This 1960 color film on Thailand is one of a series of Pan Am New Horizons travelogues. It is narrated by Ed Stokes and is produced by Movietonews, Inc. It begins with a colorful ‘focus leader’ for the film operator (:06-:50). It opens with a monk sitting on a rock overlooking the landscape below, followed by quick images of the Wat Pho Complex (1:00-1:18), a woman performing a traditional dance (1:19), and a kite dancing in the sky (1:30). The New Horizons credits are shown (1:30-1:57). A Pan American Boeing 377 Jet Clipper flight arrives and the crew and passengers disembark (1:58-2:20). The busy streets of Bangkok are shown, including cars, bicyclists, trolleys, trucks, and pedestrians (2:22-2:53). A water taxi carries passengers past bungalows built on stilts that jut out over the water (2:54-4:00). The marketplace exists in individual boats selling merchandise, rice, fruit, and produce (4:01-4:55). The robed Buddhist monks beg for food from house-to-house and are shown in a boat (4:58-5:08). Buddhist monastery temples are shown (5:09), including that at Bodh Gaya (5:20), Wat Phra Kaew (5:30), and Wat Arun (5:41). Monks walk by highly decorated walls (5:57), including colorful stone figures (6:05), a golden female statue (6:12), and other statues (6:17). Highly specialized traditional Thai dances are performed to represent good and evil (6:20-7:15). A poolside fashion show highlights cotton and silk dresses (7:20-7:50). Thailand has beautiful beaches with sunbathers (7:51-8:09). A woman weaves silk on a loom (8:13-8:25), another works on pottery (8:26-8:32), another hammers designs into silver (8:33-8:43), and another paints parasols (8:44-7:56). Shops sell copper, porcelain, Nielloware, silverware, bronze, and wood objects, as well as Buddhist statues (7:58-9:53). A man carves elephants out of teakwood (9:55-10:05). Living elephants pull lumber through the timberlands (10:07-10:55). Magnificent kites, identified as male or female by their shapes, perform a dance in the sky (10:57-11:30). Rajadamnern Stadium hosts Muay Thai, a type of kickboxing (11:32-12:17). Another sport is sword fighting (12:19-12:45). A funeral procession for a high priest is shown (12:50-13:12). There are 19,000 temples in Thailand, with some highlights shown, including mosaic statues (13:15-13:54).
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com