This month, in the November 2016 issue of the Thai Airways inflight magazine “Sawasdee”, appears a 1,000 word, six page article titled “Stamp Of Approval” that I wrote and shot the photographs for.
The piece relates to the history of Thai postage stamps, the Siamese postal service, a local philatelic museum in Bangkok, and has a portion of the article written in Thai language.
Above are the first two pages of the magazine layout and following is the opening from the article:
The great attraction to Thailand’s philately is not only the beauty of her magnificent postage stamps, but also the fascinating history of the Siamese Postal Service, which dates back over 133 years.
Nearly half a century before neighbouring Southeast Asian countries had their own, the visionary Siamese people knew, that together with interprovincial delivery routes, a postal system would lay the foundation for the future of Thai communications and trade. Through the institution of a simple paper-gummed label, Siam would establish a means of developing greater social unity amongst Thailand’s indigenous peoples, who at the time were still largely separated from one another by long distances.
Below are a number of the photos that were published with the piece:
If you happen to be on a Thai Airways flight during the month of November, I hope you enjoy reading Sawasdee Magazine. Also, a copy of the article itself (from the magazine) can be downloaded here in PDF.
Congratulations on this extraordinary article which combines the beauty of the stamps with a history lesson which many of us in the West were unaware. It demonstrates how a relatively small event can carry significance for an entire nation.
Thank you for your kind words Martha. The history itself is quite interesting and I had a lot of fun researching it too. Best wishes.
Such great work! Mark!
Thank you for the kind feedback.
Very interesting! Congratulations!
Thank You! 🙏🏻