December 18th, 2016
While researching my trip, I read that there is a sound and light show at the historic park on Saturdays and Sundays. The author went on to add that it was one of the best kept secrets, it wasn’t advertised anywhere and when he went, the park was empty. I intentionally went to Sukhothai on Sunday so that I could see the monuments lit up at night. In honor of the late King, the park is free through December and it is not only lit up on the weekends but all week long as well.
After walking around the park late in the day, Sophon and I decided to get something to eat. We found a row of food stalls in one corner of the park. We purchased a few things and then sat on a bench to eat it. Thai people love street food and there is no shortage of it. As we sat, I realized that I was probably the only tourist in the entire group of people. I also realized that although I was the only non-thai in the bunch, nobody stared or made me feel out of place. That says something both about the food and the people.
There was one little boy was calling out what his parents was selling. He was dressed traditionally with his hair in a pony tail on top of his head, bracelets around his wrist and ankles (think “The King and I”. His parents were making pork satay and he would call out in Thai, “hot pork satay”. The word for hot in Thai starts with the letter “r” and he would twirl his “R”s before saying the rest of the word and sentence. He must have been 5 at the most and tourists as well as Thai people would stop and take pictures of him or video him calling out. It was very cute.
The author who said that the light show was Sukhothai was wrong or the information was very dated. All at once hoards of tour buses pulled up and Chinese tourists led by Tour Guides who were giving the tour via a personal sound system that could be heard back in China. Getting any picture without someone ignoring the “DO NOT CLIMB” signs in multiple languages was about near impossible. I am really hoping the selfie obsession and the selfie stick is a passing thing.
I did manage to get a few decent pictures and all and all, it was fun.
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