Re: Lampang (more words)

Hi E. M.
Lampang used to be a quiet city when I was studying at Wat Tamaoh, which was almost
30 years ago.
Here is a small piece of information on wearing footwears.
Regardless of the sects they belong to, all the monks in Thailand go for alms-gathering without
wearing any footwears. During the day time, however, those belonging to Mahaa Nikaai (Maha Nikaya)
wear sandals. Dhamma-yutta monks wear sandals only inside the compound of a temple.
tadao


--- navako <navako@...> $B$+$i$N%a%C%;!<%8!'(B
>
> The onus is upon me to say a bit more about Lampang (partly because of Jim's
> stated interest in the place).
>
> I arrived in the city shortly after 5:00AM --i.e., before dawn-- and rode my
> bicycle around the city until shortly after 6.
>
> Thus, I witnessed the early morning pindapata; and the monks who were out
> for alms at that hour were quite an impressive sight.
>
> Only senior monks were visible; I suppose that younger monks take their
> morning meal in the monastery, or simply sleep until a later hour.  All of
> the monks carried out the alms round in both the spirit and the letter of
> the Vinaya --and, to my surprise, each and every one of them walked the
> concrete sidewalks with bare feet.  As with any city in Thailand, the
> streets of Lampang have their share of broken glass and excrement; and at
> later hours of the day, all of the monks I saw wore sandals --so I suppose
> this is either an extraordinary austerity for the early morning alms round,
> or that these men on the alms round represent an unusually austere sect.
>
> Thus, my first impression of Lampang was that it was unusually well-endowed
> with very serious senior monks.
>
> The traditional (Lanna) architecture of the local temples is hardly worth
> reporting on --what is remarkable is that it exists at all.  By contrast,
> Chiang Mai is quite lacking in such (wooden) temples.  I recently read an
> article concerning efforts to restore these temples in Lampang; the Bangkok
> post reported that fundraising to restore golden implements on the roof-top
> went well, but that people were reluctant to give money for lower parts of
> the building or the pediment --as it would generate less merit.
>
> Ta-ma-oh is a modern complex on an odd bend of the river --made somewhat
> easier to find as the major road running past it has been re-named "Thanon
> Ta-ma-o".  The buildings resemble those of any other Thai monastic complex
> of the modern era, except that the notice-boards and schedules put up by the
> monks are in Burmese, and two red "triple-lions" stand by the gate (in the
> style of the Ashokan pillar).  I was there on one of the official occasions
> to burn things, and the Burmese monks had dutifully complied with local
> custom in setting up metal bowls of burning refuse of some kind along the
> permiter of the property.  I believe this custom somehow related to the
> advent of the Naga fireballs on the same full moon --but more than this I
> cannot say.
>
> The city of Lampang is not beautiful; looking at a map or reading the Lonely
> Planet guidebook's description is misleading.  It is less ugly than Chiang
> Mai, but this is "faint praise" indeed.  Particularly, I should note, that
> while many hostels/hotels are set up along the river (with names such as
> "River-view") the river itself is little more than a modern (concrete-block)
> storm-drain system.  It can hardly be called a river at all; and, as the
> last few months have proven, it is not entirely capable of preventing
> floods.
>
> The hostel that I slept at was in the process of restoration after the
> recent flood damage --as was most of the downtown area on both river-banks. 
> Although there is more than the average residuum of traditional (wood)
> housing mixed in with the usual cinderblock architecture, the city is quite
> ugly (one may call Vientiane beautiful by comparison) --and the relentless
> traffic, paucity of sidewalks, etc., makes any form of transit (including
> pedestrian) reasonably nightmarish.
>
> Oh yes --I would be remiss if I did not mention that the entire city has an
> intense stench of rot and sewage constantly emerging from grates in the
> concrete-covered earth.  This phenomenon is similar to some areas of
> downtown Chiang Mai --although the particular smell is distinctive to each
> city.
>
> Lampang does not have museums or other cultural institutions (I did not
> notice any libraries) as most of this "capital investment" has gone to
> nearby Lumphun or Chiang Mai.  One of the few complements that I can give
> the city is that there are more reminders of recent history left about the
> place, precisely because there has been less economic development and
> government institutional expansion there.  I saw, for instance, an
> old-fashioned "typing shop", where you could pay a few Baht to sit at a
> (Thai) typewriter for an hour; nothing had changed in there since the 1970s,
> and one customer was typing up a formal letter, under the bored watch of the
> proprietor.
>
> In every way, Northern & Northwestern Thailand is "difficult to endorse" in
> comparison to Lao.  Although there are many difficulties in living in the
> Lao P.D.R., it seems to me incomparably more meaningful to grapple with
> these difficulties than to live in one of the dystopian modern con-urbations
> of Thailand.  I would sooner consider relocating to Pakse, Champasak, Luang
> Pabang, or even the very tiny backwaters of the Lao North before moving to a
> city such as Lampang or Chiang Mai.  Indeed, what is universally reported to
> me is that the few inviting areas of far Northern Thailand are precisely the
> remote (and empoverished) areas that more resemble Lao; but they are falling
> (one by one) to the common cycle of deforestation and industrialization. 
> Witness Chiang Rai, Nan, and now Pai; I am assured that Pai is being utterly
> transformed by Sino-Thai investment, and will resemble a miniature Chiang
> Mai in a matter of months.
>
> Well, it all must seem fairly inviting to Burmese refugees.  Racist
> oppression and extra-judicial killings by police are ... somewhat less
> frequent than in Burma, I suppose.
>
> E.M.
>
> --
> A saying of the Buddha from http://metta.lk/
> View Streaming Dhamma Video http://dharmavahini.tv/
> The streams (craving) flow everywhere. The creeper (craving) sprouts and
> stands. Seeing the creeper that has sprung up, with wisdom cut off the
> roots.
> Random Dhammapada Verse 340
>
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