Song, Red Brick & Brood

After Nan I took a minivan to Phrae where two hours later my friend Corne picked me up and drove me to his homestay - Red Brick - in nearby Song. (*)

I’d stayed there a few times in the past and enjoyed it a lot, plenty of interesting sights in the neighboring area.

Along the way we stopped for a few landscape shots and in the evening discussed - while enjoying his wife Bua’s cooking - possible places to be visited.

Next morning we drove off and added a few more agricultural shots.

Despite it being the dry season there’s still plenty of green stuff growing.

We drove to a reservoir of the Mae Song River and observed some fisher women getting ready for today’s catch.

From the dam we got an even better view.

Song has quite a few surprises, I’d never expected a royal silk cloth supplier there, but that’s exactly what Anchalee Thai Silk has been doing for the last couple of years.

They’re rightly very proud of their silk production but seldom receive foreign visitors, just once and awhile Red Brick sends them some tourists.

They have a small museum showcasing the different parts of the silk production.

With a small mirror we were shown the details underneath.

Silk weaving loom.

High time for a coffee break and it turns out that Song has quite a few places, some of them very fancy but still decently priced, such as Khum Cafe! (**)

For Thai visitors Song is on their tourist map due to Lilit Pra Lor Park, basically a theme park centered around an old Lannathai folk tale. (***)

In western eyes the main (love of course) story is odd to say the least as it focuses on a dude named Phra Lor, ‘a young prince of singular beauty’, who already was married but travels to Song through the assistance of Old Lord Tiger Spirit and a possessed chicken to look for other women…

Of course there's a fake cave of Old Lord Tiger Spirit!

Once arrived in Song he falls under the spell of two beautiful princesses, ends up in their bedroom, etc., etc.

Originally it was written as a poem and is supposedly of ‘great literary and educational values'...

Recently there have been some protests as the depiction of the ladies was deemed ‘too sexy’ and the majority of the remaining paintings show a disappointing lack of female anatomy or perhaps confused a bit as you can see above…

We ended the day (****) with two more stops, the first one being at the construction of the new Meh Yom Dam.

And the last one was at Wat Phra That Nong Chan.

It features a giant Buddha statue.

And has some nice scenic views of the countryside.

Corne and Bua's homestay, basic but clean and comfortable.

Something I hadn't seen before, not a spirit house replacement!

Wai Tao Tang Si is a ceremony where you will pay respect to the gods of the four wind directions (North, South, East and West). It is believed that this ceremony will give you a smooth business and life.

The local shaman comes here once and awhile to make sure that Red Brick and its inhabitants are safe from harm no matter from which direction it comes...

Their coffee and bakery section.

Inside the 'bakery'.

Postscript: Brood @ Red Brick

Way back in time I was like most teenagers obsessed with music and tried hard to follow what were ‘new sounds’ during the seventies…

In 1977 a guy called Herman Brood (*****) started making waves and I remember being shocked how he discussed his drug (ab)use in a television interview, especially when he asked if the reporter was interested in a ’shot’!

One year later Brood broke through and a huge hit with Saturday Night in Europe, although not in America despite several tours there.

Anyway, he did his best to follow the classic rock star life with predictable results, suicide in 2001…

Really sad, because he was also active as a painter and at times produced some excellent work.

Back to Thailand, Corne’s always busy promoting the Dutch connection in their restaurant, but staying away from the obvious windmills and clogs stuff.

Instead he asked me to come up with a portrait of a Dutch musician.