A man taking a picture of the sunset on his smartphone with a Thai flag blowing in the wind. Nothing unusual, except that man is a Buddhist monk holding a smartphone when he should not be owning anything according to the precepts of Buddhism.

A visual summary of Thailand

In a way, this picture summarizes everything about Thailand . One picture uniting a monk, a smartphone, a Thai flag, the Chao Phraya and the sunset.

Monks and smartphones have become a common sight in Bangkok nowadays, with several of them roving IT shops like Panthip Plaza or MBK, looking for the latest gadgets. This and several scandals rocking the Buddhist institutions have given way to a serious feeling of tiredness with monks in Thailand.

Nevertheless, to invite us to relax and let things go the Thai style (“Jai yen yen“), this cat tells us “mai pen rai, just let them be and take a nap”.