Trip report update…

[Old Hippie]

Went to Si Saket looking for “Durian Pu Khao Pai” or Volcano durian…found it, premium was 120b/kg and regular was 50-95B/kg…we bought one premium, 1 mid range and 1 cheap…all tasted about the same…also went to A durian farm in Hua-Hin…decent place, good food…had “organic” durian…crispier and different color than “conventional” taste was ok…we preferred the “conventionally grown,” softer… Surin was fun, kinda relaxed. Ran into bureaucracy trying to get my pink card, but will keep trying when we return the end of October…While at the aforementioned Durian farm, we tried to find wild elephants, saw “kee-Chang” a lover the place, but no Chang…waterfall trail in Namtok Pa-la -oo national park was fun, lots of butterflies and people swimming…my knees were killing me… here’s a few pics…

 

[bust]

I love visiting local markets. 

I believe the second butterfly is a Staff Sergeant? Great shot of the caterpillar which will soon become a tiger moth. Those caterpillars eat toxic plants which makes them undesirable in the food chain.

Buriram Reflection Pool 😊

[short-time]

Old Hippie, thanks for the huge trove of nice pics. I’ve only seen a similar mass gathering of butterflies once in my life and that was when I was a kid. Also, never seen silver jewelry for sale in LOS, only gold… Can you smell the odor of durians in the air where they are grown (like citrus)?  If so, I’m not sure I would be interested in visiting the place – at least when durians are in season… As far as the ladies clothing goes do you think any of it was genuine silk? Most is polyester if I'm not mistaken although they will tell you its silk (TIT). Thanks again, post up another batch if you have them, I love trip reports!

[Old Hippie]

Surin, our home area, is known for silver and real silk, hand made and hand woven in many villages. True, a lot of silk is a blend, but if you get the real stuff, it is beautiful.  There is an old Chinese woman in Surin, Shop is around the corner from the main bus station, she is one of the few who can actually cut silk and make a traditional shirt for a guy my size. She has probably some of the best quality I have seen. She loves my wife and I and always gives us tea and a small gift for my wife. Some like silk “clear/clean” others don’t mind a slight run as it shows it was hand made…wow, I now realize I know way to much about silk and fashion…not in a gay way though…

Durian smell doesn’t bother me, but yes the market does smell of It from a distance sometimes.  

 

[Old Hippie]

On 6/19/2026 at 10:33 PM, bust said:

I love visiting local markets. 

I believe the second butterfly is a Staff Sergeant? Great shot of the caterpillar which will soon become a tiger moth. Those caterpillars eat toxic plants which makes them undesirable in the food chain.

Buriram Reflection Pool 😊

Markets are a gathering spot and really a fun place to be…food is amazing everywhere…where we are, there are different markets daily as well as the same standard markets. The morning market in Surin is insane, then about noon or so, they go home and a new batch of merchants comes in to set up for the afternoon market, then the night markets, all similar, all different…then we have the street markets as well…

[bust]

I collect Buddhas and found local markets a great place to find something unique.

[My Penis is hungry]

The hand made silk is very labour intensive.

 

10+ hours to make 1 metre. From taking the caccoons, three pods to an initial thread, to making final weaving , Up to 40 hours per metre for a complex pattern.

 

I've written many times here and elsewhere, heway the design is created is very much like analogue programming. 

 

How the tie and dye the silk then unravel and weave it to make the pattern is amazing.

 

Our village regularly supplied the old Queens programs, however weavers would "disappear" when the buyers came to town. 

 

The organisation had a habit of asking weavers to move to Bangkok a request you could not refuse. 

 

Best not be asked. 

[Old Hippie]

Continuing or discussion of silk, Jim Thompson is often credited with reviving the silk industry post WW2however I have it on good authority (Mrs Hippie and the aforementioned old Chinese lady in Surin) that the silk industry up north never really stopped, even in war time.  As for Jim Thompson, his is said to be some of the best around, however I find most of it to be a blend and in many/most cases, lower quality. 

They are building a new Silk market in Surin, and many of the shops will presumably move there. Frankly, I like the local “in the jungle” silk village.