to put pressure on the business networks that the Shinawatra family is involved in in the hopes that Yingluck steps down.
The link to one of the articles I found is: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140220/thai-farmers-head-bangkok-join-antigovt-protests
I hope this gives you a little more information into this protest! I am enjoying reading your posts and I especially love all the pictures! It looks like a very beautiful place!
Enjoy the rest of your visit!
Erica Lauria
Thanks so much, Erica! This is really helpful!
DeleteErica, I didn't have a lot of time to respond before but i wanted to thank you for taking the time to look into the situation and to post. The information was extremely helpful because I didn't have internet access long enough to look up the information myself. I told all of the teachers that I was with that I had the loveliest students! I really appreciated your post.
DeleteI am reading this after you are back, so it does give a bit of a different view on the situation, because I know how it turned out until you left. I found this post particularly intriguing because I spent last semester in Bath, England, which was also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I checked the UNESCO Site, and they have not added Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns to their list of Sites in Danger. Whether this is because they don't believe the places will be in any danger, or their website is not updated, I do not know.
ReplyDeleteI always find it incredible to see something so old, but still so together. It is amazing the things that were build so long ago without the tools and technology we have today.
I do find it interesting as well how intermixed things can be, such as the different religions. I had a similar experience while in Spain in High School. In Granada, there is a heavy Arab influence on many older building, especially La Alhambra (Another UNESCO World Heritage Site), which was built for a Moorish King. With Spain being a very Catholic Country, it was strange sometimes to see the two next to each other.
I think looking at other UNESCO Sites and comparing them could be something done in the classroom. Here, comparing the Budda Statues to the Statue of Liberty (I didn't even know this was a UNESCO Site!) could be interesting, especially as they are both statues. Looking at why they are seen to be important could help students learn about the other cultures/places.
I am sorry you spent so much time on the bus, but I am glad you made it home safetly!
Catherine, I love your idea about having students compare UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I can completely envision a unit that helps young students think about what cultural and geologic features are important to the world, what makes something important, and what people might have to do to protect those sites. You could simplify the UNESCO selection criteria for young children and have students compare their criteria to the list.This would be a great global component to add to a unit on national landmarks. I just went back to the UNESCO list and I was surprised to see a number of U.S. sites on the list; I had wrongly assumed that the UNESCO heritage sites were designated for sites in regions that had been unable to protect the sites in the past. I really like how UNESCO frames the sites as places around the world that "belong to all the peoples in the world" which would be a great theme to design a unit around. It looks like UNESCO created a set of lessons for high school students but it was back in 1998; we should think about creating an updated elementary set! Thanks for your post.
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