Not too long ago, I heard about this middle-aged schoolteacher by the name of Khru Waan who maintained a 2 acre garden in the Yannawa district of Bangkok, about 20 kilometers from the center of the city. She had become a quasi-celebrity of sorts, as she was the subject of a featured story on a local TV program and the Royal Family had officially recognized her efforts towards conservation. According to many people, her plot of land is considered a genuine oasis as it represented the last vestige of greenery in Greater Bangkok, excluding the public parks of course.

As someone who loves plants, flowers and all things green, I decided to pay Khru Waan a visit. Her garden is slightly over two acres and is surrounded by skyscrapers and other manifestations of urbanization. She teaches music at a nearby school and her garden has become a playground for children living in the community, as their homes do not have much space. Fortunately the children were absent on the day I visited Khru Waan - that was fine by me as I truly enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Talking to this lady, I was impressed by her integrity and her desire to hold on to the land despite mounting pressures from the outside. Apparently some land developer recently offered to buy her land for 400 million baht (1.76 million in US dollars), but Khru Waan held her ground and refused the offer. Another thing that troubled her was the polluted water that was coming into her land via a nearby drainage ditch; it seems that the people in the surrounding community throw garbage into the ditch. She has complained to the local authorities but they are cannot do anything about the situation. One thing that she can do now is to plant more trees along the ditch in order to hide the filth and ugliness.

Khru Waan and her family do not have plans to sell the land anytime soon. However when she passes on, the land will revert to her nieces and nephews. I am wondering how long they will honor their ancestor’s wishes before they succumb to the enormous amount of monies being offered to them by real estate speculators and land developers. Unfortunately this is the way of the world. Let’s hope for the best.

Over the years, I have seen Bangkok become a sprawling Concrete Jungle gobbling up the landscape with modern office complexes and highrise buildings. However, thank G_D there are people like Khru Waan who are trying before to preserve this Green Earth

A while ago, I had discussed Travel & Leisure’s selection of Bangkok as the World’s best city for the traveler. Looks like Bangkok just got another big push today when MSN Travel featured a slideshow of Travel & Leisure’s World’s best awards: Top Ten Cities. In particular, I thought that the Bangkok Destination Guide to be a very informative feature.

While it’s great to see Thailand receive some well deserved positive publicity, I would encourage tourists to refrain from traveling there in the immediate future until there is some resolution to the political unrest that Thailand is currently experiencing. I don’t really get involved in politics, but at the same time I am hoping that Samak, the current Prime Minister, comes to his senses and resigns for the good of Thailand.