A UNESCO World Heritage City, Sukhothai houses a vast number of historical sites and temple ruins. As the first capital of Siam, the Sukhothai Kingdom (1238 – 1438) was the cradle of Thai civilisation – the birthplace of Thai art, architecture and language. ‘Sukhothai’ means ‘the dawn of happiness’, and the kingdom did enjoy an extended period of peace and prosperity until it was annexed by the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Buddhism is a way of life, we are told, not a religion.  Every Buddhist believes in reincarnation, karma and Buddha.     The core beliefs of Buddhism are harder to understand and they are personal: see suffering, what is the cause of suffering, understand suffering and the way to get rid of suffering are the four stages.  For example: Recognize you are suffering. It is because you are sad.  You are sad because you have lost someone.  Accept that it is part of your life’s cycle. This was explained to me by our guide, Are, who became a monk for a short period of time when he was 25 yrs old.  Thais may do these short intervals as monks 3 times in their lives.

We headed for the the local market the next morning to purchase food to give to the monks. They are not allowed to cook so they rely on alms giving Buddhists to bring them food.