Research Catalog

Title

A day in the life of Thailand / directed and edited by David Cohen ; project directors, Rick Browne, James Marshal ; director of photography, Peter Howe ; designed by Tom Morgan ; text by Susan Wells, Steve Van Beek.

Publication

San Francisco ; Collins Publishers, 1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Cohen, David, 1955-
• Wels, Susan.
• Van Beek, Steve, 1944-

Description

223 p.; mostly col. ill. ; 37 cm.

Subject

Thailand > Pictorial works

Genre/Form

Pictorial works

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• A Bridge to the Future: Rama IX Bridge, built in 1987 on the occasion of the auspicious 60th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great, whose dedication, benevolence and wisdom have given the Thai people hope for a better future -- Fog cloaks the ridges of Doi Inthanon National Park southwest of Chiang Mai -- A fisherman guards hoi krong (cockle) beds in the warm waters of Phangnga Bay, north of Phuket -- The spired chedis of Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, built by King Trailokanart in the 15th century, rise among the ruined temples and palaces of Ayutthaya-a Buddhist kingdom that flourished on the central Thai plains for 400 years -- The Muang, in fertile Kanchanaburi province, is located in a valley watered by the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai rivers -- A leafy canopy of rubber trees shades motorists on the tropical island of Phuket in southern Thailand -- At busy Klong Toey port, incoming freighters wait as long as a week to berth -- An orange vendor dozes before dawn in Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city -- Sprays of fresh orchids-purchased as everyday gifts and temple offerings-brighten a street stall on Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road -- An elephant enjoys his morning bath at the Young Elephants Training Center near Lampang in northern Thailand -- Camping in glots-small tents hung over their umbrellas-9,000 monks from all over Thailand gather for the Buddhist festival of Makha Puja on the grounds of Wat Dhammakai, 30 miles (50 kilometers) outside of Bangkok -- Until this century, rivers and canals were the highways and byways of Thailand's flood-prone central valley, where monsoon rains can turn streets into waist-deep streams -- For Thai Buddhists, the ritual of bintabat-giving morning alms to monks-is a daily opportunity to gain spiritual merit -- Morning tai chi chuan exercises in Bangkok's lovely Queen Sirikit Park on Sukhumvit Road -- Motorcycles are often the only reliable way of moving through the congested streets of Bangkok, where rush hour traffic creeps along at a stately 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) per hour -- At Wat Ratchaburana in Bangkok, a monk leads students from the Suksanaree Girls School in prayer while circling the temple three times -- A worshipper studies the Koran at the Haroon mosque in Bangkok, one of 2,000 Islamic temples in the kingdom --
• A Moslem student wearing the traditional hiyap (Islamic headcovering) pores over her books at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok -- Writing and arithmetic lessons begin the day at the Chonnabot village elementary school in northeast Thailand -- At the Sri Aranyothai Primary School in Aranyaprathet, near the Cambodian border, the day's vocabulary words includ magic, democracy, benevolent and Buddha -- Students at the Phuttisophol Primary School in Chiang Mai assemble for the Thai national anthem, broadcast throughout the kingdom every day at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. -- Second-graders in Luuk Sua Chao Baan (The Wild Tiger Corps) wear their uniforms in school in Chonnabot, in Khon Kaen province -- Two boys in the Blue Hmong hill tribe village of Nong Hoi work on a classroom exercise at Chomaelang Uppatam II school -- At Chonprathan Songkro elementary school in Nonthaburi, students line up for the national anthem -- In a school yard in Nong Ki, near Nakhon Ratchasima in eastern Thailand, boys play an acrobatic match of net takraw-a national sport resembling volleyball, but played without hands -- Monks at Wat Wachiralongkorn near Nakhon Ratchasima shave each other's heads in preparation for the Makha Puja festival -- Rakkiaet Wongsa, 27, a Thai border policeman, shaves at his post at Aranyaprathet on the Cambodian frontier -- Bangkok's Hualampong Station is the hectic hub of Thailand's efficient rail system -- Workers load a barge on the Chao Phya river in Bangkok -- Day in the Life photographer Scott Thode balanced 40 stories above Bangkok's Silom Road to photograph workers at the construction site-one of scores of office and condominium projects rising day and night in the booming capital -- Stooping over a flooded paddy near Sukhothai in central Thailand, a woman plants rice seedlings -- A little girl offers a prayer to a colossal 100-foot (32-meter) Buddha image at Wat Indraram in Bangkok -- Lotus flowers are left as offerings before a giant seated Buddha image at Wat Si Chum in Sukhothai -- Roses for sale at the Phak Klong Talat fresh market in Bangkok --
