Adventures in Thailand

Thailand is a country full of surprises and so with an open heart and a few memory cards I journeyed to the South of the country just before the hot season to find out what it was like. (It was still around 30 degrees.) Staying at the beautiful jungle beach resort of Khao Lak on the Andaman Coast, as my base I travelled over 1,000km through mountain, rivers, jungle & mangroves to old town markets and medieval fishing villages which hadn't changed in hundreds of years on my photographic quest.

Similan Island Closed Indefinitely

I was lucky enough to see coconut crabs on the Island jewel of Koh Tachai in the Similan Isles before it was closed indefinitely to the public and perhaps most memorably, having a bath with a lovely female Elephant,Bok.

Stop 1

My first stop on this photographic journey is Phuket. On a Sunday afternoon before the night market opens, having Pad Thai noodles and Chrysanthemum tea in the travellers bookshop, I could immerse myself in the inward contemplation of potted ponds and Buddhist meditation.

Potted Ponds

I've always been fond of ponds and in Phuket I noticed many shops and houses had these small potted ponds bearing lovely aquatic plants outside along with shrines on walls offering fruit and incense. It's not a combination I'd seen before and the small child inside me yearned to set up my own potted pond when I got home. Then I remembered, I have had a few potted ponds in the past but end up being plague by mosquitoes !

Shrines

The Thai people imbibe a balanced spiritual mix of Bhuddist philosophy (he's everywhere in many shapes and sizes) and a more primal animism, where the belief of spirit in everything makes for a more considerate view of life in general. I found this quite an interesting blend and there are shrines and temples and statues of religious significance dotted all over the place. They even have a version of praying garden ornaments which I found far more attractive than our own garden gnomes.

East meets West

Westerners love Thailand as a destination, so do people from the east as it turns out. The Thai people are hard to resist as easygoing hosts who want you to have a good time and take home fond memories. It was a real adventure and I will be posting a series of Adventures in Thailand photographic travelogues over the next couple of weeks.

• Potted Pond 1/125th @f5.4 ISO 250

• Stop at the corner shop for light refreshments 1/125th @ f3.5 ISO 250

• A Thai praying garden statuette 1/

• 3 Potted Ponds 1/200th @f5 ISO 100

• Family Shrine with offerings 1/

• Phuket Graffitti Girl by NoeTwo 1/125th @f4 ISO 100

• Potted Pond with Floating Plant Colony 1/60th @f4 ISO 100

• Herbie went Bananas then retired to Phuket 1/400th @f8 ISO 100

• Figurines adorn the Buddhist Temple 1/320th @f5.6 ISO 100

• Not quite the Biggest Buddha in Phuket but still enormous 1/250th @f7 ISO 100

• Lotus Flower offering at the shrine 1/60th @f5 ISO 100

• Another Buddha in the Garden 1/160th @f4.5 ISO 100

Technical

High humidity damaged my Lumix camera in Thailand but it was worth it. I knew I was going to buy a new Nikon when I got home. The Lumix has a touch screen LCD which got moisture in it and although it still worked fine it wasn't in it's best condition when it got home. It took a battering in high temperatures and a few thousand clicks across Thailand. I had a softpod cushion pod with me which was quite useful and the sun was generally high in the sky. Luckily I had the video eyepiece for the Lumix which not only helps with composition & shooting in strong light, it also has a 90 degree tilt so it's great if you want to shoot up at vertical subjects. In this set there are a lot of deep afternoon shadows where I'm shooting in doorways and under sun canopies so relatively slow shutter speeds meant opening up the aperture while keeping the ISO low.