VACATIONS FROM HOME: SUKHOTHAI AND STUDENTS

THE DAWN OF HAPPINESS

The Dawn
of Happiness
We stopped in Sukhothai for two nights to specifically visit the Sukhothai Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and to visit the Baan Pho Tanod village school as part of OAT’s Grand Circle Foundation.

รุ่งอรุณแห่งความสุข

Between the 13^th and 15^th centuries Sukhothai was the capital of the first Kingdom of Siam under King Ramkhamhaeng, considered the founding father of the Thai nation. The King is also credited with inventing the Thai script (using curving seed pods for accents). It’s called the Sukhothai script, and it is still being used today.

Here Theravada Buddhism flourished under the king and many monasteries were commissioned. Theravadan Buddhism is the predominate Buddhist way in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and means “the way of the elders” and has been practiced for millennia.

Sukhothai Historical
Park

Subsequent rulers to Ramkhamhaeng had more temples built. Fittingly Sukhothai translates to “Dawn of Happiness.”

The kingdom of Sukhothai was strategically located for trade with China and Japan and had much to offer. The fertile lands yielded abundant crops, but the land was also rich with gold and gemstones, and skilled artisans would create Sanghkalok ware ceramics for export.

There are still ceramic factories in Sukhothai. They are mostly family operations who have passed down the business for generations. OAT didn’t take us to a kiln, but here's more about the ceramics if you’re so inclined to visit.

CERAMICS IN SUKHOTHAI

The Sukhothai Historical Park is the main tourist draw for the town and on the grounds are several Buddhist temples with several different representations of Buddha.

We stayed at a boutique hotel around the corner from the entrance. The rooms of Le Charme Sukhothai overlooked lush grounds and ponds with Lilly pads and little bridges and flowers everywhere.

LE CHARME SUKHOTHAI

We went to the historical park twice, once during the day to walk around the well-maintained Buddhist temples. Then later that evening we were fortunate to see the same temples colorfully lit. The festive light show was held every weekend in February through to March 2.

Sukhothai Historical Park at night

SUKHOTHAI HISTORICAL PARK AT NIGHT

SUKHOTHAI HISTORICAL PARK AERIAL VIEW

GRAND CIRCLE FOUNDATION / มูลนิธิแกรนด์เซอร์เคิล

The beauty of traveling with Overseas Adventure Travels is that they have us interact with the communities that we visit. We’re not just going to gawk at the people who live there. OAT supports these communities through donations and at times much needed repairs. In the case of the Baan Pho Tanod village school OAT had come in, before our visit, and repaired the leaking roof of the school’s commissary. Early in our trip to Thailand we were asked if we would like to donate $20 pp to purchase a ping pong table for the school, which we readily complied.

Our guides at
Baan Pho Tanod

Paying it forward / จ่ายมันไปข้างหน้า

The gift was unveiled when we toured the school the second day in Sukhothai.

We were greeted by two young girls and a boy who served as translators, although the boy had more fun kicking stones and bouncing around.

We first visited the kindergarten class where the children delighted in affixing heart stickers on our clothes and arms. I got one stuck to my forehead.

We then visited the preschoolers. School uniforms were not worn by these younger children, but they pranced around and begged us to lift them, shrieking happily with every ride.

One boy who started crying when he bumped his head quieted when I put one of heart stickers on his arm. Paying it forward.

We then made our way to the pavilion where the ping pong table was unboxed and set up. Everyone got a chance to play a couple of rounds.

It was a wonderful stop.

THE BEGINNING OF ONE’S JOURNEY TO NIRVANA / ทางไหนที่จะไปสู่พระนิพพาน

Before we visited the school, we went pre-dawn to Wat Traphang Thong to give alms to the monks. The temple is on a man-made island in the middle of a reservoir, the banks were decorated with colorful lanterns.

Wat Traphang Thong

We crossed the wooden causeway to listen to the praying monks inside the temple before returning to the bridge to sit and await the monks. There were very explicit instructions on how to sit (without pointing our feet at the monks) and when we stood to be sure our heads were bowed as the monks neared our congregation.

The bridge was also lit by yellow lanterns, and I felt humble in the cool pre-dawn morning.

waiting on the monks

วัดตระพังทอง

After their morning prayers these Theravadan monks embarked on their daily piṇḍacāra or almsround, where they walk through town with their alms bowl covered by their outer robe to make themselves available to worshipers who wish to contribute food. It is forbidden in Theravada to accept money.

Almsround is important to Theravada, as it shows humility and dependence on the community while rejecting material wealth. As a layperson giving alms is a way of showing respect to the monks. It’s not considered charity but as a way of beginning one’s own journey to Nirvana.

OAT provided each of us a pre-packaged food kit to present to the monks. There were perhaps 8 or 9 monks who shuffled slowly over the wooden causeway and when one of our number motioned silently to a monk, he would open his outer robe, and we would place the kit of fruits in the bowl and give a Wai, making sure our fingertips reached our foreheads as a sign of ultimate respect. The monk then would hand the kit to a layperson who would place the goods in a larger basket and continue along.

monk worthy meal kits

Later that morning we were given 20 Baht notes and a shopping list by our trip leader, Sek, to purchase ingredients for the lunch that would be prepared for us after our school visit. Outside of the market there was a monk with his alms bowl. We would see monks on piṇḍacāra several more times during our tour of Thailand.

Nirvana, here I come!

คุณได้เรียนรู้อะไรไหม

Thanks for reading.