• A Day in the Life of an Executive by Jay Bradley -- Sumontip Otrakul, first vice president of Thai Farmers Bank, attends a briefing on the bank's new computer software system -- Rousing sleepy six-year-old, Pui, with a hug, Sumontip begins her day at 5:30 a.m. -- Before setting off to school with a private car and driver, Pui and Pum bow to their mother and honor her with a wai, the Thai gesture of respect -- Khun Sumontip reviews potential changes in Thai Farmer's Bank's communications network with Phongthawat Phuankanok, first vice president of the bank's computer department -- A quick look out the window confirms that afternoon traffic is already backing up on Bangkok's streets-a sure sign Khun Sumontip's children will have a long ride home from school -- Arriving home at 5:45 p.m., Khun Sumontip prepares the family's dinner -- Looking up from her to-do list, she smiles at Pui and her husband, Weearwudht Otrakul, who owns an architectural firm in Bangkok -- Pum gets some help with homework before bedtime -- An Akha mother and child pose for photographer Barry Lewis in Gui Satai, a hill tribe village in the northern mountains near Mae Chan -- A shy Hmong (Meo) child clings to his mother in Chiang Khong village in northern Thailand -- These women of the Padawn Karen hill tribe are refugees from Myanmar -- A fishing boat painted in a traditional Moslem design in Narathiwat on the Gulf of Thailand -- Prapansak Bhatayanond, general manager of Bangkok's luxurious Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, displays the hotel's prize attraction-the largest penthouse suite in all of Asia -- The seasonal cycles of rice planting and harvesting shape the rhythm of Thai life -- Silk weaving, a 6,000-year-old industry in Asia, is practiced by more than 300,000 families in Thailand, particularly in the northeastern province -- The infamous "bridge over River Khwai" spans the Meklong (Khwai Yai) River a few miles outside the town of Kanchanaburi -- A Day in the Life of a Rubber Plantation By Pascal Maitre: -- A Phuket rubber tapper starts work before dawn, wearing a calcium carbide headlamp -- A tapper slashes open a wound in the bark of a rubber tree to release the flow of latex -- Most of Thailand's original rubber trees (hevea brazilienis) have been replaced with high-yield hybrids that produce latex only six years after planting -- Once the latex has been collected, tappers carry it in buckets to a processing shed, where it is poured into pans and mixed with chemicals -- In Phuket, and throughout southern Thailand, rubber workers are lured off the farms by higher wages offered in the rapidly expanding building and transportation industries --
• In the dusty northeastern village of Chonnabot, a stud pig is chaffeured to a well-paying rendezvous -- No elephants allowed is the rule-but not necessarily the reality-in downtown Surin, a provincial capital in eastern Thailand -- Ranks of shrink-wrapped Buddhas stand ready for sale outside Charoenchai Karnchang Buddhist Supplies in Bangkok -- A gardener tends the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, a memorial for some of the thousands of Allied prisoners of war who died while building the infamous Death Railway between Thailand and Burma during World War II -- A nurse watches over premature babies in the intensive care nursery of Bangkok Christian Hospital -- At the Pholasith Motors factory outside Bangkok, a worker assembles tuk-tuks-Thailand's famous three-wheeled taxis -- A monk scales a web of bamboo scaffolding around an unfinished Buddha image at Wat Sabon Kangthon in Saraburi province -- Lush displays of Thai food beckon buyers at the Kanchanaburi market -- In the off-season, working elephants and their keepers wander the streets of Bangkok inviting pregnant women to walk under the belly of the beast -- A chao ley (sea gypsy) spears a ray in the turquoise waters off Koh Phi Phi, southeast of Phuket -- Famed throughout Thailand, Mae Chi Loy Nam ("the floating nun") meditates while floating supine in a pool of water at Wat Tham