Yesterday was the first day of the conference. I just finished registration and entered the venue. The conference fee is only 50 US dollars (actually, it is only 20 dollars with early bird discount) because I was a K12 teacher. The last inspection tour is 3 nights and 4 days and costs only US$150. The total conference fee is only 170USD. I am glad I was a K12 teacher. The usual fee for a researcher would have been 300 USD plus 250 USD for the field trip.

Well, lunch was served in a rather nice room on the university campus. I was accompanied by a Japanese graduate student from the University of Tsukuba and a graduate student from Chiang Mai University who were staying nearby so, the car teke us joining from the hotel. But I said them to sit your own table to talk other students or researchers. I was sitting alone at this table, and I was able to join the Chula University people you see here. Some of them are actually graduates of the University of Tsukuba.

Endo kun, a graduate student at the University of Tsukuba, was a little nervous because it was his first time to give a presentation at an international conference. I took a picture of him and sent it to him via Line. He is very active and has been to Russia, Uzbekistan and other countries. Next year, he will start a one-year PhD program at a university in Hamburg, Germany. He specializes in paleontology and sedimentary rocks. When it's just the two of us, I talk to him in Japanese because it's easy for me.

Well, my co-chairman duties are over and it's finally time for a break. I can't relax even for a moment, because I am in charge of measuring the time and raising the minutes to go. In addition, there were two keynote speeches on earthquakes and active faults, so I took a serious role as a moderator and asked questions. I was assisted by Dr. Punya, as usual, as the moderator, so it was a very enjoyable time.

These are tea cakes during the breaks, and they are quite delicious. As you can see, there were many tea cakes served during the breaks. Only the coffee was instant. The episode with Dr. Punya is at the bottom of the following page.
http://seagull.stars.ne.jp/2022_NST.../NST-KVIS_Part_2.html

This is the second day of the conference. Following the first half of the afternoon session, which I was asked to co-chair, the second half of the day's keynote session has just started. A graduate student from Myanmar University gave a presentation in fluent English. Her ethnic costume is very nice. Historically, Thailand and Myanmar have been in conflict with each other, just like the relationship between Japan and Korea. P san and me discussed at dinner later.

This is a presentation by K kun, a MS student of Chiang Mai University, who has been working with E kun since the first day. I could see that he was nervous because it was his first presentation, but he did a good job. I laughed to myself that two young students are accompanied by an old man like this, just like Mito Komon and Sukesan and Kaku-san, a Japanese famous ancient strory in Samurai era. I took their picture and sent it to them on Line. That's all for now.

It is the morning of the third day of the conference. I woke up early in the morning and prepared for my presentation. Because of the Noto earthquake 2024, I had to make some changes to my PowerPoint presentation. I will make a tour today and give my presentation tomorrow morning, so I will be able to manage.

Here is the early morning flow of the River Kwai and birdsong. Can you hear it in the video? It's a blissful time. You can see how fast the river is flowing. The famous Kwai River Railroad Bridge is located quite a bit downstream. Today is the middle day of the conference, and we are on a one-day sightseeing trip.

Now, it is the third day of the conference. This is the day of sightseeing tour. On this day, we did a little sightseeing. First of all, we visited the famous war cemetery in Kanchanaburi town. For us Japanese, it was a little bit uncomfortable to visit there.

The large number of soldiers' graves were those of Western soldiers (including some locals) who sacrificed their lives in the construction of the ”Death" railroad. Many of them were British and Dutch. I felt a sense of responsibility when I saw these graves, even though I was not born in that era. When I told this to Apivut san, a researcher of MUKA, he consoled me by saying that Dr.Sashida said same word here in his visit, but it was an old story----, nevertheless there was still something that stuck in my mind.

I took some time to observe each of the grave markers. The overwhelming majority of them were young people, mostly in their early twenties. I wondered if there would be a huge number of grave markers like this one day in the Ukrainian war zone. It made me feel gloomy.

Next, we visited the National Museum, a collection of archaeological artifacts. Ironically, the reason why this area became the birthplace of Thai archaeology is related to the construction of the railroad by the Japanese army. A Dutch POW working here accidentally found stone tools at the railroad construction site. After the war, they were sent to Harvard University for research and became famous. After the liberation, He became professors of archaeology and laid the foundation of Thai archaeology. I was amazed at the coincidence of history brought together by the war. The commentator was Kantanat san of the MUKA campus, who was also a great help to me during my tour in September last year. He also took good care of my stay in this time, such as transportation from the hotel to the university where the conference was held.

This is an exhibition of ruins and artifacts from a much later period, when the Khmer civilization came under the influence. It reminded me of Angkor Wat, which I visited last year.

Endo-kun of the University of Tsukuba PhD student, unexpectedly received an award for young presenter. I was in a hurry to take his picture, from a long distance away. When the student's band played "Let It Be" last night party, there was a rumor that Clapton played this guitar. I told him that I was a better lead guitarist than him, and he surprised me by saying that he had seen Eric Clapton on stage a few years ago. I never expected to hear Clapton's name mentioned by a 26 years young student.

Here is Mito Komon's group with Sukesan and Kaku-san on both sides. On the right is Mr. K, a 3rd year MS student of Chiang Mai University （Actualy，He is in his 3rd year because he could not go his field work due to COVID-19). We were allowed to work together from most of the lodgings.

After being dropped off at the inn, I went to the 7-Eleven over a kilometer away from the station in the heat of the day to swim in the inn's pool. Here is a view of the train station in front of Saiyoke, a rural town in Kanchanaburi Province.

My lodger, E-kun, record this ideo while I was swimming in the swimming pool at the hotel. Please look at the heroic swimmer who was sinking down without floating!!