Dusit Walking Tour

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for your comments, especially Charlie's on our bamboo apartment. Kimble, that was very nice of you to think of Sean's career. Anyway, yesterday we went on a walking tour of the Dusit Area, which is located within Bangkok.

The book John gave us before we left had many walking tours in it, so we decided to try one. I think it is safe to say that Sean and I each lost at least a few pounds due to the amount of walking in the walking tour. However, it was very fun and provided us with many new experiences.

All of the pictures of our walking tour are up or will be up, but we wanted to make comments about a few of them on here. Also, if you want to view our photos larger, and the comments we have posted on them, just double click on a picture and it should open in a new window.

Comments on photos

Dusit Park Area

This entire area was built mostly by King Rama the V also known as King Chulalongkorn. He spent a lot of time in Europe so much of the architecture in the area reflects European style. The streets in this area are also much wider than most areas of Bangkok. Most of our students go to Chulalongkorn University here in Bangkok, named after the King, and it is widely considered the best University in Thailand.

Government House

Government house cannont actually be seen in any of our pictures because of all the protesters that are surrounding the building. This building is where the Vice President lives, and is equivalent to our White House. The prostesters have been there for over a month now, it is not violent. The people have tents that they have been living in there, it was actually quite amazing to see how many people are staying in one living space. Outside of the tents would be fifty pairs of shoes or more. Throughout this entire area you can hear the PAD (peoples alliance for democracy) leaders talking over loud speakers.

As we were leaving this area there were two men, sitting guard for the entrance or exit of the area. They asked us where we were from, and we said America. They welcomed us to their country, which is pretty standard. Then, they pointed to a door mat they had at the entrance and asked, do you know who that is? (The door mat was of a mug shot of Taksin and his wife) Sean answered who it was. They seemed impressed, and then they asked, good or bad? Sean said, "bad" and they laughed and smiled.

It was an amazing experience to walk through that area. There were so many people, and so many tents. They have been there for over a month, and a week ago, it was raining all day long almost every day. It was just a very new experience.

Vimanmek Mansion

This mansion was the best thing we have seen so far. It is off the beaten path. The building itself only took 18 months to build. It it made out of teak wood, which is common in Thailand, also the sturcture has no nails, only wood pegs.

The building has been preserved by the current Queen, in the 1980's. It was disregarded for many years, but now is more popular. There were many more Thai people visiting this than there were Europeans or Americans.

The Mansion had very strict security with pictures, we had to lock our cell phones and cameras in a locker before we could go in. They also searched us with their hands, and then we walked through a metal detector. They do not want you taking pictures of the inside.

It was an amazing tour and we saw many interesting gifts the Kings have been given over the years. We saw the first toilet and shower of Thailand, made from copper. We also saw a dinning room table, where the chairs are made from aligator skin. Each chair took three alligators.


Sorry this post was so long, and John thanks for the book. We will continue to keep you updated. Love you all, Jana and Sean.