The Final Day in Thailand

Our final day in Bangkok started out with a trip to the infamous Chutuchak (JJ) Market. It is easy to get lost in the maze of vendor stalls in what is considered to be world’s largest flea market. We ended our day with a Thai feast (with a few rather American desserts to top it off) at the White Flower Restaurant which is known for the fact that one of the former Royal Chefs manages it. Tomorrow we get up early to catch a 8:00 AM flight home. Everybody has a great time in Thailand, but we are ready to come home. Next stop Kansas City!

In the JJ market

Awaiting the final Thai feast

Monkeying around!

Today we got up early and headed to the jungle in the mountains to experience the “Flight of the Gibbon”. There were around 25 different zip lines that were up to 800 meters long and at times over 100 feet high. We had the special treat of seeing a family of gibbons swinging up in the trees. Next was lunch, followed by a hike to see a beautiful waterfall. Finally, we flew back to Bangkok for our final day in Thailand.

Just zipping along through the jungle

End of the hike up a multi-stage waterfall

From Japan to Denmark ... without even leaving Thailand!

We first headed back to the Northern Thailand Industrial Estate to tour Siam Wire Company (a Japanese company). The tour started off with a greeting from the Japanese plant manager, then we saw all the operations associated with making wire mesh (applications include termite protection, filters, etc.). I was impressed that the Thai employees at each area spoke very good English. Then after lunch we headed north to tour Georg Jensen (Danish company) that makes a wide range of high end jewelry (silver/gold with diamonds) and cutlery (silver). A unique aspect of this company is that they had their own “Free trade zone”, so as the plant manager said “you are now entering Denmark”. We finished off the day at a Khantoke Dinner show. It consisted of great Northern Thai cuisine and traditional dance – a few of our students even got involved in the action.

MU Team at Siam Wire Company

Lunch at a roadside café

Tour of Georg Jensen’s silver cutlery press room with Lars the plant manager

Beginning of the dinner feast

 

 

Joining in the Thai dance fun

Thai spice, aircraft galleys and CMU

Our first tour of the day was to a small Thai company called Siriruang Ampai. They package/manufacture Thai herbs, spices, curry and some “herb sets / soup mixtures”. They were the first company to give us actual product … so all of our trained Thai chiefs will soon be making Tom Yum Gung! Our next tour was of Driessen Aircraft Interior Systems a Dutch company that is held by the French company, Zodiac Aerospace. They manufacture aircraft food galleys and associated equipment for both Boeing and Airbus. It was an impressive operation. Finally, we went to Chiang Mai University to tour the Industrial Engineering Department and see other highlights of campus. CMU is one of the largest in Thailand with 37,000 students and is located in a beautiful area.

Examples of Siriruang Ampai's products with production in the background

MU Team at Siriruang Ampai - Thai herbs & spices

Lean Production met us in the parking lot at Driessen Aircraft Interiors!

Debriefing meeting at Driessen Aircraft Interior Systems


MU Team at Chiang Mai University

View of Chiang Mai from our windows at the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel

Elephants, Orchids and Umbrellas … oh my!

After a breakfast buffet fit for an elephant, we headed out to the Maesa Elephant Camp. First, we fed the elephants bananas and sugar cane, then we watched them “bath” in the river. Then the show began – elephants dancing, playing soccer, basketball, playing darts and painting pictures …  some with incredible detail. You would have to see it to believe it. Next we took off on a elephant trek in the jungle that ended in us being dropped off in a “long neck” hill tribe village. We had a great lunch at an orchid garden/. Finally, we headed to the Bo Sang Umbrella Factory to watch them make umbrellas. The great thing about this factory is that you can buy the product in the company store.

The grand elephant trek

MU Team at Bo Sang Umbrella Factory

The Northward Journey and great Pad Thai!

We got up early today and make the trek from Koh Chang to Chiang Mai. Here was our path: vans to the ferry to get back to the mainland, then back in vans to the airport where to took a turbo prop plane to Bangkok, then we took a jet to Chiang Mai and got back in vans!

Our first stop in Chiang Mai was Wat Doi Suthep where we walked the steps up the mountain to the temple and were rewarded with a great view of the Chiang Mai in the valley. We finished off the day with a Thai feast at the Ruen Come In restaurant (noted winner of a Thailand national Pad Thai contest).

Beginning the climb up to Wat Doi Suthep


The view of Chiang Mai from Wat Doi Suthep

The beginning of an amazing Thai dinner

Award winning Pad Thai!

A Day at Sea

Today we got up early and took “taxis” (imagine Ford Rangers with benches in the back and a top over them, then pack in 8 people and you get the picture) to the village of Bang Bao. It mainly consists of a long pier that extends out into the water about 200 yards, with the first 150 yards having shops, restaurants, etc. along it. We loaded into our dive/snorkel boat and had an hour long ride out to Koh Rang Marine National Park. Eight of us explore underwater via scuba and eleven snorkeled around the islands. We saw all different kinds of colorful fish and coral. A day in the water pretty much tired everybody out!

