Philippines!

During the first month of school we had a week break for the Thammasat football matches (don't get too jealous; we actually have to make up the class hours we missed with extra scheduled classes on SATURDAYS!) With having ten free days it gave us a lot of opportunity to actually travel outside of the country and a bunch of us decided travel to the Philippines!
We left on Friday 22nd on Kuwait Airways and arrived to Manila three hours later. Immediately, I noticed PALM TREES...and how western this country is. Everyone speaks English so traveling around was not a problem at all. Manila, the capital of Philippines is truly a melting pot of several different cultures. Manila was colonized by the Spaniards for years and years. The Spanish influence was apparent during my visit. Apart from this the US also colonized Manila.

The city itself is very large. The traffic was pretty bad but definitely not worse compared to Bangkok! The nightlife in this city is very popular and there are numerous bars and restaurants that are open very late. The clubs we went to were very upscale and they play all the latest American pop music and were open until 5AM! We also visited Mall of Asia, the 4th largest mall in the world. It was pretty amazing; there was a big skating ring in the middle of the mall. Also, every brand could be found there but they were all western priced.

Boracay Island
On Sunday we went to Boracay, a popular island where many locals and tourists go for vacation. We stayed there for 5 nights. It was paradise! I have never seen water so clear and the sky so blue! I never got bored relaxing on the beach and watching the sunset day after another especially during the cooler evenings, which doesn’t exist in Bangkok. Only little hiccup during this visit was I got food poisoning and was sick for couple days. Otherwise, the island nightlife was quite fun. All the restaurants and bars were just a few steps away from the beach! This place was full with people from all over the world.



Amazing sand castles

A few of us went on a boat tour on the third day. They took us around the beautiful island and different places where we could snorkel. We also explored the Crystal Cove cave!
Snorkeling for the first time!
Cave 1

Climbing Cave 2
Leaving the Island





The Coconut Palace, Manila

On my last day in Manila a few of us decided to visit one of the tourist attractions and we picked the Coconut Palace. The Coconut Palace is a guest house built in 1978. This unique building is made out of various Philippine wood and materials derived from coconuts. This place was built at the command of Imelda Marcos as a palace for Pope John Paul II on one of his visits to Manila. However, the pope declined the offer, saying that it was too ostentatious a place to stay in the poverty stricken Philippines. The Coconut Palace is now a museum, with its seven bedrooms displaying different regional styles of home interior design and furnishing.

Coconut Lamp

Poor kids had to make this because the pieces were so small for an adult hand.

Necklace made of Cobra skeleton!

The Library

Thammasat Edition

Motto: Be the finest, be fair, be the main engine of the society

Thammasat University, the second oldest university in Thailand, is one of the best known and respected institutions of higher learning in the country. Over the decades since its founding, Thammasat University has evolved from being an open university for law and politics to a prestigious international university offering all levels of academic degrees across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines. It has graduated more than 300,000 undergraduate and graduate students who have greatly contributed to the development and progress of Thai society and the nation. The university's alumni have included Royal Family members, prime ministers and government figures, leading corporate figures and national artists.

Thammasat has two campus: Tha Prachan and Rangit. There are also several other branches across Thailand. I have classes at Tha Prachan campus located in Bangkok since it is the international campus. Most of the classes in this campus are taught in English while most classes are taught in Thai at Rangsit campus.

Over the years, Thammasat students have been known for their activism and have played a major role in Thai politics.

In 1973, Thammasat became the center of the protest movement that led to the bloody uprising on October 14th. A large crowd, led by university students, assembled at Thammasat University to protest against the arrest of thirteen pro-democracy student activists. The protest continued for several days before a bloody confrontation took place at Democracy Momument. When Thailand's military leaders fled into exile, Sanya Dharmasaki, then Thammasat rector, was appointed as the Prime Minister of Thailand.

Three years later, a brutal massacre took place on the Tha Phrachan campus on 6 October 1976. The event began with protests against the return of the exiled dictator Thanom Kittikachorn. Violence first appeared on 25 September when two EGAT employees who handed out protest literature in Nakhon Pathom were branded 'communists', beaten to death, and their bodies hung from a wall. This led to peaceful protests by labor groups, students, and other activists demanding the expulsion of Thanom.

On 4 October, students staged a play on the Thammasat campus to dramatize the hanging of the protesters in Nakhon Pathom. Several newspapers printed photographs of the mock hanging, however with one of the students retouched to resemble Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and imply the students had committed lèse-majesté. Uniformed police and enraged right wing paramilitary groups promptly surrounded Thammasat University. At dawn of 6 October the police and paramilitary groups attacked the protestors. The mayhem continued for several hours. I've read some sources and each has various numbers as far as how many were killed. Newspaper sources gave the number killed around 45 but the actual figure may have been over a hundred, with several hundred more injured. Many student protestors escaped by jumping Chao Phraya River, where they were rescued by the sympathetic Royal Thai Navy.

6 October Memorial at Tha Phrachan

The man with the glasses is Dr. Puey Ungpakorn dean of the Faculty of Economics.

Following his protests regarding the 6 October 1976 attrocities - that is the brutaility and killings of students by the military and ultra right wing paramilitaries - Dr Puey was identified as "a communist" and "a destroyer of Thai unity."

He was lucky to escape from Thailand with his life after being met at Don Muang airport with a mob ready to kill him.

On the gray marble bordering to the red granite memorial is written...

"What is most regrettable is that young people now have no third choice. If they cannot conform to the government, they must run away. Those interested in peaceful means to bring about freedom and democracy must restart from square on."