Mongkorn Thong, a Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi -- A live sea crab provides amusement for boys playing in the waters off Koh Mak in Phangnga Bay -- A hesitant tourist inspects a poisonous Siamese Cobra at a snake farm in Chiang Mai -- Although many abandoned dogs and cats are given food and shelter at Buddhist temples throughout Thailand, these animals-some injured by speeding cars-are cared for at a private shelter on the outskirts of Bangkok -- Tourists entrust their lives to the nimble feet and keen eyes of performing pachyderm at the Crocodile Farm in Paknam, 18 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Bangkok -- A Day in the Life of a Country Studio By Shrimp: -- Adorned in traditional red boas, women of the Iu Mien (Yao) hill tribe gather at a wedding in the village of Mae Salong Nai, north of Chiang Mai -- In the impoverished neighborhood surrounding Bangkok's Klong Toey port, preschoolers stretch out for a midday nap at a primary school run by Kru Prateep Ungsongtham, known as "the slum angel" -- Oblivious to sharp rocks and buzzing mosquitos, a novice meditates with an older monk at Wat Wachiralongkorn, a Buddhist monastery in the hills of Khorat --
• Tourists at Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha -- Hair-raising fun at Dan Naramit, the popular "Magic Land" amusement park outside of Bangkok -- A special dress for a special occasion: a visit to a Bangkok amusement park -- Father and son enjoy a day at Dusit Zoo -- The headmistress and students of the Addinah School for Moslem girls in Bacho, near Narathiwat on Thailand's southern coast -- Band students in Chonnabot in Khon Kaen province blend the sounds of Thai and western instruments into the fast-paced melodies of mo lam and luuk thung-the country music of Isan -- Soldiers relax near the Grand Palace in Bangkok -- To raise money for building repairs, wats throughout Thailand hold glittery temple fairs featuring musical performances, outdoor movies, carnival rides and sideshows -- Boys at the Wat Sra Kaew orphanage in Pa Mok, near Ayutthaya, line up for lunch-usually rice and curry -- Eleven-, twelve- and thirteen-year-old schoolgirls giggle in their seats at Wat Pochai in Nong Khai, before listening to a sermon -- Limestone monoliths jut from the Andaman Sea in Phangnga Bay -- Barges snake down the Chao Phya river, the grand river of kings that bisects Greater Bangkok into Bangkok proper (on the left) and Thonburi (on the right) -- With the assistance and encouragement of the Thai government, Akha villagers in Pakheoy, near Mae Sai, have largely abandoned destructive slash-and-burn agriculture -- A Buddhist Funeral By Carol Guzy: -- A beautifully decorated wood-and-paper funerary tower-adorned with a picture of the deceased-contains a simple wood coffin -- At the funeral of Pongsi Kaewsrengam in Nong Khai, the coffin is opened so relatives and friends can say their final good-byes -- Relatives pray while monks chant prayers in Pali, the ancient Indian language of Thai Buddhism -- During three days and three nights of mourning, friends and relatives gather at the home of the deceased -- Joined by a sacred white cord which transmits blessing, friends and relatives accompany Pongsi's coffin to the wat -- The pyre and coffin are set ablaze --
• Wearing ceremonial clothing of jute, mourners pray at the funeral of a relative at Wat Hualampong, a Chinese Buddhist (Mahayana) temple in central Bangkok -- Hilltops are generally reserved for religious monuments -- Buddhist monks at Vachiratharn Falls, a nearly 200-foot (65-meter) plunge over sheer granite cliffs halfway up Doi Inthanon, Thailand's tallest mountain -- Bangkok's modern shopping malls-air-conditioned palaces with car shows, food stands, ice skating rinks and even rooftop amusement parks-are popular hangouts for shoppers and city teens -- In Chiang Khong, a village on the Laotian border, a farmer hauls water from the Mekong River to irrigate his lettuce patch -- Until 1993-when the last of 370,000 Cambodian refugees left Thailand-Aranyaprathet was a crowded warren of refugee camps and international relief agencies -- Throughout Thailand, cottage industries such as silk and basket weaving provide family income between agricultural seasons -- Workers take a break at the Saha Union footwear factory in Chachoengsao -- Thailand, the only country in Asia that regularly exports more food than it imports, has developed a fast-growing processing industry for its abundant farm produce -- Workers dash out the door as the 5 p.m. closing bell rings at the South East Wood Factory outside