Phang Nga area of southern Thailand

Phang Nga - December 2018

Sites

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Insights

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Mirrors on trucks seem to be a sign of wealth. We stopped to get a view of an amazing rock formation and found one of the bird singing contests. Birds in cages are suspended amongst a crowd of owners. There are several judges who cycle thru the cages judging a birds song. This seems to be their superbowl. There are tags hanging from each cage and judges listen and make marks on the tags. I love the guy with the big beard. Beards are rare here, especially this big. I see guys on motorbikes carrying two bird cages all the time. We came upon a beautiful park in Phang Nga (pronounced pahng ga according to a resident). We entered as if in a fairy tale on a road thru a cave in a steep mountain. It seemed more like a city park as it was neatly trimmed and had a formal design with beautiful lakes and statues. Finally we visited a temple with a black buddha. It's probably 40-50 feet tall.

See below for a detailed map view. Bottom left of this map is the island of Phuket where we lived for 2 1/2 years. Sirinat National Park is on the island.

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To the left is a zoom view of the park at the intersection of two major roads. You can enter the park from either main road. One entrance travels under the limestone mountain and makes a dramatic entrance. The zoom view is taken from the topmost edge of the map at the top of the page where it says Mangrove Forest Park.

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To the right are pictures from a bird singing competition. I speak no Thai so all of my story here is based on observations. This seems to be something men enjoy. I see no women at these bird singing competitions. In the center where no one is allowed to enter there are birds in cages.

There are judges who walk around and listen to the birds and mark on the scorecards that are below the cages. I see lots of these competitors riding around on their motorbikes with two or more cages in their hands, on their bikes or stowed somewhere. The cages are wooden and have a drape over them.

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There is clearly a boundary behind which the human participants must stay. Otherwise they would cheer and possibly make singing noises to gain a stronger score from the judges. I did not hear much from the birds but my ear is not trained to hear it. It seems to be a certain type of bird that enters these contests.