When I drive down Ratchadamnoen Klang Road towards the Democracy Monument, I often noticed this strange structure in the grounds of Wat Ratchanatdaram. It is marked on some tourists maps as simply “The Metal Castle”. It is really a remarkable structure. As the name suggests, it is indeed made of metal. King Rama III ordered construction of Loha Prasat in the early 19th Century in honour of his granddaughter, HRH Princess Somanas Vadhanawadi.

One of the most revered Buddha images in Samut Prakan Province is Luang Poh To which can be found at Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai. During the annual Rub Bua Festival, usually in October, a replica of this image is taken out on a boat on the Samrong Canal for local people to worship. They line both sides of the canal and throw lotus flowers towards the boat. After about half an hour the Buddha image is buried in lotuses up to its neck.

One of the main tourist attractions in Samut Prakan is The Erawan Museum, a giant three-headed elephant. This weekend they are doing a night tour which means the elephant will be lit up for a limited time.

This is a picture of the students at our school. Most students in Thailand wear much the same uniform. However, not all of the students wear a necktie. On their shirts there is the school logo on the left and the student's name and i.d. number on the right. Some people have commented that this is kind of dangerous having their names like that as strangers can see it and pretend that they know them. Around their neck they are also wearing i.d. cards.

My school has one of the largest computer departments in Samut Prakan. We were probably the first to offer one-to-one computer lessons which meant that each student had their own computer. This may sound strange but there are still a lot of schools out there where students have to sit two per computer. And quite often they cannot learn fulltime as they also have to take turns with another class. It is amazing how quickly kids pick up computing skills. At our school, they start from as young as three years of age.

This week I am back to school after the long summer holidays. So, I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of life in a Thai school. This first picture shows the "wai khru" ceremony which always takes places towards the beginning of the academic year. As you can see in this picture, the students all come to school with flowers which they present to their teachers. In return, they are given a blessing of good luck.

On the beaches of Hua Hin, there are quite a few horses which are available for riding. The best place to find them is in front of the Sofitel Hotel. The prices vary from about 200 baht for a short ride to up to 600 baht for an hours ride. A great for activity for your kids if you take them to the beach here.

One of the oldest beach resorts in Thailand is in Hua Hin, about 281 kilometers south of Bangkok. The train trip takes less than four hours. Most people go by car and after long weekends there are always bad traffic jams as Bangkokians head back to the capital. The name Hua Hin literally means "head stone". As you can see from this picture there are some large rocks on the beach but still plenty of clean sand.