Last Videos In Thailand

July 11, 2009 at 3:07 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Here is another quick post of the last batch of videos I took while in Thailand that I didn’t have the time (or opportunity) to post while over there.  While uploading these videos this morning, I was very shocked by how quickly it took.  A two-minute video took about 15-20 seconds to upload at JSU while over at ABAC (when I was able to successfully upload a video), a two-minute video would take about 15-20 minutes to upload.

The first video is one taken of a Thai fire station in Phitsanulok, Thailand.  I have taken pictures of this firehouse before in past visits to Thailand, but I thought a video could show a bit more than those still photos.  I had no idea what would be interesting to see from someone else’s point-of-view, so I just tried to get a sense of what it was like to walk around the place without being too intrusive.  I don’t try to say too much in this video for fear of embarrassing myself (any further) with my lack of knowledge of the firefighting profession.  Jet said that these firefighters work a 24 on, 24 off work schedule and that the pay is not very good for this type of job in Thailand.

The next clips are of the places where you pick up groceries in Thailand, either at the supermarket or at an open market.  The first clip was taken at on open street market and I tried to give a sense of how busy they are.  The second clip was taken at a typical Thai grocery store, which I tried to show some of the things that you could buy there that would be different than in the US.  Grocery stores in Thailand are not that much different than those in the US, with the exception of some of the types of foods that you can buy.  In particular, you will see fresh foods (e.g., vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, etc.) that are comparable in variety to what you can buy in an open street market.  Another difference is with the types (and quantities) of sauces, noodles, and rice available to buy.  There is nearly an entire wall for both vegetable oil and ramen noodles, which are obviously used quite often in meals in Thailand.

The next few clips show what I believe to be one of the more fascinating things I see when I visit Thailand.  At 8:00am every morning and 6:00pm every evening, the Thai National anthem is played on all TV and radio stations.  This first clip was taken during my walk through the open street market in Phitsanulok.  It was such an amazing contrast from how busy the market is to how quiet and still it become when the national anthem was broad-casted over the speakers at 8:00am.  The second clip of what some Thai TV stations show was taken on the last morning of our visit to Thailand.  I apologize if the sound is not too loud as I was flipping through some of the Thai TV stations during the anthem, but I didn’t want to wake anyone up.  Here is a great website that translates (both phonetically and in English) the Thai national anthem and also has an audio clip of the anthem.  The lyrics (translated in English) are actually quite interesting:

Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body.
The whole country belongs to the Thai people, maintaining thus far for the Thai.
All Thais intend to unite together.
Thais love peace but do not fear to fight.
They will never let anyone threaten their independence.
They will sacrifice every drop of their blood to contribute to the nation, will serve their country with pride and prestige full of victory.
CHAI YO. [Cheers]