This time last year… I was in the land of smiles – Thailand! At the start of my placement at ECMWF (which I wrote about in my last blog post), I was asked to head out to Bangkok for a workshop on flood forecasting in transboundary rivers (in this case, those that cross country borders) in SE Asia. The workshop was being organised by RIMES (the regional integrated multi-hazard early warning system for Asia & Africa), and UN-ESCAP (The United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific), and forecasters, scientists (mostly meteorologists and hydrologists) and government officials were invited to attend from several different countries across SE Asia.
My job would be to represent the flood forecasting team at ECMWF, and run an interactive training session on GloFAS, the global flood forecasting system, and how it could be used in SE Asia in addition to the systems already in place in each country. This seemed like a pretty big responsibility at the time – I was just a PhD student after all! But I really enjoyed putting together the training materials and presentation I would give, which would allow all the scientists there to log into the system and familiarise themselves with different aspects of how the forecasts worked, and how they could be used.
I was pretty well prepared – very well prepared, in fact – armed with my training worksheets, fliers, information about data availability etc etc., and yet when it came time to fly out there on my own I was incredibly nervous! But I had nothing to be nervous about – Thailand is not called the ‘land of smiles’ for no reason! Everyone was so friendly; my training session went really well and the forecasts are now beginning to be used more and more, and every scientist I met was keen to share stories from their home countries – I learnt so much from them! I was there to provide training, but I took away so much about the region, the people, the landscapes and the flood forecasting that goes on in countries around SE Asia. I also got to sit down with some scientists from, and the director of, RIMES, to discuss collaborations with ECMWF going forwards – which was a great opportunity and exciting to discuss future plans!
Of course, I couldn’t fly out to Thailand and spend all my time working, so at the end of the training workshop, Toby (my best friend, boyfriend & partner in crime) flew out to meet me and we spent a week exploring! As the workshop had been a little outside the city and I hadn’t had time to see much more than the Asia Institute of Technology campus, we spent the first couple of days in Bangkok. We took a sunset trip to Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn, ironically) on the banks of the Chao Phraya river, and visited the Grand Palace, which houses Wat Phra Kaeo (the Temple of the Emerald Buddha).
Wat Arun and the Palace remain two of the most incredible places I have every seen! The colours and ornate decoration were remarkable, and you can’t forget the sight of the Sun shining on the golden roofs and glass mosaic of the Palace! We felt quite overwhelmed taking in the sights, and the difference in culture, and learning from the people we met along the way. Being in Bangkok, we also spent plenty of time negotiating tuk-tuks and taxis (and working our way around an attempted scam or two, eek!) around the city, and since we both absolutely love Thai food, we ate a ridiculous amount trying new dishes and enjoying ‘proper’ Thai food (turns out some of the dishes I make weren’t far off!).
From Bankok, we took a trip to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya. We managed to locate a minibus that locals were using to get between the cities, and spent much of the journey hoping that we were indeed on our way to Ayutthaya! Once we were there, we decided to jump in a tuk-tuk with a Thai couple, who took us to several of the ruined temples that are scattered across the city. They were incredibly lovely and helpful, telling us stories and waiting for us while we looked around, before greeting us back to the tuk-tuk with cold drinks and freshly-made Thai pancakes to eat on the way to our next stop!
Ayutthaya itself was breathtaking and fascinating; built on an island at the confluence of three rivers, it was founded in 1350 and destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, leaving behind the ruined temples, with beheaded and melted Buddha statues. We visited eight different Wats throughout the day, from small sites with one remaining statue, to huge areas of land dotted with ruined buildings and rows of Buddha statues dressed in saffron silk. From some of the locations, we also had brilliant views of the flooding Chao Phraya river – which was interesting for the hydrologist in me!
We finally spent a few days on Koh Samui island, where we relaxed on the beach, hiked up through the rainforest to go swimming in a pool at the base of a waterfall, avoided the box jellyfish on the beach where we were staying, got Thai massages and drank cocktails! We also went kayaking and snorkeling on a speed boat trip around the Ang Thong archipelago of 42 islands and hiked up to the emerald lake on one of these islands, where we were lucky enough to see some wild monkeys relaxing in the trees.
I have to say, I learnt far more on this trip than I have during any of my previous travels. The Thai people were lovely and friendly and their culture is so interesting and beautiful; I still find myself looking through my photos in awe of the beauty of this country. I cannot wait to take another trip back to explore more of Thailand, and indeed more of Asia – hopefully soon!
Rebecca Emerton 