National Museum, Bangkok

[jon_norstog]

Well here I am in Bangkok again. It's been a while...... Mostly family visiting. But I did get in a visit to the National Museum. It's a big place in a complex of very old government buildings. Used to be a kind of dusty place crammed with interesting stuff in unrestored condition. That included a big room full of weapons. There were some very fine edged weapons as w one as a whole slew of firearms.

I distinctly remember a couple immaculate cased pairs of Colt presentation grade revolvers, plus a hoard of black powder guns and early cartridge weapons. Just about every European and American export military arm was represented. I'm sure there were Krags but hey it was 30 + years ago.

The museum has unfortunately been"professionalized" and the guns are gone. The dilapidated royal chariots and regalia have been restored and are all shiny and boring. And the weapons are gone! I have a few days left and I'll try to find out where they have gone.... Maybe the Armhas a museum?

jn

[psteinmayer]

Bangkok eh? Did I ever tell you how I got stranded at the top of the Temple of Dawn? If you've seen it, there are steps almost to the top that are extremely steep. I was up there checking out Bangkok from above when I saw my tour boat leaving (I was there on Liberty and on a tour with some fellow shipmates). I flew down, and probably only touched 3 steps, LOL. How I didn't fall I'll never know...

[blackhawk2]

Is the LA night club still in business?.....

[jon_norstog]

Paul the Wat Arun is being restored and is covered with scaffolding. It is surrounded by condo towers and high zoot shopping. I'm kind of sticking to what is left of the old city.... Haven't gone down to Patpong or Soi Cowboy.

The Thai women who used to be so cute? They are still cute, but a lot of them are big, athletic, and just stunning.

I'm gonna eat breakfast and ride my bicycle into the city, see if I can get into the Army Museum

jn

[psteinmayer]

Sounds like a great time Jon! Wish I could join you...

Send us some pictures from the museum. What brings you to Thailand anyway?

[jon_norstog]

Well the Thai are known for being kind and polite. Then there is the exception that proves the rule. In this case it was the sergeant of guards at the Thai army HQ where the museum is located. Oh well, the tourism sites were kind of vague about how you get in. My Thai isn't good enough to negotiate what I want in a hostile situation.

I rode out Sukhumvit to see if i could get some pictures of Soi Patong, but i couldn't find it! That's how much things have changed.

It was mainly a family visit and i did my good deed. Maybe next year i can get into the museum and sneak off to check out the bar girls

jn

[5MadFarmers]

I distinctly remember a couple immaculate cased pairs of Colt presentation grade revolvers, plus a hoard of black powder guns and early cartridge weapons. Just about every European and American export military arm was represented. I'm sure there were Krags but hey it was 30 + years ago.

jn

It was customary in the 1800s to exchange arms, uniforms, and field gear. The museum in Denmark? has a pristine U.S. uniform and field gear set from before the CW in their museum - they've had it all along.

The finest military arms of the 1800s would be found in foreign museums. Presentation items so they were selected for perfection and they've never been used.

[mhb]

Ahem:

The Thai women who used to be so cute? They are still cute, but a lot of them are big, athletic, and just stunning.


jn

A word of caution might not be amiss, here: some of those 'big, athletic, and just stunning' Thai women might not actually have 2 X-chromosomes. They had pretty much perfected the processes of alteration even back in the eighties, and I'm sure they've made advances since then...
We once held an office party (one of the Embassy offices) at a popular venue which featured an all-nude floorshow - and not a one of the cuties had started life as any sort of female. I can testify that there was absolutely no way (by visual or tactile inspection) to discern that fact, in spite of the (almost literally) in-your-face nature of the entertainment.
Just FWIW...

mhb - MIke

[jon_norstog]

Mike, thanks for the, aah, heads up. This is not my first rodeo ... the Thai have just gotten a lot bigger. So you run into big beautiful, real women on the bus, on the street, behind the counter, etc. They are mostly nice but all business.

You also run into the kind of "women" your thinking about. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

I think I'll come back next cool season and make arrangements ahead of time to get into the museum.

jn

[psteinmayer]

Wish I could join ya there Jon. A trip to Pattaya would have to be made, LOL!!! Ahhhh... the memories!

[mhb]

Roger that, Jon...

This is not my first rodeo ...
jn

I gathered that you were not new to the Kingdom. But there are a great many potential visitors who may not be aware of some of the potential problems to be encountered in, ummm, 'getting to know' the attractions which have made Thailand such a Mecca for tourism for so long, and so offered a bit of advice - 'verb. sap.'
For those of more daring nature, please remember that Mr. Meechai is your best friend....

mhb - MIke

[jon_norstog]

t there are a great many potential visitors who may not be aware of some of the potential problems to be encountered in, ummm, 'getting to know' the attractions which have made Thailand such a Mecca
...
mhb - MIke

Heh heh heh!

jn

[jon_norstog]

Wish I could join ya there Jon. A trip to Pattaya would have to be made, LOL!!! Ahhhh... the memories!

Well, I think I'm gonna go back next year in the cools season (late november on). Next time I will d what I have to do to get into the Army Museum. I plan on staying a while, definitely want to ride Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai, get into Laos and if possible Yunnan and Myanmar. Tak Province looks pretty good too, although there is a shortage of roads. My brother-in-law Vicharn wants me to come down south to Krabi too.

But pattaya could be done. There are some really nice beaches east of Chantaburi, too.

jn

[jon_norstog]

It was customary in the 1800s to exchange arms, uniforms, and field gear. The museum in Denmark? has a pristine U.S. uniform and field gear set from before the CW in their museum - they've had it all along.

The finest military arms of the 1800s would be found in foreign museums. Presentation items so they were selected for perfection and they've never been used.

5, it's true. In Asia, though the situation is a bit different. Three countries only were independent during the 19th and 20th centuries, the golden age of the international arms trade. These three were Thailand, japan and China. China unfortunately was wracked by the Opium Wars, the Taiping rebellion, the Sino-Japanese War, the Boxer Rebellion, 35+ years of civil war featuring multiple antagonists, the Japanese occupation, and to cap it all off the Red Guards who were determined to wipe out every trace of anything old.

That leaves Thailand and Japan as the two countries with enough of a military bent, and with the internal conditions necessary to preserve and maintain a collection of fine weapons.

When the collection was in the National Museum it included beautiful edged weapons that were carried into major battles by kings, queens and famous warriors. From about the 16th century on. A lot of the weapons, firearms included, were battlefield captures from the wars with Burma, Lan Na, Lan Xiang, Keng Tu, Angkor, the Malay States, and France.

There are a lot of old cannons lying around BKK, rusting away. Some of them have a Crown and a "P", others I've seen have a broad arrow. Sometimes a date in the European calendar. Then there are the locally made bronze and brass guns; a common type was a large, 24-30" bore gun mounted on a trunnion, not a mortar but kind of a giant shotgun which was filled with scrap metal and broken pottery aNd use as an antipersonnel weapon.

travel broadens, as they say.

jn