I was looking on google earth to find some new dirt tracks to try out when I saw this weird circle in the bush. I knew there was a radio telescope in that direction, probably secret part of it.  I decided to go have a look and see how close I was able to  come to 18.905149803128744, 99.23096815671968

 

 

During the trip I could not get these notes out of my head.

 

 

.

 

I was curious what I would find. The Thai government would not have cancelled the purchase of the submarines for no good reason. Maybe the money was needed for another more important project? I knew the search for alien life forms under the SETI program was cancelled and maybe Thailand decided to continue on their own?

 

 

 

Red clay, always an ominous sign.

 

 

At last, I was close enough to behold this temple of science that reaches out to the skies.

 

 

They disguised it as a flock of large Buddha statues. Looked exactly like one the many abandoned projects to gain merit, clever! Nobody would guess its real purpose.

 

Another afternoon well spent. This area is beautiful hilly. Many lakes and some botanical gardens of a Royal project. Roads are empty with many bends. 40 km out of the city and totally worth the short ride. You can find this area north of the Sankamphaeng hotsprings. Don’t let the rains stop you. Dry red clay can be quite boring.  

 

Cheers

R'tje

 

 

 

nice find!  The radio telescope is a few km away.  easy enough to find on google maps bu searching "national radio telescope".  Also near by is a goat farm where they produce delicious fresh milk and have it for sale late morning to early afternoon.

Hi Captain,

 

Do you have the coordinates of the goat farm for me.

 

Thanks

18.860116,99.221786

Thanks, will visit next time in that area.

 

Cheers

 

R'tje

I was walking around there about 10 years ago while the small temple just to the north was being built. Chatted to the monk there who explained his plans, but I can't remember the details now.

Not too bad If you can't remember a conversation you had 10 years ago. I can't remember what my wife said this morning.

 

It's weird that the Buddhist monuments have to be grander, longer and higher. Close to my place is Doi Ngum. There was a nice dirt track up the mountain which is now made of concrete. Bridges over the canal have been double in size to handle the traffic. No traffic to be seen. Road up the mountain scares the <deleted> out of me let alone the social media crowd in their Toyota Altis'.

 

This was always a local affair. Low key and intimate. Now another ruin to be.