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As
I mentioned on the previous page, Bangkok has some incredibly beautiful
and unique temples. Unfortunately, some of the colors in my 30-year-old
slides (taken in 1971) have faded somewhat.
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As
such, these photos no longer accurately reflect some of the fine detail
and rich colors that were originally clearly visible in the slides.
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Unlike
the fairly plain (except for the use of gold leaf paint) Japanese temples
and shrines which I had seen prior to my Bangkok visit, these Thai temples
and statues were very colorful and lavishly decorated.
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Of
course, the overall style and type of architecture used in Thailand
were totally different from anything I had ever seen in my earlier (and
somewhat limited) travels around the Far East.
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In
addition to the overall elaborate color schemes used in designing these
statues and temples, I was also truly impressed with the extensive use
of GOLD LEAF PAINT everywhere.
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I
would not even want to guess what it must have cost to purchase all
the gold leaf paint necessary to maintain these ancient facilities.
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This
huge gold leaf statue (which was about 30 feet high) is but one of MANY
such exhibits in the Bangkok temples.
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This
is an example of the underlying actual stone carvings (normally covered
by the gold leaf or other color of paint). Local Thai art dealers used
these carvings to trace charcoal or pencil ‘temple rubbings’
which they sold as artwork to visitors.
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Some
of the Bangkok fabric and clothing shops were very attractively furnished
and displayed.
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Silk
was woven locally and then either bundled for sale as bulk fabric or
made into designer clothing for export.
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Silk
flowers were also a popular tourist attraction (as was bronze ware).
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Needless
to say, these are examples of some of the styles and colors of silk
clothing which we purchased from Thailand for sale in the Atusgi Navy
Exchange!
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In
sharp contrast to the attractive appearance of the retail stores frequented
by tourists, most other areas in Bangkok that I saw were much dirtier
and more run down.
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In
this photo, I am standing at the front entrance to a small factory which
produced bronze ware eating and drinking utensils.
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I
was given a guided tour of the factory. This man is pouring the molten
bronze metal into molds to make knives and forks. Note that the guy
is only wearing slippers on his bare feet while pouring the molten bronze
metal into the mold.
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These
men are grinding the rough edges off the knives and forks after the
pieces are removed from the mold. Note that the men are not wearing
any eye protection while grinding the materials.
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These
women, who are performing the initial rough polishing of the bronze
knives and forks, are barefooted, have no eye protection, and the grinders
have no safety shields installed to protect the workers.
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This
guy is using some kind of a wet emery material to achieve a smoother
finish polish on the bronze pieces.
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Finally,
these women are using polishing wheels to bring out the luster to the
bronze finish. Again, note the ‘primitive’ working conditions:
no eye protection, barefooted, only a few are using breathing masks,
poor lighting, etc.
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However, I did NOT see the extensive employment of child labor that
I had observed in other Asian countries such as Korea. Most of the Thai
workers I saw (at least in this factory) were adults.
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This
was a separate ‘stamping’ machine which was used to fabricate
bronze cups and glasses.
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And,
lastly, one of the workers gives each knife and fork a final hand-polishing
before counting out the required number of pieces and placing them in
their wooden box for sale.
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