Sighs of relief as 90,000 Chinese visit without any problems

WE ARE HAPPY to report (and grateful to the People’s Republic of China) that the toilets at Wat Rong Khun – the famous “white temple” in Chiang Rai – remain clean as a whistle several full weeks after their soiling by Chinese-tourists-in-a-hurry. And they stayed clean even with more Chinese than ever spending the Lunar New Year holiday in Thailand.

National Artist Chalermchai Kositpipat – who built the temple and continues to jazz it up with ornate carvings and some pretty wild quasi-religious murals – decided to ban Chinese visitors after making a horrible mess in the restrooms that we’d rather not describe.

He soon changed his mind about the ban, but warned that if there were any further desecration, the tour guides bringing these people in would be cleaning up the mess themselves. 

The whole smelly affair made headlines around Thailand, in China and elsewhere in the world, but some 90,000 Chinese filtered through Chiang Mai over the New Year holiday without incident, so perhaps the accumulated embarrassment had some effect. 

The unsung heroes in this saga are the cleaning staff at the temple, but life is a little better for them now too. The toilets are now closed at 5pm, giving them ample time to clean up as needs be. “The temple is still open after 5, but anyone visiting after that has to ‘do their business’ elsewhere,” we hear from a reliable source at the temple. (And who’s not reliable at a temple?) 

Petrol stations and restaurants nearby must have noticed a sudden “surge” in visitors. And good luck with that.

 

Happy days: Here again

All seems like wedded bliss now for formerly embattled couple Tony “Jaa” Panom Yeerum and Piyarat “Bunggi” Chotiwattananont. They certainly weathered stormy seas over the years, especially with his family not what you’d call overly fond of her. But now that Jaa is based in Los Angeles as an “international” action-movie star, Bunggi seems to be enjoying life. 

On Thursday she posted a photo on Facebook of a red ang bao envelope holding a sheaf of American $100 bills, a gift from her beloved husband. There are more than 30 Ben Franklin portraits spread out prettily like a fan. “He said the money is for shopping. So cute!” she says. She planned to take the cue soon now that she’s feeling “alarmingly rich”.

The comments that poured in from followers were mostly congratulations, along with many expressions of envy, prods to be taken along when she does go shopping, and a couple of suggestions that Jaa is free to get “cute” with them too, anytime.