Tomorrow everybody has different plans on how to spend their free day exploring the island … so the MU Thailand blog will take a day off as well. The next installment will come from Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand.

Relaxing on the boat after a morning of snorkeling/diving

Bangkok Solar Company and trip to Koh Chang

Today we left Bangkok to head to Koh Chang for the weekend. We stopped off at Bangkok Solar Company (actually it turned out to 3 companies in one – Bangkok Cable, Bangkok Solar and Bangkok Solar Power). They had a huge complex with some of the biggest factory buildings I have ever seen. We first toured the solar panel manufacturing plant, then went to their 1.6 MW solar farm, and finally toured their aluminum cable production facility. We grabbed a quick lunch at the equivalent of a interstate highway rest stop and drove on for 3 hours to catch the ferry to Koh Chang. After getting checked into our “bungalow” huts everybody went out and found dinner in the village.

Tomorrow it is off to explore the depths of the ocean!

Team MU at Bangkok Solar Company

On the ferry to Koh Chang

Software and Hardware Company Tours

Today we packed in two tours of very diverse companies - one made software, the other hardware, but neither of the computer variety! We first went to Hong Seng Knitting Company who is a primary supplier for Nike professional team soccer apparel (both for the teams and retail sales … go Manchester United!), Umbro, Decathlon, and Wilson Tennis. They employ over 1500 people at their Bangkok facility. Next, we headed to Muangthong Aluminum Industry Company where they process aluminum for construction/architecture, automotive / boating parts, electronic heat sinks, and a variety of custom applications. Nothing better than standing by a 600 degree Celsius furnace in 90 degree weather! They are one of the rare companies that let us take pictures, so enjoy the following glimpse into the tour. Tomorrow we leave Bangkok to go to the tropical island of Koh Chang, we’ll tour Bangkok Solar Company on our way there.

Briefing room of Hong Seng Knitting Company

Team MU at Hong Seng Knitting Company

Tight squeeze for one of our vans as we left on the "main" road to Hong Seng, but our drivers got through without even a scratch.

Briefing room at Muangthong Aluminum

Annodizing process at Muangthong Aluminum

Examining coated aluminum extrusions at Muangthong Aluminum

Learning about aluminum coating processes at Muangthong Aluminum

Team MU at Muangthong Aluminum Company

KMUTT and Chinatown

Today we ended up just visiting King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT)  as our scheduled company extended their New Year’s Holiday to allow their workers to work on repairing their houses from the recent flood ... can't argue with that! We started out our KMUTT time having lunch at KFC (aka KMUTT Food Center). We then toured the Dept. of Production Engineering metallurgical engineering labs. Next, we went to the 14^th story office/lab/classrooms of the Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO). We saw a lot of unique robots and even got to “make a robot”. At the end of the day everybody headed out to Chinatown for dinner … always an adventure!

KMUTT dining hall for their 5000 students 

A metallurgical engineering lab

Team MU outside the Production Engineering Department

Team MU at the Inst of Field Robotics

Team MU with "Namo" FIBO's little girl robot

Look out it is the snake robot

Chinatown just starting to come alive

More Chinatown ... food everywhere!

J&J Tour and Thai Cooking

Today we toured Johnson & Johnson’s Thailand Regional Manufacturing facility where they produce a range of personal care products. They are a well operated production facility and served as a “practice” run for learning how to assess a production system.

We next headed to the Silom Thai Cooking School. First we went to the market to learn about Thai spices, then we enjoyed an entertaining afternoon of cooking five dishes with our Thai master chefs - Nusi and Oliver, the menu included: Tom Yum Gung (soup), Pad Thai (fried noodles), Laab Gai (northern chicken salad) Kang Khiao Wan Gai (green curry with chicken), Kow Neuw Mamuang (mango on sticky rice) … after five cycles of cooking/eating nobody went away hungry!

 At the market learning about spices which make food Thai  ... "broccoli, etc. are just fillers"

Learning about the ingredients for Tom Yum Gung

Adding ingredients to the woks

Cooking the soup to perfection

The final product .. Tom Yum Gung

Bangkok Adventure

Wow … what a day! Today was our “multi-modal transportation” day - we rode the BTS (Sky Train) to the river, used a river taxi, and finally bargained for Tuk Tuks (imagine small 3 wheeled covered scooters). I officially won the “bargaining competition”, but I’ll admit I had an unfair advantage as I stood behind a tree and let Kim get the price (never hurts to have a Thai friend!). I was impressed that several of the student teams were able to get the price down fairly close to ours. We toured Wat Po, the Grand Place and saw the famous Emerald Buddha, and to complete our temple tours we climbed to the top of Wat Saket for a great view of the city. Since today was still a New Years’ holiday the Thais far outnumbered the tourist at each of the temples … it allowed us to "slow down" and really see things! Finally, we went to Siam Square to explore a  massive complex of modern Asia shopping malls and have a great Thai dinner.

The MU group at Wat Po

Kim provides expert commentary at the Grand Palace

Heading off on a Tuk Tuk

A Thai feast to complete a grand day in Bangkok!