When it comes to travel, there are two kinds of sights: 1) planned & 2) unplanned.
Planned sights include landmarks you find in a guidebook as well as ones you hear about from friends, family and online forums. You “plan” to visit these kind of locations because, more often than not, they’re pretty darn great! Why would anyone travel all the way to India and skip the Taj Mahal? Why would you miss the Roman Colosseum? The Great Wall of China? The Parthenon? These are all sites you definitely must plan to visit.
The Pig Memorial of Bangkok, Thailand is definitely not in this category.
Located in Bangkok’s inner city, its historic area, the Pig Memorial was built in 1913—the year of Queen Saovabha Phongsri’s 50th birthday. Its official name is “Sahachart Memorial,” in celebration of all people born in the same year—the year of the pig. Made of gilded cast metal, the sculpture initially rested on large stone pillars, since replaced by a higher, mountain-shaped concrete base. Nearby is the “Saphan Mu” bridge, built in 1911. Its name refers to “The Bridge of the Year of the Pig.” Interestingly, the bridge has four decorative posts symbolizing birthday candles.
Although I’m telling you about it today, I wouldn’t necessarily advise you to “plan” your next Bangkok trip around the Pig Memorial. But if you do somehow stumble upon it (as I did), it’s pretty great in its own right.
My friend Ted and I happened upon the Pig Memorial during a fairly-pedestrian stroll in the Thai capital. Or maybe we were trying to reach somewhere else. I can’t recall. But then, suddenly, there he was: The king of pigs, towering over us majestically, with smaller, porcine-shaped offerings scattered around his base. Think pig pinatas.
“Hey Dave, is that a giant pig?”
“You know, Ted, I think it is.”
What a delightful, unplanned monument to stumble upon. You won’t find it in most guidebooks. I’d be hard pressed to find it again, to be honest. But I’m sure glad I did.
If only there had been a BBQ place nearby, the magic would’ve been complete.
(Although you can’t, necessarily, plan to stumble on little-known treasures, you CAN plan to have no plan. In other words, you can leave time in your schedule for unstructured wandering, for getting lost. One of my best travel days was when my wife and I roamed the streets of Osaka, Japan, in search of pastries. (Spoiler alert: we found a LOT of it!) The next time you discover yourself on the road in an interesting city, why not designate one day for “random walking?” You can even choose a famous landmark to walk towards—but take your time! Give yourself a whole afternoon or, better yet, a whole day to get there—and if an amazing café, or bench, or river view presents itself, be willing to skip the final destination completely. The same kind of “plan” can apply to this upcoming weekend in your own hometown. Go find a neighborhood and get lost! You can thank me later.)