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Travel Reviews on Thailand

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There is something subtly exotic about wood. No other substance seems to
mature in the same way, changing it's texture and smell in a second life
that defies life's normal rhythm.

The traditional Thai teak house represent a style of living that is
almost absent from Bangkok these days - with citywide modernisation, it
is hard to find older houses that are still in use.

Villages such as Lampang in the North, featuring predominantly teak
houses, are becoming more and more rare as people switch to modern
building materials.

Built around the concept of simplicity, Thai stilt houses were the
functional solution to a hot climate in the days before
air-conditioning.

The gap between the floor and ground enables a cool breeze to to
naturally ventilate the entire house, and the open window style still in
practice today further aids this process.

Building with native teakwood gave the houses a natural beauty that is
still imitated in today's architecture (think of the sweeping, upturned
eaves of many Thai roofs.)

Prized for it's durability and attractive finish, teak has been logged
almost to the point of extinction, and the magnificent trees (sometimes
reaching 50m in height) are today rarely found outside dedicated
plantations.

However, there remain some people trying to revive the traditions of
teak workmanship, incorporating it into new homes and proving that old
materials can be re-used with stunning effect.

In the heart of the Taling Chan district lies a canal that seems
entirely detached from the regular bustle of city life, yet connected to
the rest of the klongs that form the city's ancient corollaries.

I am introduced to this world by Kanya, a masseuse currently overseeing
the production of a new home with her husband Yan. She leads me along
the narrow path by the canal and I soak up the atmosphere of a quiet
backwater entirely different from the Bangkok I am used to.

Across from us sits a magnificent example of wooden architecture, an
obviously new house by the water's edge surrounded by palm fronds.

Kanya explains that this has been built with the express purpose of
being a party house, and I feel a pang of jealousy for their frivolously
beautiful enterprise.

Just back from the canal's edge sits her house, an obvious labour of
love that sits next to her sister's, also being built with an eye for
past wooden beauty.

While the ground floor retains some modern materials, the upper floor is
furnished with a stunning mix of old teak boards and ornately carved
pine shutters, the darker wood setting off the light to beautiful
effect.

Inside the house the smells of wood craftsmanship pervade the rooms, and
there is a feeling of inherent age that is difficult to achieve in new
properties.

The main room upstairs stretches the breadth of the house, overlooking a
patch of genuine wilderness that teems with life, and I'm pleased to
hear they have no plans to get rid of it. "We wouldn't want to lose the
birdsong" explains Kanya.

Throughout the house, we walk on gigantic beams that have the solid,
immovable quality of wood that has been in existence for a great deal of
time; "100 years old, maybe more" she says proudly.

Taken together, the ancient wood and the laid back pace of the canal
provide an intoxicating mix that would likely tempt even a die-hard
village-dweller to consider city life.

My Taling Chan visit has reminded me that Bangkok is a city of many
faces, where the old can sometimes lie comfortably beside the new
(without complaining about the price of milk these days.)

And while the building of super-malls with concrete and steel continues
apace in Bangkok, there are signs that the traditional is also making a
comeback, with interest in attractions such as Vimanmek mansion (a
gigantic teak house made exclusively with teak - no nails!) and Jim
Thompson's house on the rise.

It seems that there are also a number of people who are willing to
sacrifice convenience for beauty in building of their own Thai homes, as
the growing number of teak queries for 'traditional thai teak wood
homestay Bangkok' posted online show.

A trip along the Chao Phraya shows a great deal about the city's
character, from individual riverside lives to gigantic trade barges,
peaceful restaurants to stunning Wats best seen by boat.

But a surprising part of this journey are the properties that have
fallen by the wayside of development, beautiful teak houses left
abandoned by their owners that have the potential to be truly amazing
locations.

With all the development occurring along the riverbanks, it is a shock
to see such treasures lying idle, and if Thailand is to maintain it's
heritage this would surely be a good place to start. After all, a teak
house party by the river is not to be sniffed at...

The Taling Chan house featured is available for long and short term rents massagelondon@gmail.com

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Best time of the year to travel.

The best months to travel through Thailand are December and January.
Second best are November and February. These months constitute the
'cold' seasons. In Bangkok temperatures are still as high as during a
good West-European summer though. At night, it cools off a bit but
temperatures will rarely drop below 20 degrees Celsius, even at night.

From roughly March till May, Thailand experiences the hot season, when
temperatures can soar into the 40 degrees range. Not the best time of
year to go walking about cities or countryside.

From roughly May till October, we have the rainy season. It is quite
unpredictable when it is going to rain though, and there are sometimes
episodes of up to two months during this period, when there is no rain
fall. Other years, rain falls more consistently almost every week.
Traditionally rain falls during the late afternoon. It seldom lasts more
than a few hours.

Flooding of areas of Bangkok and in the provinces occurs, more at the
end of the rainy season in Bangkok (the drains are more clogged by
then).

Temperatures tend to be high, but cool off somewhat each time it has
rained.
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