Ann and I have been looking through travel books and guides to Thailand. She wants to pick out some good places for us to visit, an addition to the family commitments we will have whilst there. I was glancing at a map of Bangkok and environs when I noticed that the city of Nakhon Pathom was an easy day trip, so I suggested it to her.

"You have already been there David," she said.
"Really? I don't think so," I replied.

And truly, I had no recollection of having been there. I can tell you many towns I have travelled to or through in Thailand, but Nakhon Pathom isn't one of them. How could I have forgotten something so close to BKK?

"I'm pretty sure that I haven't been there honey," I mused, thinking that this was the end of the matter.

Ann got out of bed and retrieved a packet of photos from my 1997 trip to Thailand. Flicking through the prints, she pulled out one showing the unmistakeable chedi of Phra Pathom in, er, Nakhon Pathom. I don't know how it could have slipped my mind but I think that this was part of a one-day tour I took out west of the capital some 20 years ago now, which also included the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.

Lesson learned. Never argue with a local.

And that photo.