Throughout our stay in Thailand, we got to experience culture, faiths, spicy foods, humidity, & a deep connection with both people & animals.

When we first arrived, we didn’t expect the cars and roads to be reversed. The kids enjoyed watching dad sit in the “normal” driving position, without a steering wheel in front of him. Thanks to our Airbnb host, he recommended a nearby food stand where we could get our first taste of authentic Thai food. We’ve been warned that locals like it spicy, so we requested less spicy options, that were both delicious with the right kind of spice.

We’ve been big fans of this food stand since the first night, we’ve gone back several times a week. In fact, because fried chicken is the only food Hallie will eat there, the time they were all out, Claire and Hallie were invited to take a ride on a motor bike, up the street with the restaurant owner.

This is a day we’ve been waiting for! Claire turned old enough to be able to go to the Temple and do baptisms for the dead, and we’ve been looking forward to being back in the Temple since Italy. Claire helped to look up eight of her own family names for her to do in the Bangkok Temple.

Thailand is somewhat similar to Cambodia, but more modern. We noticed a distinct difference with our quieter neighborhood, where most people stay in their homes (likely because of the heat) and our form of transportation isn’t an open remork or tuk tuk, but a typical taxicab with drivers that mostly speak Thai. Making connections with people isn’t as open here as we observed in Cambodia. Bangkok is also a cleaner and much larger city than Phnom Phen, with fewer markets and food carts.

Our first fieldtrip was a day at the Ancient City. I wish every country would do this, preserve a large section of land dedicated to sharing what their traditional country was like before modernizing. There are lots of Buddhist temples and shrines, sculptures, and definitely more elephant symbolism. Apparently, the elephant is Thailand’s national symbol, representing strength, loyalty, and longevity. The elephant is associated with Buddha religion and defined as being “guardians of Earth”. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful landscape gardens, enjoying Thai boxing and dance performances, and driving a golfcart through the various historical structures. The Ancient City is definitely worth checking out!

When the food is good, you have to learn how to make it! This was a favorite family activity that some friends told us about and we’re so glad we could find an opening spot. We each selected four Thai dishes to make & enjoy.

The next exploratory destination we went to is the Erawan Museum.

Arriving at the museum, we didn’t expect to see a three-headed, 100ft elephant structure. The museum included historic pottery, jewelry, Chinese vases, and more elephants. The garden was pathed by elephants and other mythical creatures, each representing a universe symbol. From what we gather, based on which sculpture you pray and burn incense to, your life will be blessed in abundance. Definitely a different perspective for us.

Inside the three-headed structure is a three-tiered staircase, decorated in jewels, then atop a spiral staircase you reach the top floor that represents the Travatism Heaven and decorated with paintings depicting cosmos.

Ko Lan Island

The kids love playing at the beach and we were told Thailand has some good ones. We rented a driver with a twelve-seater “party van” for a day, drove a couple hours to Pattaya City, then boarded a ferry to Ko Lan Island. We weren’t expecting to see so many people on a weekday, let alone a variety of people from around the world. We identified people from Korea, China, Russia, France, Germany, India, and Australia.

Safari World Bangkok Zoo was a lot of fun!

We started with a coach ride through the safari park where we drove through the zebras, lions, tigers, rhinos, giraffes, and bear habitats. Then enjoyed a couple shows with dolphins and sea lions and got up close contact with elephants, giraffes, birds, and alpaca.

Gavin discovered a fun restaurant for us to eat at and we’re thinking maybe we should have the kids pick where to eat in foreign places more often. We were surrounded by an oasis of trees, wooden paths that led to a clear, glass dome. The kids were huge fans of a dessert-like breakfast for dinner too. When there’s something everyone is happy with, we call it a win!

Our Thai Ward has been so great! Not many English speakers, but very welcoming and kind. They invited us to join them for their after-church lunches that happen every week, inviting our girls to sing, The Miracle, as a duet in Primary, and I was volunteered to share my thoughts and testimony a couple of times as well. Those that could speak a little English were very willing to translate for us and spend time getting to know our family. We love connecting with the missionaries everywhere we go too! Helps that we can engage in conversation with them! Two of the Elders are from Philippians with one sister from Vegas and the other from Utah. We were always greeted with a bow and Thai greeting, “sa-wat-dii krap/ka” or “Hello”, then follow us to our taxi to wave us off as we left. Such great people of faith!