Siamese signese

Signese.com is a photoblog that looks at Chinese characters in daily life. It contains many interesting photos which show the variety of forms and situations where Chinese characters appear. Although on one level characters are no different from any other form of writing they have an aesthetic appeal that I don't believe exists in other forms of writing.

Below are a few photos of Chinese characters that I have snapped on my travels in Siam.


Buddha


Double dragons


Chinese Thai


North gate

Hat Yai and Songkhla

The four day holiday weekend was a good chance to get away from Surat Thani for a few days. I had planned to go to Narathiwat, but the recent flaring up of troubles in the deep south, coupled with Mr Thaksin's heavy handed response meant a change of plans. I still headed south -- but not quite as far -- to Hat Yai and Songkhla.

Hat Yai is a bustling commercial centre and the largest city in the south of Thailand. Its close proximity to Malaysia means many Malaysian tourists come there for shopping and sex, both of which involve spending a lot of money. While there I visited some interesting Chinese temples.


Chinese temple in Hat Yai

Hat Yai is a crowded, concrete maze of one way streets. In contrast Songkhla's streets are wide and the town has a spacious, laidback feel. Songkhla has a long stretch of beach right in the town. I wouldn't say it is Thailand's most beautiful beach, but there seemed to be plenty of people enjoying themselves there.

In Songkhla I visited the National Museum (entry 30B, open 9:00am - 4:00pm, closed Monday, Tuesday and public holidays). While the exhibits in the museum weren't that exceptional the building in which the museum was housed was. Built in 1878 in Southern Chinese style it was originally the home of the Governor of Songkhla. It has now been renovated to serve as the museum.


The National Museum in Songkhla


The National Museum in Songkhla

Lucky charms

A selection of amulets on sale in the market

Many Thai people wear Buddhist amulets. They are often believed to have special powers of protection. For some Thais the collecting of these amulets is a serious business and they are traded and collected with a fervour.


The amulet I bought

I recently made my own investment in an amulet. The amulet came from a temple in Nakorn Si Thammarat, while I purchased the gold casing in Surat Thani. The gold casing around the amulet cost much more than the amulet itself.

A visit to the local market which specialises in the trading of amulets was a chance to meet some interesting characters. One man had so many amulets hanging around his neck he was like a walking shop!


Weighted down, but hopefully very lucky!


Old man selling amulets

Unbelievable Thailand

This story comes from the Bangkok Post on 16 July 2005. It seems unbelievable that something like this could happen.

Sports day turns tragic

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A sports day at a secondary school in the the South turned tragic when a starter's pistol turned out to have a live bullet in it, and a teacher and a student were injured when it was fired to start a race, police said yesterday.

Sunthorn Thenglimkul, 41, the teacher who fired the starter's pistol at the games held at the school in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Cha-uad district fled following the accident. Police were seeking to arrest him on a charge of careless action resulting in injury to others.

Mr Sunthorn, supervising the 400m sprint, fired his gun to start the race, but had to call the runners back because of a false start. When he fired the gun again for a fresh start, it shot a bullet on a low trajectory, grazing a student and hitting female teacher Chaluay Lohkongka, 39, who was in the viewing stands, in the neck. She was reported to be in a critical condition and could be paralysed if she survived.