ON THE ROAD TO CHIANG RAI

Thai Silk Village

ALOHA SHIRTS AND MONK CHATS

Sheesh… what it takes to be a fashionista!

You saintly readers who follow our adventures around the world through this blog know that I really like Aloha shirts. Some call them “Hawaiian” shirts, some call them “Bula” shirts as they do in Fiji. Some call them “Postcards you can wear”.

I call them necessary.

Janet may argue against the “need”.

She is a party pooper.

We had visited Lahaina years before the devastating fire there and I had picked out 250 Aloha shirts at the Salvation Army thrift store. They even had a special, separate room for these remarkable shirts

She made me whittle my selection down to one.

I even had an Aloha shirt made for me at a tailor in Hoi An Vietnam last year, although I had to bribe her with jewelry purchases, massages and alcohol!

Thai Silk VIllage

And, so, when we stopped at the Thai Silk Village factory as we left Chiang Mai on our way to our final stop on our “Discover Thailand” tour with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), I HAD to buy a silk Aloha shirt.

Silkworms before selection

Surprisingly Janet didn’t make me beg too much, but I had to endure a tour of the village and watch the process of retrieving silk from the cocoons and the weaving and the etc. etc. etc. before I could shop.

Then Janet had to approve the selection. I wanted one with elephants and she told me to get one with palm trees. ‘Yes Dear,’ I said.

THAI SILK VILLAGE CHIANG MAI 

Even before we got to Thai Silk Village we all had to sit through an informative “chat” with a monk at Wat Suan Dok. OAT arranged for a private chat for our group and the monk, who wore sunglasses indoors for street cred I guess, told us about Buddhism and this way of life that teaches patience and acceptance. Then he took questions.

Janet elbowed me when I tried to ask how long this was going to take?

MONK CHAT, CHIANG MAI

Sheesh… the things I endure to be a fashionista.

Thanks for reading. (I really did like the monk chat.)

Love Janet and greg

A monk and his whiteboard

Wat Suan Dok, Chiang Mai

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj

I am not alone.