Rayong -- Although most of the ruby and sapphire mines in southeastern Thailand have been nearly exhausted, workers continue to pan for gems -- Since the first backpackers arrived on a coconut boat in 1971, the island of Koh Samui has been prized by foreign tourists as a paradise of white sand, turquoise water and tall palms -- A Day in the Life of the King and Queen By Kraipit Phanvut: -- Her Majesty Queen Sirikit meets with villagers in a remote section of Loei Province on the Thai-Laotian border -- In Ban Bung Khe, 72 miles (116 kilometers) northeast of Bangkok, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej meets with local officials to discuss plans for a new dam -- This eight-year-old nak muay Thai (Thai boxer) just won his fourth bout at a temple fair in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya -- Private-school students practice social skills at a graduation party at Bangkok's Imperial Queen's Park Hotel -- A Malay woman at Koh Pannyi in Phangnga Bay -- In Chachoengsao, a large town 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Bangkok, a young dancer waits to take her turn onstage at Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihaan -- The Padawn Karen tribe, refugees from Myanmar, once considered brass neck rings to be marks of beauty -- Thick scarves keep dust and sun off the faces of construction workers in Bangkok -- A young Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu) woman in Pha Daeng is adorned for the hill tribe's raucous, eight-day New Year's celebration -- An orchid seller in Chiang Mai -- A Karen tribeswoman in Sop Hart, a mountain hill tribe village inside Doi Inthanon National Park -- Draped with amulets to ensure health, prosperity, luck and potency, Boonrod Soitong, 62, lives with his nine-year-old daughter under the main highway between Bangkok and the border town of Trat -- Mon Montri, a visiting 13-year-od novice, stands before the dazzling gold doors of Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew, the only one of Thailand's 29,000 Buddhist temples in which no monks reside -- Unlike the vast majority of ethnic Thais, who practice Theravada (Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism, many of Thailand's ethnic Chinese practice Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism, a later form of the religion that spread through Tibet, China, Japan, Mongolia and Korea --
• With big windows, room to stretch out and a ticket price of just 12 baht (50 cents) for a hour-long ride, third-class train cars are a comfortable alternative to Thai buses -- Near the Gulf of Thailand at Hua Hin, a truck carries migrant agricultural workers to the harvest -- Most Bangkok police officers don surgical masks to protect themselves from the constant, toxic haze of automotive pollutants spewed by poorly maintained vehicles lacking pollution-control devices -- Workers put the finishing touches on new Volvos at the Thai-Swedish Assembly (TSA) plant, a joint venture between AB Volvo, Renault and the Swedish Motors Corporation of Thailand -- Bangkok's "rush hour" lasts all day and night, letting up only briefly in the early morning hours -- Near Pattaya, a boisterous resort town on the Gulf of Thailand, neatly dressed up orphans line up for a picture by Day in the Life photographer Mary Ellen Mark -- Later, Mark captured naptime at the orphanage -- Nuat boran, traditional Thai massage, is an ancient-and sometimes acrobatic-form of therapy that both relaxes and invigorates the patient -- In the emergency room of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn Hospital, a mother surrenders to fatigue after waiting hours for a doctor to examine her baby for gastrointestinal problems -- Young men in Bangkok's Klong Toey slum area are tattoed with protective symbols, inscriptions and pictures of wild beasts -- In Sob Ruak-in the heart of the Golden Triangle-Thursday, February 24, was a mothers' day festival -- Apasara Hongsakul Chirathivat, Miss Universe of 1965 and a popular face in Thai high society, posed for photographer Douglas Kirkland-well-known for his portraits of glamorous Hollywood celebrities ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Jack Nicholson -- Business leaders-including Dr. Chokchai Aksaranan, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries-celebrate at a cocktail party at a Bangkok hotel -- Fisherman at sunset on the Mekong River near Chiang Khong -- Buddhist monks are bathed in the mystical light streaming into a cave near Khorat -- A golden Buddha image gazes down at worshipers at Wat Phra Sing, the 14th century Temple