Scout day in the park?

Entered the Sukhothai historical park today via a convenient hole in the fence where no one was watching and meandered for 3.5 miles among the temple ruins and tropical trees. A beautiful day. One temple struck me especially: Wat Si Sawai. Crossing the threshold gate in the 5'6" tall, 4' thick stone wall was like I always imagined entering the secret garden would feel like. A strong sense of peace and serenity was held there. About 20-30 dragon flies danced around the entrance and the north-west corner of the outer wall. The Wat itself had 3 adjacent corn-cob shaped structures (called stuppas, I think?) about 30-40 feet tall, decorated with dragons and buddhas and ornate carvings. They were accessed from a courtyard containing an alter to the south and protected by a dry moat to the north (the gate I entered through). Due to the artifacts found there, experts believe it was a holy site for the Brahman religion before it became a buddhist temple. Reminiscent of the Roman temples to Zeus and Athena rebuilt into Catholic Cathedrals. The parallels facinate me.

There were also several groups of boys (early teens?) dressed in brown scout-type uniforms, some with maroon berrets. I'm not sure if this was a boy-scout event, or some ROTC-style army-prep program? They were parading around from site to site doing calesthenics, wading across the canals (waist-deep!), working on papers together, and listening to troop leader lectures. It was kinda fun to watch. They even had a live band playing--they weren't that good, but it was my first live music since kirtan before I left, so as a beggar, I wasn't choosy.