- Dr. Puey Ungpakorn, "The Violence of the 6th October 1976"

I actually have not talk to many students about the massacre. I'm hesitant to because this might be a huge taboo. Also, some faculty members know of someone that died during the October 6th Massacre.

Basically, Thammasat is very well known all across Thailand. All the "high society" kids go to the Tha Prachan campus. Think of this school as the Harvard of Thailand.

There are several different way one can go to school from where I live. I usually walk 20 minutes to the ferry and then take the ferry across the river. BUT most Thai kids live with their parents so they have their drivers drop them off or they take a taxi, BTS, etc. A lot of them are appalled when they find out how the exchange students get to school. LOL

Taking the ferry to school

Koh Samet

Koh Samet is an Island only 140 miles from the capital. It is popular with foreign tourists and a weekend gateway for Bangkok residents. This is exactly where about 30 Thammasat exchange students ended up this past weekend. My group took a 3 hour bus to Ban Phe and a 30 minute ferry ride to the island.

We got there on Friday afternoon, so we settled down and had dinner on the beach. We smoked hookah afterwards.The second day consisted of just relaxing on the beach. A few of us went banana boating which was so scary! It was a nice weekend gateway!


We stayed in these not so nice but cheap Bungalows.

Lunch time!

After sunset

Tourist Attractions in Bangkok

During my first week I toured Bangkok’s most famous landmarks such as Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew.

Built in 1782 as a royal residence and home to the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's most sacred image. That was the year King Rama I, the first of the Chakri dynasty, moved the capital of Siam to Bangkok. The Grand Palace is nowadays used only for occasional ceremonial purposes and is no longer the royal residence.

This is the legend of the Ramakien. It is the Thai version of Ramayana, an ancient tale from India. Written more than 2,000 years ago by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki, the Ramayana is the story of the Hindu god Vishnu and his 7th incarnation as Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya. I'm not quite sure how the Thai version is different, but it was really cool because it was written in Sanskrit!




Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald is considered the most important Buddhist temple in Thailand. Located in the historic center of Bangkok and within the ground of Grand palace, it protects the Emerald Buddha. This is a Buddha image carved from a single block of jade.







I was not suppose to take this picture but this is the Emerald Buddha. The Buddha figure is raised high on a series of platforms, no one is allowed near the Buddha except the King. A seasonal gear, changed three times a year to correspond to the summer, winter, and rainy season covers the statue. The changing of the robes is a very important ritual to Thais and performed only by the King to bring good fortune to the country each season. Currently the Emerald Buddha is sporting his winter gear.



Thep Kinnanorn or Kinnanorn is the male counter part of Thep Kinnaree. The creature has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a Hongsa. His form is often seen in sculpture, traditional architectures, and temple murals.
















After visiting Grand Palace we took a boat tour around the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.






We could see the fishes in the river. We fed them bread!



We stopped by this temple along the way.


After stopping for lunch we went to Vimanmek Mansion, which is the world’s largest golden teakwood mansion with its elaborate architectural style reflecting a western influence. This mansion was built for King Rama V, who moved into the house in 1901 from Grand Palace. The building has two right-angled wings and it has three-storied except for the part where King Rama V resided, which is octagonal and four-storied. Although the ground floor is brick and cement,the upper floors are built from golden teakwood. Altogether there are 31 exhibition rooms, with the bedrooms, the throne room and bathrooms. Some exhibitions include collections from many different countries including China and England. I don't have any pictures since no one is allowed to take any pictures inside the mansion.

It's 2010 and I am in Bangkok!

It was 4:15AM when I arrived at MSP airport on December 30th. Despite the odd time, the lines were extremely long as usual. They had added extra security at the airport, but the only difference that stood out to me was placing the shoes directly on the roller instead of putting them in a bin. I had to take a 7:00AM flight to Chicago, which was a bit delayed. After 3 hours layover in O’Hare, I caught a connecting 13-hour flight to Tokyo and finally 7-hour flight to Bangkok. I flew with All Nippon Airways (ANA). From this experience I must say ANA has the best service compared to the other few airlines I have traveled.

My plane arrived at 10:50PM on December 31st Bangkok time. It took quite a while to get through the immigration line, but the baggage claim was quick. I had booked Amarin Mansion where a lot of other exchange students plan to reside for the semester. Amarin has a pickup service and I was told to go to a specific gate after arrival. I had no idea what to expect as I was walking toward the gate with my luggage! Then I saw a guy and a girl at the airport gate holding a paper with my name on it-classic! We had to wait for an exchange student from Canada. As the clocked rolled to 12:00AM, it was clear I had to spend my New Year at the airport. Emily, the Canadian exchange student got there shortly after 12:30AM.


We left the airport around 1:15AM after packing our luggage in the Amarin van. There wasn't much traffic at this late. On the drive to the hotel, we saw large trees decorated with lights surrounding Bangkok’s roads still left on from the King of Thailand's recent birthday celebration(December 5th). It took us about 30 minutes to get to Amarin Mansion, an eight-story hotel/apartment complex in Bangkok across the river from the Thammasat University. I was placed in a room on the eighth floor for tonight all free of charge to test it out. So far, I think the place is pretty nice. My room has a bathroom and a small balcony. It doesn't have a kitchen, but even if I had one I would not put it to use! I'll decide about staying at this apartment after exploring Bangkok today. For now, I need to rest for few hours before I start my day in this city!

Happy New Year from BKK!