Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho

Hello Squad! How are you all? I hope that you are all well and having lots of fun in the new term. I hear it's very cold in England - I'm lucky because I am now in Thailand, which is very hot and sunny. It took me almost 24 hours to get here, and the clocks here are 7 hours ahead of yours...can you work out what time it is in Thailand now?

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand. It is very busy, and there are lots of things to do and see. There are lots of temples like the one in the picture above. Temples in Thailand are called "Wats" - they are sort of like churches, but most Thai people (95%) are Buddhist.

Does anyone know anything about Buddhism? Here are a few facts :

• Buddhists worship Buddha. There is a statue of Buddha shown below. You can see that the Buddha is lying down (can you see his feet?) - this statue is called the Reclining Buddha. Reclining is another word for lying down and relaxing.

The Reclining Buddha.
This is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand - it is 46m long and 15m high!

• Buddhists believe in reincarnation. This means that when you die, your soul returns to earth in another person. You therefore have lots of lives on earth, and you learn something each time you live as a different person.

• Buddhists believe in Karma. This means that if you do good things, good things will happen to you. But if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you! What do you think?

• Holy people in Buddhism are called monks. Only men can become monks. They shave their heads once a month and wear orange robes. All men in Thailand must become a monk for a little while - usually when they leave school. Have a look at the men in Squad and see who looks most like a monk! (clue : what do they do every month?).

Anyway, that's all from me for now - in a few days time I am going to travel to Southern Thailand, where there are lots of beautiful beaches. I'll send you a postcard from there!

Take Care