One More December Post

It's been well over a week since I was last here. I said last time that updates this month would be few and far between. Looks like I was right. Excuses I have none other than I flew out to Calgary for a week , got back Monday evening. Found a few cards in the mailbox so here I am. There were 3 cards from Thailand and 1 from Zambia, all with wonderful stamps as you will see in a bit.

Let's do Thailand first. This is a card from Jean Pierre and it shows Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. This temple , built in 1782 ,  is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. Back on Nov 30th I updated another card showing this temple and wrote a fair bit about it. Check it out if you want to know more.

Jean Pierre used a fine selection of stamps here. The large stamp on the left is from a set of 4 issued on Nov 20th of this year showing Thailand's Navy ships. The ship shown here is His Thai Majesty's Ship Chakri Naruebet. Ship # 911 was commissioned on March 20, 1997 and was the first Helicopter Carrier of the Thai Royal Navy. The small definitive stamp in the center shows King Bhumibol Adulyadej and is 1 of 6 issued in 1988. The final stamp on the right is one issued in 2012 celebrating the 50th birthday of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Here's a second card from Thailand, this one showing Wat Chai Wayyhanaram .
Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya island. It is one of Ayutthaya's best known temples and a major tourist attraction. Constructed in 1630 the temple's name literally means the Temple of long reign and glorious era.

This is Jobbo's second card to me. As he did with his first, he again used an outstanding selection of Thai stamps, 6 this time. So let's get to them. On the top left is a stamp issued in 1996 . It is 1 of 5 in a set to mark the Golden Jubliee of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on June 9th, 1996. The next stamp , to the right, is 1 of 4 issued in 2009 honouring Prince Bhanurangsi. Next is a stamp showing King Pradjadhipok who reigned from 1925-1935. Below that is a stamp from 2002 showing a temple. It's from a set of 4. The far right stamp was issued in 2004 and shows Queen Rambhai Bharni. Finally, the stamp in lower left , issued in 2001 celebrates the Centenary of the Police Cadet Academy.  

Jean Pierre's second card gives us a couple of views of Suvarnbhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Suvarnabhumi Airport, also known as Bangkok International Airport, is one of two international airports serving Bangkok, Thailand. The other is Don Mueang International Airport. Suvarnabhumi was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September 2006 ^.

^{It is currently the main hub for Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Orient Thai Airlines.} 

^{More great Thai stamps arrived on this card. On the left is another of the Golden Jubilee stamps from 1996. In the middle is a  2014 stamp showing Don Mueang International Airport. Over on the right is a 2011 stamp celebrating Buddhist Monks. There are 5 in this set.} 

 

 <sup>That 's 3 great cards from Thailand, with a total of  12 wonderful and large Thai stamps. Add in the 5 stamps on Jobbo's first card and I have added 17 stamps to my Thailand collection. Not too bad at all. I am surely going to collect the stamps of Thailand as a result.

 Now let's fly approx 8500km to Livingstone, Zambia , where my last card for today, arrived from.</sup>

 Livingstone was, until 2012, the capital of the Southern Province of Zambia. Lying 10 km (6.2 mi) to the north of the Zambezi River, it is a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Victoria Falls. A historic British Colonial city, its present population was estimated at 136,897 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is named after David Livingstone, the British  explorer who was the first European to explore the area. Bruce's card shows a great view of the falls and surrounding area.

 <sup>Bruce used a stamp showing some building., but I wasn't able to locate any info about the stamp itself. And you know of course, I hate saying that. I tried everything, but to no avail. That's the way it is sometimes I guess. 

Anyway, here's the stamp, perhaps one of you readers will have better luck and maybe let me know something about the stamp. I hope so.</sup> 

  

^{There you have it, another update in the books. Thanks for the cards go out to Jean Pierre. Jobbo and Bruce.  Don't forget, if you have any comments , be sure and leave them. Love reading them. Should get a couple more updates in before Christmas, but it is getting busy, so one never knows. Take care.  Later.}