Wat Suan Keaw and more about this website.

A wasted journey……..This website contains travel tours links with associated travel log pages and a travel news link. The tours pages summarise trips of 3 or more days while the travel log expands that to include day trips and excursions that may be of interest. They are all based on first-hand accounts and as well as being a record for posterity, these pages do provide pointers and suggestions which can assist with future plans. The news pages, while not intending to be comprehensive, also help in this area although they are not generally based on first-hand reports. I recently, 27th January, made the journey to the Vietnamese visa office in Wireless Road, Bangkok. If I had taken the trouble to read or remember what I had previously written about the Tet holidays I would have saved myself a journey. On the other hand having taken an interest in the report I wrote about Wat Suan Keaw, 14th December, I managed to expand that news report into something more meaningful by paying an actual visit.
First-hand news, second-hand wares……..I’am off to Wat Suan Kaew in Nonthaburi province which lies directly to the northwest of the capital. I have a rough idea where it is but it’s not on any direct bus route so it’s going to be a bit of a challenge. The easiest link is a bus or van service to Bang Bua Tong which takes you within a couple of kms of the temple. But instead I check out another route by connecting at The Mall, Ngam Wong Waan. Bus 63 terminates at Nonthaburi Pier (N30). From there I head across river by regular ferry boat. Enquiring about a service to Wat Suan Keaw I am directed to a maroon-coloured songthaew. Great this goes straight to the Wat. I need to find a toilet. Well this I am not expecting; certainly the décor would not grace the pages of any design catalogue but it’s actually quite effective. Of course, this is what this centre is all about; recycled material. In some respects this is like any other Buddhist temple with prayer ritual and almsgiving. However as I venture further inside the extent to which this centre offers a trade in second-hand goods is simply much more than I imagined. One building alone, the size of a multi-story car park, provides accommodation on 5 floors for products of all description neatly grouped by type. There is even an area for second-hand sewing machines and equipment for the handicapped or infirm. As I understand the centre provides valuable work and training for the underprivileged. Certainly it was well-supported this Sunday, typically the busiest day of the week. Return to Ngam Wong Waan was by van but not before a short local bus ride to the departure point.
Chatujak and Bang Sue……..I take a van to Chatujak weekend market but I’m not interested in shopping. I take a motorbike taxi to Bang Sue Railway Junction; the rest of the afternoon is spent there. Then it’s back to Chatujak BTS by bus 52.