of the Lion Buddha in Chiang Mai -- On the final day of the Chinese New Year celebration, worshipers jam the small Sanjao Pho Suea Buddhist temple in Bangkok's crowded Chinatown -- Friendship flowers in the dusty Akha village of Gui Satai -- Children scatter corn for swarming pigeons at Sanam Luang, an elliptical field near the Grand Palace in Bangkok -- At Mai Sot, a well-developed outpost three miles (five kilometers) from the Myanmar border, a Burmese boy looks after cows owned by local Thai farmers -- Mist rises over the Khao Laem Reservoir at Sangklaburi -- The village mosque and stilt-legged houses of Koh Pannyi stand in the shadow of a limestone mountain in Phangnga Bay -- Wat Tham Kao Noi, a Chinese Buddhist temple in Thai Muang, overlooks the peaceful Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi province --
• The sun sets beyond the gleaming office towers of Bangkok's Silom Road-one of the booming capital's main business centers -- Facing the setting sun, Phra Sompong Umbuar meditates with three young novices in a quiet clearing at the Wat Wachiralongkorn monastery in Khorat -- A hilltop Buddha image, adorned with seven serpent heads, watches over the countryside below Wat Wachiralongkorn -- In the Gulf of Thailand, off Chaam, trawlers set sail for a night of fishing -- Between rounds at Ratchadamnoern Stadium in Bangkok, Wanghin Chaiwat, a muay Thai fighter, receives guidance from his manager, Ping Putorn -- In Bangkok, night golfers hone their strokes at a driving range on Sukhumvit Road -- Careening wildly through traffic, tuk-tuks are a cheap-if precarious-form of transportation through Bangkok's gridlocked streets -- A three-block neon-lit strip called Patpong Road comes alive at sunset -- Office building construction continues through the night at Liberty Square in Bangkok's financial district -- In the library car of the luxurious Eastern & Oriental Express, a palm reader divines the future of Janet Lubic, an American tourist from Pittsburgh -- Actors prepare for an evening performance at the Thai Cultural Center in Bangkok -- Workers in Bangkok tuck supplements inside the next day's edition of Thai Rath, Thailand's largest-circulation daily newspaper -- Street stalls continue to do a brisk business after nightfall in Phetchaburi town -- Shoppers inspect imported apples and locally grown watermelon, mangoes, pineapples, coconuts and bananas at the Talad Kaset night market in Phuket -- On shoot day, photographer Nevada Wier was in a tribal settlement of Pha Daeng, in mountainous northwestern Thailand -- At Wat Buraparam in the eastern provincial capital of Surin, a child offers thup (incense sticks) to celebrate Magha Puja -- At the Chalermkrung Royal Theater in Bangkok, dancers perform the highly stylized movements of khon, the classical dance-drama of Thailand -- Despite the elaborate costumes and the severely painted faces, Chinese opera is an informal entertainment for families at provincial temple fairs and funerals -- At Surat Thani's Hai-Lum Chinese temple, projectionists beam a horror film onto an outdoor canvas screen -- A train ride entertains drowsy children out with their parents at a temple fair in Aranyaprathet -- With $100 bottles of Johnnie Walker scotch and $1 million worth of light and sound equipment, COLA Concert Hall on Sukhumvit Road is one of Bangkok's most popular-and expensive-late-night dance clubs --
• Buddhist devotees in Kanchanaburi, carrying candles and incense sticks, circumambulate the viharn (assembly hall) three times on Magha Puja -- A Day in the Life of Thailand photographers and staff outside the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel in Bangkok -- Photographers' Biographies -- A Buddha image in Bangkok's Chinatown -- A silk spinner in Thongchai -- An iron monger in Bangkok -- Riding the rollercoaster at Dan Namarit amusement park outside Bangkok -- Kite flying near the Grand Palace in Bangkok -- Fish set out to dry in Songkhla -- A Day in the Life of Thailand Scrapbook -- Friends and Advisors -- In San Charoon, an Akha boy plays on a home-made cart -- On the Royal Railway Golf Course in Bangkok -- Island in the Andaman Sea -- A grandmother and child in the village of Ban Kan Ta Kwian -- A Day in the Life of Thailand Selected Bibliography -- A Day in the Life of Thailand Sponsors -- Soccer fans at Yubharaj College in Chiang Mai -- In Nong Khai, on the Laotian border, worshippers place candles on the boundary wall of Wat Phochai.

ISBN

000255481X

LCCN

^^^94043683^

OCLC

• 31658005
• SCSB-11888288

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library